Rahul Gandhi’s office in Wayanad attacked during protest march
KOZHIKODE: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s office in Kainatty near Kalpetta in Wayanad district was vandalised by a group of Student’s Federation of India (SFI) activists on Friday afternoon.
The SFI workers were protesting against the recent Supreme Court order mandating an eco-sensitive zone (ESZ) of a kilometre around all protected areas, wildlife and national parks, demanding Rahul Gandhi who is local MP of the hilly district of Wayanad to break his silence on the issue.
The protesters allegedly attacked the office, smashed the chairs and the office staff were beaten up. The situation in the area remained tense for many hours and a large number of police personnel were deployed at the spot.
The incident has triggered widespread protest by congress workers across the Kerala. Congress leaders have strongly condemned the attack.
Meanwhile, responding to the reports regarding the attack, Rahul Gandhi posted his letter regarding the ESZ issue that was sent to the prime minister, through his social media account. The letter was dated on June 23rd.
In the FB post Rahul says that the letter was aiming to draw the PM’s attention to the plight of the local communities of Wayanad whose livelihoods will be adversely affected by the Supreme Court order on the maintenance of ESZ around national parks and wildlife sanctuaries.
The state and the union governments can help by requesting dilution of a minimum width of an ESZ to the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) and the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC). The Supreme Court judgment considers recommendations made by the CEC & the MoEF&CC, he says.
“I have written to the Kerala Chief Minister too. I request the Union government to address these concerns in the larger public interest and reiterate our shared commitment to balancing conservation goals with our people’s legitimate developmental needs”, he said.
Strongly condemning the attack, opposition leader of Kerala assemby V D Satheeshan said that that the attack was with the knowledge of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and the attack was aiming to to please the BJP national leadership to get rid of the gold smuggling case. “On October 23, 2019, the state cabinet recommended that the one-kilometer stretch around wildlife sanctuaries and national parks be made a buffer zone. The SFI activists who attacked Rahul Gandhi’s office in the should be stage protest against CM Pinarayi Vijayan’s office. It is the Chief Minister and the state cabinet who are to be blamed for the buffer zone issue”, he said.
