Popular actor and Filmmaker Prithviraj Sukumaran has most eloquently put what most politicians from Southern India are also flagging as a socio political crisis threatening to engulf the idyllic archipelago of Lakshadweep. The Union Territory’s Administrator, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) politician Praful Khoda Patel, a former minister in the Gujarat cabinet of the then Chief MInister Narendra Modi, has cleared a range of ‘proposals’ that include a ban on beef, disqualification of panchayat poll aspirants who have more than two children, and introduction of an anti-goonda Act.

This has led to a major outcry, especially in Kerala, which has a language, and culture in common with the islanders. Actor Prithviraj Sukumaran who shared his long note on Facebook and bravely asked, “How does disrupting the way of life of a centuries old peaceful settlement become an acceptable means of progress? How will threatening the balance of a very delicate island ecosystem with no regard for the potential consequences pave the way for sustainable development?”

https://www.facebook.com/PrithvirajSukumaran/posts/336591017833458

A strong political comment has come from Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who on Tuesday said the changes proposed by Praful Khoda Patel would challenge the “lives, livelihoods and culture” of those who live in Lakshadweep and “cannot be accepted”. He added that “Kerala has a strong relationship, a long history of cooperation” with the islands and thus “Unequivocally condemn devious efforts to thwart it. Perpetrators should desist.”

News reports from Lakshwadeep are quite serious. Challenges imposed on their lives, livelihoods and culture cannot be accepted. Kerala has a strong relationship, a long history of cooperation with LD. Unequivocally condemn devious efforts to thwart it. Perpetrators should desist.

— Pinarayi Vijayan (@vijayanpinarayi) May 25, 2021

Vijayan’s words and reaction was echoed by many LDF and Congress MPs from Kerala, stated news reports. The Telegraph reported that Kerala-based Congress politician V.T. Balram said the administrator has been “executing ‘a Sangh parivar agenda’ since his appointment last December.” As recalled by The Telegraph, in 2010 Patel was appointed Gujarat’s home minister after Amit Shah vacated it following the Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter case. 

Lakshadweep MP Mohammed Faizal PP, has also spoken out and written to the Centre, along with other leaders, demanding that Patel be recalled and his proposals reviewed, reported The Indian Express. Patel, since his appointment has proposed drafts of the Lakshadweep Animal Preservation Regulation, Lakshadweep Prevention of Anti-Social Activities Regulation, Lakshadweep Development Authority Regulation and amendment to the Lakshadweep Panchayat Staff Rules, stated news reports. According to Faizal, the people’s representatives were not consulted in regard to these draft proposals. 

Lakshadweep Development Authority

One of the triggers for the recent uproar is the draft of the Lakshadweep Development Authority, stated news reports. Faizal told the media that this draft “is aimed at usurping people’s land. The Authority will get huge power to take over land without protecting the interests of land owners. There is a move to develop roads as per National Highway standards. Why does Lakshadweep require huge highways? The Administrator is furthering the business interests of people in the mainland.’’

The outrage has set #SaveLakshadweep to trend for hours on end. Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha), Central Committee Member of CPI(M) Elamaram Kareem, also wrote to President Ram Nath Kovind, asking that the “authoritarian Administrator” be called back. He stated that “Kashmir Lakshadweep is the new target of Modi Govt. People there are being tortured under the new Administrator’s rule. Everything to destroy their culture & traditions.”

After Kashmir Lakshadweep is the new target of Modi Govt. People there are being tortured under the new Administrator’s rule. Everything to destroy their culture & traditions. Wrote to @rashtrapatibhvn to immediately call back the authoritarian Administrator.#SaveLakshadweep pic.twitter.com/rzH43wFil1

— Elamaram Kareem (@ElamaramKareem_) May 24, 2021

Ban Beef, crack down on fisherfolk

Then there is the proposal to impose a ban on beef and has been drafted in the Lakshadweep Animal Preservation Regulation proposal. This has contributed to the unrest in the Union Territory where Muslims make over 90 per cent of the population. As per the draft, quoted by the Telegraph, “No person shall directly or indirectly sell, keep, store, transport, offer or expose for sale or buy beef or beef products in any form anywhere in Lakshadweep.” It is crucial to note that meat and fish are a part of the staple diet in Lakshadweep, TT reports that “Patel has cracked down on the fishing community that makes up more than 80 per cent of the local population”. Their temporary huts, sheds, boats, net-drying facilities and storage spaces have been removed from the shores citing “violation of coastal zone norms” by the Patel-led administration, stated the report. CPI Rajya Sabha member Binoy Viswam also wrote to the President stating, “Dairies have been hurt by the ban on cattle sale and transport. None of the decisions has been taken in consultation with local communities or their elected bodies.” 

