Aisha Sultana, a native of Lakshadweep’s Chetlat island, is today one of India’s visible faces in the cry for justice! She is a well-known actor and director and an activist. Lakshadweep, a Union Territory, is an archipelago of 36 islands in the Arabian Sea: a paradise with pristine beauty. Its 70,000-strong population is predominantly Muslim (with smaller percentages of Hindus and Christians); although the people of Lakshadweep have strong ties with Kerala (the nearest place to the Indian mainland), they have a distinct social and cultural identity.

Recently, the current administrator (a hard-line politician of the ruling party) introduced a slew of draft legislation, which has sparked widespread protests not only in Lakshadweep but all over the country. The proposed policies are clearly anti-people and unjust, bound to have a wide-ranging impact on the islands: on the lives and livelihoods of Lakshadweep’s residents. A land development plan gives the administrator vast powers to take over land and relocate people, and provides for stringent penalties for those who resist. The plan allows for mining and exploitation of mineral resources in the islands. Under the new rules, the slaughter of cows and transport of beef products has been made an offense. The Prevention of Anti-Social Activities (PASA) Regulation provides for detention of a person without any public disclosure for a period of up to a year. The legislations are clearly designed to help the crony capitalist friends of the ruling regime!

During a debate on a Malayalam news channel recently, Sultana blamed the administrator for the surge in coronavirus cases in the Union Territory. She said the Centre was using him as a “bio-weapon” against the people of Lakshadweep. A case of sedition was filed against her with the complainant accusing her of “anti-national comments” and “tarnishing the patriotic image of the central government”. Aisha has plenty of support coming her way with many saying that the filmmaker was only speaking for the rights of the people on the islands and about the administrator’s “unscientific, irresponsible draconian decisions”. On 17 June, the Kerala High Court granted her interim bail if she is arrested but also directed her to appear before the police in Lakshadweep for interrogation.

Then we have the case of the three anti-CAA student activists: Natasha Narwal and Devangana Kalita, from the JNU (members of women’s rights group Pinjra Tod), and Jamia Millia Islamia student Asif Iqbal Tanha; all three of them were languishing in jail for more than a year, incarcerated under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). On 15 June, the Delhi High Court granted bail to the three of them. The Court order was a singular blow for freedom of speech and expression and the right to dissent. Among other things the order said, “In its anxiety to suppress dissent, in the mind of the State, the line between constitutionally guaranteed right to protest and terrorist activity seems to be getting somewhat blurred” …”If this mindset gains traction, it would be a sad day for democracy.” The court also said there was a “complete lack of any specific, factual allegations…. other than those spun by mere grandiloquence” and “(such serious sections) must be applied in a just and fair way, lest it unjustly ropes within its ambit persons whom the Legislature never intended to punish.”

The court said that in establishing a prima facie case under the UAPA provisions, there have to be “specific or particularised” allegations. It notes that the prosecution has only made inferences about three activists, using “hyperbolic verbiage.” Adding, “Allegations relating to inflammatory speeches, organising of chakka jaam, instigating women to protest and to stock-pile various articles and other similar allegations, in our view, at worst, are evidence that the appellant participated in organising protests, but we can discern no specific or particularised allegation, much less any material to bear-out the allegation, that the appellant incited violence, what to talk of committing a terrorist act or a conspiracy or act preparatory to the commission of a terrorist act as understood in the UAPA.”

At the core of the High Court judgement are two principles fleshed out in assertive language. Primarily, unless the ingredients of the UAPA are clearly made out in the conduct of the accused, protest and dissent cannot be outlawed by labelling them as a terrorist act. Secondly, UAPA can be applied only in exceptional circumstances. The draconian law cannot be invoked for crimes that do not fall under these exceptions, however egregious they might be; by establishing these principles and making several other crucial points, the Court has managed to put important fetters on the abuse of the UAPA provisions.

