Kerala

Ban on physical training camps

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan has said that the police will not allow any organisation or group to hold martial combat or physical training camps.

Speaking to journalists after chairing a day-long meeting at the Police Headquarters here on Wednesday, he said all organisations planning to hold training camps would have to get police clearance in advance henceforth.

The police would inspect such camps, examine their nature and verify the participants. The security measure was inevitable in view of the increasing incidents of terrorist attacks and divisive activities in the country. It should not be construed as an infringement on the freedom to form associations or unions or assemble peacefully without arms, the Minister said.

The government was identifying organisations having links with the banned Students Islamic Movement of India in Kerala. The National Development Front (NDF) had carried out 101 attacks in the State between August 1, 2007, and July 31, 2008. Majority of the victims of the attacks had been Communist Party of India (Marxist) workers (59) and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) activists (20). The NDF had also suffered from political violence.

The NDF was targeting the CPI(M) to check its growing political influence among Kerala’s Muslim community, the Minister said. The government was monitoring NDF activities closely. The Minister assured that the drive against terrorism would not turn into a witch- hunt of Muslims. The police would crack down on Hindu rightwing terrorist organisations also. Terrorists had few sympathisers in Kerala, chiefly because of the presence of strong secular forces and the progressive nature of its society, he said.

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