Date:24/10/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/10/24/stories/2008102455601200.htm

National

CPI(M) to protest naval exercises

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: The Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Thursday said it will organise protests all along the West Coast on Friday against the Indo-U.S. Naval exercises.

The ‘Malabar’ exercises being conducted in the Arabian Sea involve U.S. naval ships led by the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan.

The party is holding rallies in 15 centres in Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka and Kerala. There will be 10 rallies in the nine coastal districts of Kerala: Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Alappuzha, Ernakulam, Thrissur, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Kannur and Kasaragode.

In Karnataka, the rally will be held in Mangalore; in Goa at Vasco-da-Gama; and in Maharashtra at Thalasseri (Thane district), Uran (Raigad district) and Mumbai.

Party Polit Bureau members S. Ramachandran Pillai, V.S. Achuthanandan, Pinarayi Vijayan, Brinda Karat and K. Varadarajan will be addressing some of these rallies, a party release said.