The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Muslim Youth League (MYL) took out protest marches in Kozhikode on Saturday, demanding the resignation of Higher Education Minister K.T. Jaleel who has been quizzed by the Enforcement Directorate officials.

BJP Kozhikode district president V.K. Sajeevan on Saturday said the Minister no longer had any ethical or legal right to stay in office. Inaugurating a protest of BJP activists, he said the Minister faced grave charges of anti-national activities and was challenging the people of the State by desperately clinging to his chair. The Minister also tried to hoodwink the Muslim community by claiming that he had received copies of the Quran through the diplomatic baggage, said Mr. Sajeevan.

He said Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan would not be able to continue supporting Dr. Jaleel for long in the gold smuggling case. The Chief Minister could not evade responsibility for the actions of his colleague, he added.

The BJP workers took out a march from the district committee office at Tali and picketed Palayam Road. They were blocked by the police at Palayam.

MYL activists took out a march to the office of the District Police Chief (Kozhikode City) on Saturday, seeking Dr. Jaleel’s resignation.

The police erected barricades and used water cannons to disperse the protesters to prevent them from barging into the office. MYL State general secretary P.K. Firos, who inaugurated the protest, said it was for the first time in the history of the State that a Minister had to present himself before an investigating agency.

He ridiculed Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan for trying to protect Dr. Jaleel. The Chief Minister, who had suspended his Principal Secretary M. Sivasankar after allegations were raised of his link with Swapna Suresh, a key accused in the gold smuggling case, was feeling very nervous to sack Dr. Jaleel, said the MYL leader.

Mr. Firos said his organisation would intensify the agitation until the Minister was removed.