Thiruvananthapuram, July 9 (IANS) The nationwide general strike called by ten trade unions on Wednesday witnessed a total shutdown in Kerala.

Across the state, shops, various establishments, public markets, offices, and educational institutions were all closed in response to the strike call by the Left unions. Since the state has a Left rule, the response to the strike call has been complete.

Barring two-wheelers and private vehicles, buses and other transport vehicles are not moving. Even though the state Transport Minister K.B. Ganesh Kumar said the state-owned Kerala State Road Transport Corporation will operate, no buses were on the roads.

At Kochi, while some drivers and conductors came to do their job, the CITU employees in these depots refused to let them work, and hence, buses failed to start, even as passengers were left stranded and helpless.

In Kollam, a group of KSRTC employees who took out their bus was roughed up by their protesting colleagues, and the police remained mere onlookers.

In Adoor, the driver of a KSRTC bus was seen wearing a helmet when he was driving the bus.

“I started from Pathanamthitta wearing the helmet because if the protesters stone the bus, the glass pieces might hit my eyes. There were seven passengers, and at Adoor, the protesters stopped us, and our trip came to an end. I am a daily wage driver and I will get paid only if I work, so I came to work,” said the hapless driver.

“This is not acceptable at all. What are these people who called the strike going to gain? We, who eke out a living working as daily labourers, are the worst affected. What we earn every day is our bread and butter,” said a group of women who came for their daily jobs but were left idle, knowing they would have to return to their homes without money.

At the State Secretariat, the seat of power, which is heavily guarded by the police, saw a heated argument between the protesters and those who came to work.

Chief Secretary A. Jayathilak reached his office on time, but at the gate, the rush was missing. Around 15 to 20 per cent of the 4,700 employees of the Secretariat reported for work.

Banks in numerous places have been forced to close down.

The weekly Wednesday Cabinet meeting has also been postponed to Thursday. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who is in the US, will join the cabinet through video conferencing.

At a government ayurveda medicine wholesale godown near Kollam, protesters nearly roughed up an employee who was chased away when he was ensuring medicine supplies for the day, and it was closed down immediately.

Supreme Court lawyer M.R. Abhilash said what the protesters are doing is a criminal act.

“None has the right to prevent those who wish to work. The laws are very clear, but in Kerala, this is a common norm that the protesters take the law into their hands,” said Abhilash.

The protesters have also not spared the wayside eateries, which are generally allowed to operate as they provide succour to those who eat from these shops.

“It’s sad when the protesters allow milk vans to operate, but when the milk reaches the tea shops, the protesters do not allow them to use that milk. Things are strange,” said a group of men who failed to get a tea.

–IANS

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