The Delhi Police (directly controlled by the Central Government) however, are unhappy with this judgement. They delayed releasing the three activists on bail, for more than two days and of course, they challenged the validity of the judgement in the Supreme Court. On 18 June, in their prayer, the Delhi Police wanted the Apex Court to stay the High Court order because they felt that it virtually records the acquittal of the accused and others would seek bail using this as precedent. The Supreme Court however, upheld the Delhi High Court’s order granting the three activists bail. It also added that the Court’s verdict of bail for the three – charged with conspiracy under strict anti-terror law UAPA – could not be used as precedent for future cases. What was indeed ‘surprising’ was the comment of the Supreme Court saying that the verdict of the Delhi High Court was ‘surprising!’ It agreed, however, to examine the legal aspects of the High Court verdict, and said the case would be taken up next month. Some of the recent blatantly biased pronouncements by the Apex Court make most concerned citizens wince!!

The UAPA is draconian and anti-Constitutional. It has been used selectively to crush voices of dissent and throttle those who take up cudgels on behalf of those crying out for justice: the Dalits and the Adivasis, the migrant workers and the slum-dwellers, the excluded and the exploited. We see it the case of Fr Stan Swamy and the fifteen others incarcerated in the Bhima-Koregaon conspiracy case. There are hundreds in jail today, like Umar Khalid and Siddique Kappan, under the UAPA, not because they are terrorists but because they dared to take on a corrupt and fascist regime. There is absolutely no doubt about that. Journalists and academics, as we saw in the case of Sulabh Shrivastava in UP, are killed because they demonstrated the courage to confront the mafia.

The nation is fuming just now as more than a hundred thousand residents of the Khori village on the Delhi-Haryana border under the jurisdiction of the Faridabad Municipal Corporation, are being evicted from their homes following a Supreme Court order of 7 June. The order said that the Khori basti is an encroachment on the Aravalli Forest land and so deemed it fit to order the municipal corporation to undertake evictions using force if needed. The vast majority of the Khori residents are ordinary workers of the NCR. They perform a range of services that are essential for the Capital. The early residents were quarry workers who got stuck in a vicious cycle of debt to the quarry contractors. Over the years, urban poor who have been displaced from various bastis in Delhi to make way for urban development projects have also settled here. A large group also comprises low-income families who have migrated from the neighbouring states in search of jobs. It is true that the land of Khori Gaon officially belongs to the government; but these residents have been sold little parcels of land by dubious land dealers through power of attorney documents. The houses they have built are their entire life’s savings. Over the years they have spent their meagre resources to obtain water and electricity services. Among the one hundred thousand to be displaced are apparently more than 5,000 pregnant and lactating women and over 20,000 minors.

Ordinary people: casual workers, daily wage earners, migrant workers, the unemployed bear the brunt of an inhuman and unjust system which caters to the whims and fancies, the profiteering of a few privileged elite!  An important report ‘No Country for Workers’ released on 16 June highlights this painful reality. The report by the Stranded Workers Action Network (SWAN) focuses on the ‘COVID-19 Second Wave, Local Lockdowns and Migrant Worker distress in India’. The Report states that 92 percent of India’s workforce faces historic and unprecedented crisis and it relays the struggles of workers in their own words, the limited action taken by the central and state governments to arrest the continuing and alarming level of distress.  Mainstream media today has conveniently obliterated the ongoing farmer’s protest. It is more than seven months now and the farmers are unrelenting. They are clear, that despite all the difficulties and the suffering that they have to go through the three anti-farmer laws must be repealed totally and unconditionally by the Government!

There are the so-called ‘love jihad’ laws which are patently unconstitutional, which deny an adult citizen the freedom to marry the person of his/her choice and for that matter also to embrace the religion of his/her choice. Already on 18 June a first arrest was made in Gujarat (and two days later, the second arrest) under the amended law which came into effect on 15 June. In Gujarat the rights of minorities to administer their educational institutions are systematically being abrogated.

