By Ila Ananya
Since February 2017, locals have been protesting against the upcoming Indian Oil Corporation LPG import terminal at Puthuvype, Kerala.
The police, led by Kochi DCP Yatish Chandra, was in the news because they had lathi charged the protestors (including those accompanied by children) back on 16th June, when the protests intensified because the government restarted work on the terminal despite having previously promised to stop all work until 4th July. Reportedly, the protestors were then detained at the police station for two days, and on Monday, about 100 protestors (more than half of whom were women) were released on bail.
Now, The News Minute has reported about large-scale police excesses. The women and men who were detained had reportedly been forced to stay without food and toilets. Around 30 protestors who are now in hospital had said they had been injured not only in the lathi charge, but were also beaten by the police when they were detained. Most were not treated for the injuries they’d sustained until it became more than obvious that they needed immediate medical attention. Women and men were also beaten inside police vans, leading to them being stamped and sustaining fractured bones.
Women who were detained by the police for two days without food told The News Minute that the police didn’t allow them to use the toilet—“When they did not allow us after repeated requests, we used a shawl to cover up, but they forcefully removed the shawl. Some of the police officers even shot videos and took photos of us while we urinated,” Latha, one of the arrested protestors reportedly said. The gendered nature of this kind of violence is all too obvious.
Following this, Kerala State Police Chief TP Senkumar said yesterday, on 20th June that “extremist elements” were involved in the protests against the LPG terminal. His comments, which everyone is reporting on because Prime Minister Modi was in Kochi recently, came a day after Ernakulam Rural SP AV George told the media the same thing. “We suspect that there are terror links with the people behind it. They make use of poor women and children. The leaders of the protest have got support from outside. I believe that it was not planned by those people there,” he reportedly said.
In all the confusion and violence that shouldn’t be justified, nobody has any idea whether this terrorist link is true, or if it is simply a way for the police to cover up their brutalities (as many of the protestors have now reportedly said). But what remains undeniable is that there has been large-scale police excesses against women and men that need to be looked into and addressed.