The Kerala government on Wednesday proposed that it will take back all cases that were registered during the Sabrimala and anti-CAA protests in the state. The decision is taken ahead of the upcoming state assembly elections and the move is welcomed by the opposition Congress.
The state government source told news agency PTI that the decision of withdrawal of the cases was taken at a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, citing that “cases that were not of a serious criminal nature”.
Around 2,000 cases related to the Sabarimala stir were filed across various districts in Kerala state during 2018- 19.
The Nair Service Society (NSS), a prominent caste-based organisation in the state, which leads the ‘namajapa yathra’ as a part of Sabrimala protest had before demanded the removal of the cases against the protesters.
Leader of Opposition and senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala said the move was a “wisdom that dawned late”.
More than 50,000 people were booked in connection with the protest. Kerala had witnessed large-scale violence and five close-downs in 2018 after the Supreme Court verdict that allowed women of all ages to enter the temple abolishing an age-old bar on women of reproductive age.