From Aisha Sultana to Natasha, Devangana Kalita and Asif ; from Khori to Lakshadweep; from the Tihar jail to Taloja jail: from Fr Stan to Umar; from the BK16 to the other UAPA incarcerated; from Sulabh to Siddique; from the farmers to the workers; from the unemployed to the refugees; from the minorities to the marginalised; from the caregivers to the academics; from the toolkits to brazen headlines; from rising costs of essential commodities   to the scandalous growing gap between the rich and the poor-the cries for justice in India, have never been so unified, shrill and clear! Every section of the country is today saying ‘enough is enough’ to the blatant and insensitive lack of political will to adhere to the tenets of the Constitution, to democratic values and the fundamental rights of all citizens. Until the time that becomes a reality, the nation will continue to cry for justice!

(The author is a human rights and peace activist/writer)

The post Lakshwadeep to Delhi: Together a cry for justice appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The Kerala High Court has issued directions to the Chief Judicial Magistrate at Amani, Lakshadweep, for the release of island residents who were detained by the administration in connection with protests against the proposed controversial regulations that includes a ban on beef, disqualification of panchayat poll aspirants who have more than two children, and introduction of an Anti-Goonda Act.

Without entering into the merits of the case, Justices A Muhamed Mustaque and Dr Kauser Edappagath said, “The most important concern for us is the liberty of the persons who are in custody. They shall not be deprived of the means of access to justice.”

The writ petition filed before the court contended that although the offences invoked against the detained protesters are bailable, the Executive Magistrate remanded them for no reason. The counsel appearing for Lakshadweep submitted that the Station House Officer and the Executive Magistrate were prepared to release them on bail but they refused to get released on bail. This was denied by the petitioner’s counsel, Advocate R. Rohith, who alleged that no such attempt was made either by the Executive Magistrate or the Station House Officer.

The Bench took up the case of protesters on June 1 and observed, “It is appropriate in such circumstance to direct the CJM, Amini, to take up the case of the persons, who have been in custody pursuant to registration of the case by SHO of Kilthan Island by 3pm today. The physical production of the persons in custody is not necessary. The fourth and fifth respondent are directed to take steps for the production of accused persons before the CJM through video conference.”

Further, the High Court also said that the Chief Judicial Magistrate can hold sessions through video conference through the nearest National Informatics Centre or by using any other convenient mode like Google Meet, WhatsApp video call etc. “The CJM can order release of such persons on execution of self-bond or on conditions he deems fit to impose”, said the Bench.

Bharatiya Janata Party leader Praful Khoda Patel has suggested some draft rules, which includes some proposals that would give him powers to remove or relocate islanders from their own property for town planning or development. The rules also allow some businesses to sell alcohol, which is seen as offending religious sentiments of the islanders and ignoring the socio-cultural context of the area.

The matter will be heard today, on June 2.

The order may be read here: 

Related:

Lakshadweep: Beef Ban, Goonda Act proposed by Administrator Praful Khoda Patel
AIKS calls for the sacking of Lakshadweep administrator Praful Patel

The post Kerala HC orders the release of people detained for protesting new rules in Lakshadweep appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Members of the Wayanad Prakruti Samrakshana Samiti (WPSS) in Kerala appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 25, 2021 to immediately stop all “reforms” recently introduced in Lakshadweep as they will affect the life and livelihood of the community there.

“We are a group of concerned citizens, who have been shocked since a few days with news about the happenings in Lakshadweep. We call for an urgent review of recent draconian changes that should be implemented only after a thorough consultative process. The programs being planned there should have a long-term vision that takes into consideration regional, need based, consultative approach rather than the top-bottom way being envisaged now,” said WPSS President N. Badusha in the letter, also sent to Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Lakshadweep Administrator Praful Khoda Patel.

The changes referred to draft proposals such as the Lakshadweep Animal Preservation Regulation, Lakshadweep Prevention of Anti-Social Activities Regulation, Lakshadweep Development Authority Regulation and amendment to the Lakshadweep Panchayat Staff Rules, that did not consult people’s representatives prior to their introduction. Moreover, the severe changes in a Muslim-dominated area was seen as a discriminatory move by the ruling government.

