Thiruvananthapuram : The ongoings in Lakshadweep aim to destroy the traditional lifestyle of its people and carry out Sangh Parivar’s agenda for the island, said Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan while presenting resolution as per rule 118 in the Assembly on Monday.
What initially started with dabbing trunk of coconut palms with saffron paint, has rapidly expanded to crushing the lives and social bonds of the residents on the island. Banners in protest of CAA have been removed and steps initiated to track and arrest those who put them there, said CM.
The islanders are a peaceful community who typically overwhelm guests with their love and hospitality. In a settlement where crimes are extremely rare, the authorities are now preparing to bring in the Goonda Act. These preparations foreshadow measures that will tackle brewing protests when they become fullblown. And, dictatorial governance will expand its grip all over the island.
The plan is also to destroy the main livelihood of the islanders, namely fishing. Tents where the fishermen traditionally stored their boat and nets have all been destroyed. Steps have also been initiated to ban beef – a staple food of majority people there. Sangh Parivar is thus carrying out its cow-slaughter ban agenda through backdoor. Measures are being taken to shut down dairy farms and ban slaughter of cow or sale of its meat. In this manner, the island’s Administrator is going about destroying the lifestyle and livelihoods of its people, said CM.
Moves are set in motion to override democracy and establish bureaucratic high-handedness. The powers of District Panchayat and Island’s Village Panchayat have been now brought under the Administrator. Fishing, Health, Education, Animal Conservation and Agricultural sectors have been removed from the purview of the District Panchayat’s control.
The Administrator who never had powers inside of these sectors is now in charge of them – a switch made possible by bringing out just one government order. The order allows government to install its choice officials on the island and destroy its existential democracy.
A strange law has now come into being with regard to elections. Those having more than two children cannot contest for panchayat elections. A law of this kind is unheard of anywhere in our country. The law will render majority islanders ineligible for contesting polls.
No outsider was allowed to buy land in Lakshadweep up to now – an age-old law designed to preserve the island’s ecology and culture. This kind of law has been applied to several sensitive places in our country. However all that is about to change, with Centre new laws for the island.
Lakshadweep and Kerala has shared close ties – a bond that dates back to centuries. Before the British colonised India, Kannur-based Arrakkal royalty ruled that Island and it was part of Malabar District until 1956.
The culture and lifestyle of Lakshadweep people bear marked resemblance to people of Kerala. They mostly speak Malayalam and much of their schools are either Malayalam or English medium. Also, several of their important establishments including the High Court is located in Kochi and much of the cargo into and fro the Island transits via Kochi and Kozhikode’s Beypore ports.
Efforts are now on to destroy this kind of longstanding mutuality. Invasion of Lakshadweep’s traditional lifestyle and the island’s unique heritage cannot be accepted. All over the world, any attempt to crush down an ingenious culture has always met with stiff protests. There are several communities around the globe who now live alienated in their own homeland. We must take lessons from those instances and prevent such occurrences in our own country.
Segregational moves have always worked in favour of forces opposing our country’s unity. Thus from historical perspective too , future of Lakshadweep appears grim and worrisome.
The prospect of darkness engulfing the island is on minds of all Indians – a sentiment that Kerala shares in all its entirety.
Ongoing attempts to crush cultural identity and values of a populace surpasses high-handedness of even the colonial rulers and it is a style that’s alien to the multi-faceted culture of democracy. Therefore one and all who believe in democratic values should protest against actions on part of the Lakshadweep Administrator.
The current happenings in Lakshadweep should be viewed as experiment lab for the Sangh Parivar which is trying to convert the people’s culture, language, lifestyle and food in line with its perceptions.
They are destroying livelihoods of the people and stealthily rolling out red carpet for the corporates. We should strongly oppose these attempts meant to enslave a population to corporate interests and Hindutva politics . Only then would we be able to protect the diversity and unity envisaged by our National Freedom Movement, said CM.
The Central government is responsible to protect the heritage and culture of the people of Lakshadweep – a terrain directly under its control. It should therefore lift the Administrator’s orders that runs contrary to that obligation. A resolution in this regard seeking to protect the livelihood and culture of the islanders was passed in one voice at the Assembly today.
