LPST Rank Holders Shave Heads in Protest Against Government; Convenor Announces Hunger Strike

Thiruvananthapuram: Thiruvananthapuram: LPST rank holders have shaved their heads in protest against what they described as the government’s betrayal. Valarmathi, convenor of the protest committee, shaved her head at the protest tent in front of the Secretariat. She also announced that she would begin a hunger strike.

The rank holders had earlier warned that they would shave their heads and launch a hunger strike if the government failed to take a favourable decision. With the government yet to make any decision, the candidates have intensified their protest.

Valarmathi had previously gone on hunger strikes over various demands but ended them after a minister assured her that the demands would be implemented.

However, the government later adopted an approach that sidelined the candidates, she said. “Our demands were rejected citing financial constraints. This is why we were forced to resort to more intense forms of protest,” she said.

Valarmathi said Chief Minister V D Satheesan, when he was the Leader of the Opposition, had vocally expressed solidarity with the candidates, but was now ignoring them after becoming chief minister.

“The government must say whether human life has any value,” she said, adding that the protest would continue until justice was delivered.