Badusha said that various studies by credible historical, cultural and ecological institutions have proved that the stability of coral reefs that protect the islands was nurtured and maintained by the culture of the homogenous community of islanders. They built an ecosystem-based economy linked to fishing through cooperation, tolerance and mutual dependence. Yet the recent changes do not consider or respect the time-tested ways of land use, ocean resource utilisation and or livelihood options adopted by the community, said the letter.

It argued that instead of the Lakshadweep Development Authority Regulation 2021, the Planning and Development program, beef ban, etc. the government should work on access to safe and secure healthcare, education, just governance, food security and livelihood options connected to the island’s ecosystem. Such measures will work towards preserving human rights, democracy and ethnicity of the island community as envisioned in the Preamble to the Indian constitution.

“We look upon you with expectation and hope that you will intervene and set things right in the coral islands where each citizen has equal rights to options of livelihood, nutrition, land use and all other choices that hold a community together. We have much to learn from this community and let us not miss the chance and be remembered as being part of a generation that conducted a deliberate overkill of a way of life,” said the letter.

Related:

Lakshadweep: Praful Khoda Patel’s proposals will destroy life of the people, warn experts
Kerala HC refuses to stay Draft Lakshadweep Development Authority 
Lakshadweep: Is Praful Khoda Patel fishing in troubled waters now?
Lakshadweep: Beef Ban, Goonda Act proposed by Administrator Praful Khoda 

The post Wayanad citizens demand immediate end to draconian changes in Lakshadweep appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Kerala Assembly has unanimously passed a resolution demanding the urgent removal of new Lakshadweep administrator Praful Khoda Patel. The resolution was moved by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, against a series of measures adopted and proposals made by Lakshadweep administrator Praful Khoda Patel. According to news reports the resolution states, “In the name of promoting tourism, the culture and essence of Lakshadweep itself is being negated.” 

Adding that the Union Territory administration is “officially sabotaging the basic responsibility of protecting the lives of people” and that residents of the islands are concerned about the attempts to “encroach upon their cultural and specific features”.

GoI has responsibility to protect UT of LD, its people & its diversities. Current Administrator should be removed right away. KLA unanimously passed a resolution seeking immediate Central intervention. Kerala stands in solidarity with the people of Lakshadweep.

— Pinarayi Vijayan (@vijayanpinarayi) May 31, 2021

The resolution was unanimously passed in Kerala Legislative Assembly seeking the removal of Lakshadweep Administrator Praful Patel to be called back. According to news reports, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, asked for the Union government to take cognisance of and intervene, “It is the Union government’s responsibility to ensure that people’s interest should be protected… The Administrator, who is challenging the interests of the people, must be removed and the Centre must take immediate action to protect the lives and the livelihood of people of Lakshadweep.” He added that the new proposals were an attempt to foist the right wing’s saffron agenda, the goings on at Lakshadweep he said was “an experiment of the Sangh Parivar agenda”. 

According to a report in India Today, the CM said, “It began with painting coconut trees saffron and now it has reached a stage where the livelihood, culture of the people is being affected.” The Kerala CM said an attempt is also being made for corporate interests in Lakshadweep. He recalled that the administration had moved to arrest protestors who made banners against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). The Chief Minister said that Lakshadweep is a place where a crime rarely happens, yet the Administrator is bringing the Goonda Act. According to the CM, “It is to deal with such protests (as the one against CAA) that such moves are made.”

He also alleged that the Administration was trying to destroy the fishing industry, the local’s primary source of income. On the proposed beef ban, which is being seen as a trademark right wing move to impact the Muslim, Christian popultion as well, the CM said, “The Administrator will kill the lives and culture of the people there bit by bit.”

Even the Kerala Opposition agrees with the CM

Opposition leader VD Satheesan told the media that, “A cultural invasion is happening in Lakshadweep by the Union government through the Administrator, forcing anti-democratic ways and destroying human rights of the innocent people of Lakshadweep.” According to news reports this is the first resolution to be moved in the House since the new government was elected.

