Is Kerala heading towards a flashpoint over prolonging lockdown restrictions?
Kerala seems to be heading towards a flashpoint with a section of traders making a call to defy the prolonging lockdown restrictions and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan issuing a warning that those defying the restrictions would be 'dealt with'. While a section of traders announced that from Thursday restrictions like alternate working day system for non-essential services and shops would be defied, it was postponed by evening as the Chief Minister reportedly invited the representatives of traders for talks. The resentment over the prolonging restrictions, that was in place from first week of May, was also felt in the Malayalam film industry as makers of at least five films, which are under various stages of production, decided to shift locations to other states. Various segments of industries, ranging from beauticians to catering service providers, have been staging demonstrations against the prolonging restrictions. Read: Decoding no mask-no distancing public recklessness  Vijayan's stubborn reaction to a call by the traders to defy the restrictions had further aggravated the protest. He told reporters that the restrictions could not be eased further at this point of time as Covid test positivity rate (TPR) of the state was still high. He further added that if norms were flouted, it would be "dealt with" and traders should "beware of it before making such game plans." These remarks of Vijayan invited severe criticisms from Congress and BJP state leaders who accused Vijayan of not trying to understand the hardships of the thousands of traders owing to loss of business. They also flayed that Vijayan was speaking like a party leader and not an a chief minister. Both Congress and BJP also offered support to traders who called for defying the restrictions. Though the government initiated talks with traders on Wednesday to pursue them not to defy the restrictions, the Vyapari Vyavasayi Ekopana Samthi leaders and even some prominent pro-left traders and a former left front MLA V K C Mammed Koya had taken a stand against the prolonging restrictions. This had put the government in a tight spot. By evening Samathi state president T Nseeruddin said that the traders were postponing their plans to defy the restrictions from Thursday as the Chief Minister invited them for talks on Friday. A section of traders even expressed concerns that the prolonging restrictions on retail traders were only helping e-commerce giants as their businesses were remaining unaffected. Meanwhile, the lockdown restrictions like limited working hours for shops selling essential commodities, alternate days working system for shops selling non-essential commodities as well as services and the weekend total lockdown has been inviting widespread criticism as it was allegedly causing unnecessary rush at shops. The lack of stringent enforcement of social distancing norms at shops was also being talked about. Even as the state government was justifying that they were going by recommendations of experts, it was learnt that even some members of the government's expert committee on Covid were not favouring the prolonging restrictions.