700-km long human chain in Kerala protests note ban

The ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) in Kerala, led by CPI-M, on Thursday formed a 700-km long human chain extending from Raj Bhavan here to Kasargode, to protest the central government’s demonetisation move.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan was the first in the chain along with former Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan and the last in the chain at Kasargode district town was the Communist Party of India-Marxist’s Lok Sabha member from Kasargode, P. Karunakaran. The rehearsal was held 15 minutes before and at 5 p.m. the human chain again was formed and a pledge was read out that was repeated by all.

The chain passed through the national highway and districts like Kottayam, Pathanamthitta, where the highway does not pass and the cadres joined the chain at various places in Alappuzha district.

Likewise, in the hilly districts of Idukki and Wayanad, a separate human chain was formed. “A record one million people joined the protest and even though similar human chains was formed before, today we could see that there was participation from people cutting across political affiliations,” said CPI-M State Secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan at a public meeting here.