Why are MPs not allowed to visit the islands?

Speaking to SabrangIndia CPI(M) Member of Parliament (RS) from Kerala, Elamaram Kareem, said the Patel administration had cited Covid-19 protocol to prevent him, and other leaders such as AM Ariff and V Sivadasan, from visiting  the islands. “We are not going as tourists, we are MPs, and want to see the situation first hand and talk to the people. We will carry Rt-Pcr reports as needed for travel, but as Parliamentarians we cannot be stopped from travelling to the Union Territory,” he said. The political unrest and the protests against  Administrator Praful Khoda Patel is not sudden, it has been simmering on the Lakshadweep for the past six months, since Patel’s appointment. Now the delegation of MPs’s who were planning to visit Lakshadweep were told to “plan the proposed visit on a later date”. 

Kerala stands in solidarity with the people of Lakshadweep. State Assembly unanimously passed a resolution tabled by CM @vijayanpinarayi & demanded for urgent removal of the authoritarian Administrator who is trying to implement saffron agenda & corporate interests in the island.

— Elamaram Kareem (@ElamaramKareem_) May 31, 2021

They just want to keep us away from speaking to the people at Lakshadweep and see the reality said Kareem. The letter of denial as it were came from the Additional District Magistrate, Collectorate, Kavaratti. It informed the MPs that there was a mandatory seven day quarantine for visitors from the mainland under the Covid-19 Protocol that is in place. However, it did not stop there and let the MPs decide on the quarantine, but advised them to “visit on a later date,” adding that the administration “would like to host you in the islands as and when the COVID situation improves in the islands.” However Kareem alleged that Lakshadweep administration was using the protocol to  “hide reality”.  “We are going for an investigation, a fact-check visit to see the impact of the proposed “reforms”. We are not going for tourism,” said Kareem, who is leader of CPM MPs in the Rajya Sabha. 

He said the three-member delegation of MPs from Kerala that apart from him included V Sivadasan (Rajya Sabha) and A M Ariff are going to continue seeking a way to visit the islands soon as elected Members of Parliament, “it is our right to visit any place in the country and we expect the authorities concerned of the UT of Lakshadweep will facilitate our visit,” Kareem’s told SabrangIndia. Meanwhile, Lakshadweep MP Mohammed Faizal told SabgrangIndia that he was going to meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday and request him to urgently recall Prafull Khoda Patel as the Administrator of the islands.

Related:

Lakshadweep: Praful Khoda Patel’s proposals will destroy life of the people
Kerala HC refuses to stay Draft Lakshadweep Development Authority 
Lakshadweep: Is Praful Khoda Patel fishing in troubled waters now?

The post First coconut trees painted saffron, now livelihood, culture threatened: Pinarayi Vijayan on Lakshadweep Admin appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Mohini Giri, Former Chair National Commission for Women; Wajahat Habibullah, Former Administrator of Lakshadweep and Chair National  Commission for Minorities and Syeda Hameed, Former Member Planning Commission I/C Andaman & Nicobar and Lakshadweep, eminent citizens, experts on demographics and policy of the Lakshadweep archipelago and human rights, have written to M. Venkaiah Naidu, Vice President of India bring to his attention the ongoings crisis in the Union Territory. The experts also sent a copy of the letter to Governor of Kerala Arif Mohammed Khan, stating that the recent policy changes, which were “proposed unilaterally and arbitrarily, have given no consideration to matters like land use, land ownership, ocean resource utilisation and livelihood practices of the community.” 

They write that they fear that the recent plans of Lakshadweep Development Authority Regulation 2021 (LDAR) “will destroy the islands, the life and the livelihood of the island people.” The three experts have all been a part of various government appointed offices and have been observers of the developments of the archipelago for decades. They write that the “ethnic community structure of this unique land lying afloat the mighty Arabian Sea” has withstood the “vagaries of the ocean and weather” and mention that many studies have proven how the “stability of the coral reefs that protect the islands has been maintained by the lifestyle and culture of the community which lives there. The island people have found a way to cope with the limitations of land and fresh water availability. Their social fabric is built on an ecosystem based economy linked to fishing and anchored in the cooperation, tolerance, acceptance and mutual dependence which exists there.”

