Onam festival is round the corner, but students in Kerala have still not received their textbooks for Onam examinations, sparking protests in various parts of the state.
A protest march by Student's Federation of India (SFI) activists turned violent in Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode on Monday, 6 July, when the police resorted to tear gas shelling, water cannons and lathi charge.
The protesters were demanding the resignation of Kerala education minister Abdu Rabb for postponing Onam exams to 9 September in view of the delay in printing the textbooks.
Reports from Kerala say the protesters threw stones at the police and destroyed an ambulance.
Delay in textbook distribution: SFI march turns violent http://t.co/tffAnkH4g8 pic.twitter.com/RyD0Efiyhk
— Manorama Online (@manoramaonline) July 6, 2015
Even as the controversy raged, Congress MLA VT Balram apparently took a dig at the education minister in his recent Facebook post. On Sunday, Balram posted a photo of a school girl talking to him, with a caption in Malayalam, which translates into: "She didn't ask about textbooks :-)".
The photo has gone viral among Kerala social media users, with many sharing and commenting about it.
ഇവൾ ചോദിച്ചത് പാഠപുസ്തകത്തേക്കുറിച്ചല്ല :)
Posted by VT Balram on Saturday, 4 July 2015
