Kerala Police use force to remove LPST protester Valarmathi, demolish protest shed

Valarmathi, the secretary of the All Kerala Lower Primary School Teachers (LPST) Rankholders Association who was on an indefinite hunger strike in Thiruvananthapuram, was forcibly removed from the protest site on the night of Wednesday, November 11. The police also took down the protesters’ shed and removed the boards they had put up. 

The police used force to shift Valarmathi to the General Hospital, citing doctor’s concerns as her fast-until-death entered its 16th day. Visuals from the protest site showed Valarmathi lying on a makeshift bed in the protest shed while a doctor examined her, and a group of police officers told her that she was going to be shifted as per the doctor’s instructions. Even as Valarmathi refused to move, the police brought out a stretcher to shift her. 

Other visuals of the police action also showed women police officers carrying Valarmathi away on a stretcher. “Do not take me away, the government should take action,” Valarmathi could be heard saying. She also said, “My body hurts.” The police put her in an ambulance and took her away. 

After the police took Valarmathi despite her resistance, M Jayakrishnan, another rank holder, reportedly began a fast-until-death raising the same demands. Protesters and Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) workers set up another shed in front of the Secretariat soon after the demolition.

The action came hours after the protesters were issued a notice by the Cantonment Police, asking them to remove their makeshift shed and boards on the footpath in front of the state Secretariat. They were reportedly accused of encroaching the footpath. The protesters refused to comply. “The cases registered against us, and the move to take down our sheds are simply aimed at sabotaging the protest,” Valarmathi was quoted as saying by The New Indian Express. 

The Lower Primary School Teachers (LPST) rankholders association has been holding months-long protests in the state, demanding appointments to schools based on the May 2025 rank list published by the Public Service Commission. They are also demanding that the teacher student ratio in the state be set at 1:25, lowered from the current 1:30.