Kerala's Left Democratic Front (LDF) has called for a hartal on November 18 in protest against the implementation of Kasturi Rangan Committee report on the Western Hills.
The hill's high-range districts like Waynad and Idukki had observed hartal last week, which saw violent incidents across various parts of the district.
A police firing occurred at Thamarassery in Kozhikode district. In Waynad, three forest offices were set on fire and office equipment including important files and vehicles were destroyed. Police suspected a criminal conspiracy behind this as files connected with forest encroachment and illegal possession of the government land were destroyed in these incidents.
Along with the opposition parties and the ruling Kerala Congress, the Catholic church of the state was also agitating against the implementation of the report. It alleged if the report was implemented, hundreds of famers would be evacuated from their land. All universities in Kerala have postponed examinations scheduled on Monday in the wake of the hartal call.
