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Hartal: large-scale preventive arrests

By Our Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM March 10. With the Opposition and the Government engaged in a battle of nerves over the former's demand for a judicial inquiry into the February 19 police action against Adivasis at Muthanga, fingers are crossed about possible nature of the LDF-sponsored dawn-to-dusk hartal on Tuesday.

The Government has made elaborate arrangements to meet the hartal and the police have reportedly effected large-scale preventive arrest of Opposition activists to prevent outbreak of violence. The Opposition parties have exempted milk supply and other essential services and ICSE and CBSE examinations from the purview of the hartal.

No KSRTC services

The hartal is certain to affect normal vehicular traffic though, in recent times, there have been no attempt by hartal organisers to disrupt traffic. The newly-inducted Transport Minister, R. Balakrishna Pillai, has announced that the Government would withdraw KSRTC buses from the roads from midnight tonight. This is certain to result in the private bus operators also refusing to ply their services.

Sources in the LDF discounted the possibility of there being violence, especially in view of the ongoing examinations. But, with the Government adopting a stubborn stand on the question of ordering a judicial inquiry into the Muthanga incidents and four Opposition MLAs being on fast before the Secretariat, the mood of the average LDF activist may not be exactly pacifist.

Dies non in KSEB: The Electricity Minister, Kadavoor Sivadasan, has said dies non will be made applicable to the employees of the KSEB for tomorrow's LDF hartal.

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