The Kerala unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has called for a state-wide shutdown on Thursday to protest the murder of its party worker in Kannur district. The party has called for a bandh from 6 am to 6 pm.
Remith, a 32-year-old BJP activist, was hacked to death by unidentified assailants in Pinarayi town on Wednesday morning. He was rushed to General Hospital in Thalassery, but succumbed to neck and head injuries.
The murder happened just two days after a Communist Party of India (Marxist) worker was killed at the same place. CPI (M) had accused BJP of carrying out the attack on its party worker Mohanan. Another worker from the party was also injured. The administration had to clamp prohibitory orders in different parts of the district as tension gripped the area after the murder.
The BJP has accused CPI (M) of murdering its party worker and has called for a 12-hour bandh to protest the killing. They have also demanded a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
The call for a shutdown could cripple the everyday life of public, and affect schools, colleges, offices, and transportation. Kannur University and Mahatma Gandhi University have called off examinations scheduled for Thursday, and a new date will be announced later, according to Manorama. However, it is still not known if other educational institutions will declare a holiday in view of the bandh called by the BJP.
BJP President Amit Shah had earlier tweeted that the attacks happening in Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's home constituency is a "matter of grave concern and smacks of political vendetta."
"Murder of Ramith, a BJP karyakarta, in Pinarayi village, Kannaur district, hometown of Kerala CM is disturbing," he wrote, adding that the victim's father was killed in a similar manner in 2002.
