THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A day after CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said that the strike by nuns, demanding the bishop’s arrest, is ill motivated, state ministers expressed varying views on the strike. Balakrishnan had said on Thursday that the hunger strike in Kochi was part of a political campaign that had petty interests.When reporters sought industries minister EP Jayarajan’s stand on the issue, he said the government would always support the survivor and the protesting nuns. You should better ask Kodiyeri if clarification is needed in his statement, he said.Balakrishnan clarified his stand on the issue through an article in party mouthpiece Deshabhimani on Friday. He wrote that all those who believe in democratic-secular forces should understand the dangers behind the attempts made by political forces to hijack the nuns’ strike to trigger a string of protests across the state.Minister for fisheries Mercykutty Amma told the media that there was ‘no communal force behind the strike’. Nuns have the right to stage a protest. There was no need to feel bad about it, she said.

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