Continuing my support for the Government of Kerala in their fight against the illegal, unjustified and counter-productive blockade imposed on the Secretariat by the leftist opposition in Kerala, I am pleasantly surprised to note how well the Government has handled the protest so far.
- Intimidation – Calling in para-military forces and deploying them in key areas helped ensure that the protesters do not indulge in large-scale destruction of public property or cause other law-and-order problems. The psychological impact of the possibility of having to face armed troops who do not even understand your language is a good deterrent against goons who are cowards at heart, but are willing to go on a rampage when organized into a mob.
- Restraint – The government did not play into the hands of the opposition by using force on them. If the government had used force, the opposition would have portrayed it as an assault on democracy (while actually it would just be an assault on lawlessness and public nuisance). Still, by maintaining restraint in the face of provocation by protesters, the police have scored a point – they have showed that they will not stoop down to the level of the protesters (who are inviting a street battle) unless absolutely needed
- Scorched Earth tactics – Like the Russian forces which refused to decisively engage their enemies in WWII (and during Napoleon’s invasion earlier), the Govt. of Kerala has done well to declare holiday for the secretariat in the next two days (and the day after that, being Independence day is a national holiday). So the anti-socials who have laid siege to the secretariat wanting to cause trouble can waste the next three days of their lives (which I doubt would be very productively spent even otherwise) in the capital. Lack of supplies and other difficulties coupled with staying away from home for no good reason is likely to send back home at least a few of them.
At the beginning, the protesters were given a chance to save their face by accepting the offer for talks. But as much a result of ignorance as of arrogance, they refused to take that opportunity. I hope that the Government will continue to deal decisively with the protest and succeed in defeating this strike – setting an example that will deter similar disruptions to public life at least in the near future. I am not hopeful, however, that the left parties will learn a lesson from this episode even if their designs are foiled completely. It takes some intelligence to know when you’re beaten, and to think that the LDF leadership has that would be to give them too much credit!
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Fully agree!