Meanwhile, liquor licences flow free

Viswam apprised the President that as Muslims are “over 96 per cent of the population” of Lakshadweep, “in accordance with the religious and cultural beliefs of the community, the consumption of alcohol was banned on the islands”, reported TT quoting the letter that added, “However, in a recent decision, the administration has begun issuing liquor licences under the guise of promoting tourism and individual freedom, thereby completely ignoring the socio-cultural context of the area.”

Covid crisis, after zero cases last year?

Another point that is most relevant as the nation grapples with the Covid-19, is the fact that Lakshadweep, which had “zero Covid-19 cases” in 2020, reported 6,611 cases on Sunday, according to news reports. Lakshadweep has “over 4,000 cases with over 20 deaths already,” Viswam has written to Kovind, adding, “Further, the pressure on the health infrastructure of the islands has increased manifold leaving the population vulnerable and worried.”

According to Lakshadweep MP Mohammed Faizal PP, “The administrator lifted all Covid regulatory norms,” and that “people arriving from outside were earlier required to quarantine themselves, but Patel relaxed those norms in the name of promoting tourism”. 

Patel, recalled news reports, is the first politician since Independence to be appointed the islands’ topmost official authority. Before that the Administrator was always a senior civil servant.

Related:

Unnao: Faisal Hussain died after head injury, had 12 contusions on body
Cow vigilantes assault Muslim man, cops file case against 
3 Jhansi junior doctors detained, allegedly manhandled for trying to approach UP CM

The post Lakshadweep: Beef Ban, Goonda Act proposed by Administrator Praful Khoda Patel appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The Allahabad High Court has quashed an externment order passed against a man while observing that the authorities did not consider tangible and relevant material before deeming him a “goonda” under the Uttar Pradesh Control of Goondas Act. The bench of Justice JJ Munir quashed the order which had already expired, but yet found it necessary to quash it, as the reputation of the petitioner was at stake. The court held that the externment order adversely impacted his reputation in the society and even if the order has expired, he is entitled to question its validity and ask the court to quash it.

An order of externment was passed against the petitioner, Pavan Singhal by District Magistrate, under section 3 (3) of the Uttar Pradesh Control of Goondas Act. The same was affirmed by Commissioner, Agra Division in May 2019.

The Additional Government Advocate (AGA) submitted that the externment order issued in March 2019 was valid for a period of 6 months and the same has not expired hence the petition has become infructuous. The petitioner however, argued that the externment order adversely impacted his reputation in the society and even if the order has expired, he is entitled to question its validity and ask the court to quash it.

The court compared the externment to the preventive detention order under the National Security Act (NSA) which may not cast any stigma but once a person is externed and classified as a goonda, the order is stigmatic. “An order of externment is a serious inroad on a citizen’s liberty,” the court said. The court opined that the petitioner is entitled to question the externment order, notwithstanding that order outrunning its life, as it would not be a sound legal proposition to say that a man may have to suffer the slur of Goonda because he was unable to get the order quashed while it was still valid.

The court observed that right to reputation is unquestionably a facet of right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution as affirmed by the apex court in many precedents. The court opined, “In the context of how the Right to Reputation is viewed by the law, it would be almost preposterous to suggest that the physical consequences of an externment order having come to an end, no cause of action survives to the petitioner to assail it”. The court examined externment under the Goondas Act and observed that the consequence of such an order is that it curtails the liberty of a person, but the same is of trivial consequence if weighed against the harm it brings to the reputation of the person. The externment order proceeds on an innate declaration that the person is a goonda and a goonda is the antithesis of what a respectable or honourable man is, the court said.

The counsel for the petitioner pointed out that apart from the fact that he is not a goonda, the order passed was flawed because it did not conform to the requirements of the Act as it does not carry the “general nature of material allegations” against him. Thus, the notice is bad in law, he contended.

After going through the cases registered against the petitioner, the court concluded that there is no tangible material referred to in the impugned orders on the basis of which, an inference may be drawn that the petitioner is a person who is desperate and dangerous to the community. The court stated that to conclude that the petitioner is a goonda on mere registration of crime, without any tangible material, such an order would be vitiated for lack of consideration of relevant material.

After perusal of the externment order passed by the DM and the confirmation of the same by the Commissioner, the court held that both orders “betray a very casual approach and an utter lack of application of mind to the relevant material on record”. The court stated that both “Authorities have shown scant regard to their duty to find out whether the petitioner’s act can, indeed, qualify him as a goonda”.

The court further said that a notice under section 3(1) of the Act “must say something about the act, which the person put under notice has done, rather than listing the cases registered against him.”

The court deemed both orders to be vitiated by defects and quashed them.

The complete order may be read here:

Related:

Gyanvapi case: Pleas before Allahabad HC challenging ASI survey order

Allahabad HC refuses pre-arrest bail to PFI member for alleged remarks against Ayodhya temple

UP: More than a third of NSA cases about cow slaughter, majority quashed by HC

The post Allahabad HC quashes expired externment order under Goonda Act, says tarnishes reputation appeared first on SabrangIndia.