As the month-long Kerala yatra of chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan and his 21 ministers wind its way towards Thiruvananthapuram, the final destination, there is a growing feeling in the state that the space for civil protests is shrinking by the day.

The ‘New Kerala Sadas’, touted as the first of its kind in the country where the chief minister and his entire cabinet travel in a bus across the state, is said to be a government programme to reach out to the people and hear their grievances.

It is natural that there will be people who oppose the yatra, especially those in the Opposition. However, every manner of protest has been branded as an “uprising” against the state.

Waving black flags, the most peaceful way of showing dissent, has been practically banned along the route of the yatra. It is said that police have been rounding up even ordinary citizens who happen to be out on the road wearing anything black while the yatra passes by. Those carrying black umbrellas too are not spared.

This has prompted noted Malayalam writer Paul Zacharia to comment in his popular column that “Kerala is a land of umbrellas. Most of them are black. At this rate what will be their fate?”

In addition, Opposition youth and student wing activists along the route are being detained or put under house arrest by the police on a regular basis.

Those who dare to protest against the chief minister and his colleagues waving black flags have been put down with a heavy hand by the CPM’s youth and student wing workers ably assisted by the police. Protesters were beaten up so badly that most of them had to be admitted to hospitals.

Those who write against the yatra on social media are being booked under Section 153 of the IPC for inciting violence.

Though the yatra is said to be a government event, it is mostly controlled by CPM functionaries and cadres even as the police in large numbers stand by. This has given way to the allegation that government funds are being used for “image building of the chief minister” and a political exercise before the general elections.

Whenever protesters, mostly Opposition youth and student supporters, approach the bus with black flags, DYFI and SFI activists pounce on them, beating them up mercilessly. The latest incident involves the chief minister’s gunman who had jumped out of the escort vehicle to manhandle wayside protesters.

The violence unleashed by the CPM en route has prompted M.N. Karassery, a highly respected academic and social commentator, to wonder whether the yatra has to be renamed “New Kerala Mardaka (torture) Sadas”.

The chief minister has justified such actions, saying his party workers were only trying to stop the protesters being run over by the bus. His gunman happens to be a party worker from Pinarayi Vijayn’s home district Kannur. Violence against the protesters had started even since the yatra entered Kannur district on November 20.

The chief minister and the CPM leadership have branded the Opposition protests as attempts to discredit the Left Front government and its achievements over the past seven-and-a-half years.

The Opposition Congress-led United Democratic Front has opposed the government move alleging that it is a waste of money when the state is going through a dire financial crisis.

The luxury bus itself had cost the exchequer over Rs 1 crore. While the chief minister and his ministers travel in the bus, their government vehicles accompany the entourage, which consists of their personal staff and a retinue of civil servants.

While public participation is quite impressive thanks to the CPM’s organisational machinery, doubts have been raised as to the effectiveness of such programmes.

A battalion of civil servants accompany the yatra to accept petitions from the general public. The chief minister or his ministers do not interact with the petitioners. Instead, they only meet “important personalities” (paura pramukhar in Malayalam) of each area covered by the yatra.