Thiruvananthapuram, Valarmathi, secretary of the Action Council and convenor of the LPST rank holders’ protest committee, returned to the agitation outside the Secretariat on Sunday after being taken to hospital by police during her indefinite hunger strike, vowing to continue the stir until their demands were met.
Speaking to reporters after returning to the protest, Valarmathi alleged that police had used force to remove her from the protest site despite her weakened condition after six days of fasting. “I was dragged away by the police. They pulled me by my hands and legs, causing swelling and severe pain throughout my body. Is this the way the police should treat a person who has been fasting for six days?” she asked. Valarmathi also alleged that police had taken away her mobile phone at the hospital and questioned the manner in which she was shifted there for medical attention.
She had tonsured her head on October 26 before beginning the hunger strike, demanding that appointments to government schools be made from the Kerala Public Service Commission rank list for Lower Primary School Teacher posts before its expiry. The rank holders have been staging a protest in front of the Secretariat for the past 117 days.
She said the agitation would continue until the government issued orders addressing their demands, adding that even if a death occurred during the protest, it would not be called off. On Saturday, doctors examined Valarmathi and advised immediate medical attention, following which police took her to hospital.
