Govt fails to protect life, assets: Karunakaran

Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 7 (UNI) Alleging that the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) Government has miserably failed in providing protection to people and their assets, former Kerala Chief Minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader K Karunakaran today said there were enough reasons to invoke Article 356 in the state.

However, he favoured giving some more time to the government so that it could experience the result of its misdeeds.

Mr Karunakaran was talking to mediapersons while participating in a face-to-face programme of the Kesari Memorial Journalists Trust here.

Claiming that the government had lost its credibility, he pointed out that the court had made certain adverse remarks against the government on the issues of police-mafia nexus and break-down of law and order.

Stating that minority communities had apprehensions about the government move of interfering in the affairs of educational institutions run by them, he said there was some truth in it and the NCP would extend support to their agitations if they would not cross the ''lakshman rekha.'' Alleging that the 14-month-old LDF administration was a ''total failure,'' he said whenever the LDF came to power a big ''calamity'' had occured in the health and education sector in the state.

On the slow-down in the Munnar eviction drive, he alleged that it was to protect certain individuals that the eviction process had been stopped and claimed that there was enough proof to establish it.

Reiterating his earlier stand, Mr Karunakaran said the buildings in Munnar should not be destroyed, but taken over by the government as such illegal constructions had been made on government land.

Stating that the existing laws were sufficient to annex the buildings to government, he said if needed the government could promulgate an Ordinance in this regard.

On release of pastoral letters by churches, he said there was such a system prevailing in churches to inform their anguish to the believers and it was just like party circulars.

UNI