Insult to injury is added they stated as “the culture and traditions of the people who live there have been violated by intervention into their food ethos (beef ban, opening liquor shops etc). Their traditional methods of decision-making of democratic decentralisation are poised to be torn apart by these changes.”

The carrying capacity of the 32 square km area of the inhabited islands, will be “stretched to the limit by indiscriminate expansion of tourism and the various projects proposed under the euphemistic title of ‘Planning and Development’,” they write, adding that “this will destroy the life of the people.”

“We condemn this move of an individual who holds a position of authority in a politically and geographically sensitive area,” they warned that a “law and order situation will likely result from all the above stated arbitrary and irresponsible moves” and urged the VP to “halt the implementation of LDAR 2021 and other repressive orders that are underway”. They asked that the “urgent review in consultation with local bodies” be set up. “The changes being proposed are stated to be for the ‘welfare of the human community’ which means a thorough consultative process by the said ‘human community’,” they reminded. 

The plans “need a vision that takes into consideration a consultative approach rather than be imposed from the top. If access to resources, human rights, secularism, democracy and ethnicity of the island community is to be preserved, your timely intervention will uphold the Preamble to the Constitution of India,” write the experts. They stated that the Lakshadweep islands need “access to safe and secure healthcare, education, just governance, food security and livelihood options linked with their ecosystem, including the rich resource of tuna fishery in surrounding waters.”

The Full Text of the letter may be read here:

Related:

Kerala HC refuses to stay Draft Lakshadweep Development Authority 
Lakshadweep: Is Praful Khoda Patel fishing in troubled waters now?
IKS calls for the sacking of Lakshadweep administrator Praful Patel
Lakshadweep: Beef Ban, Goonda Act proposed by Administrator Praful Khoda 

The post Lakshadweep: Praful Khoda Patel’s proposals will destroy life of the people, warn experts appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking him to intervene and stop what is being perceived as destructive policy changes being proposed by the Union Territory Administrator Praful Koda Patel in Lakshadweep. Pawar said that these were “unwarranted and irrational decisions” by the Lakshadweep Administrator and will “lead to the destruction of traditional means of  livelihood and the unique culture of Lakshadweep”. He amplified the issues raised by Lakshadweep’s Member of Parliament  P. P. Mohammed Faizal.

I would like to draw Hon’ble PM’s kind attention towards certain serious concerns raised by Shri P. P. Mohammed Faizal, MP (Lok Sabha), Lakshadweep, with regard to the policy decisions taken by the newly appointed Administrator of #Lakshadweep.@PMOIndia @narendramodi pic.twitter.com/fgCKvQMESL

— Sharad Pawar (@PawarSpeaks) May 26, 2021

Earlier, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had minced no words and hit out at those he called “ignorant bigots in power” and accused them “of destroying the islands”. The Congress has already demanded that Patel be “immediately removed” as Lakshadweep administrator, and alleged that the proposals he has presented threatened the “peace and culture of the islands” and that his arbitrary restrictions were “harassing” people. Rahul Gandhi called Lakshadweep “India’s jewel in the ocean. The ignorant bigots in power are destroying it.” Congress also alleged that the Administrator’s move to allow liquor on the islands, and the Prevention of Anti-Social Activity (PASA) Act have all been done to harass locals, take away powers of panchayats.

Lakshadweep is India’s jewel in the ocean.

The ignorant bigots in power are destroying it.

I stand with the people of Lakshadweep.

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) May 26, 2021

However, that is the Opposition’s point of view. What really should worry the Administrator is the resignation of eight office-bearers of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Lakshadweep unit. According to a report in the Indian Express, these leaders have quit “in protest against Patel’s arbitrary actions”. The local BJP unit had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 20, conveying their grievances against Patel, added the report.

While the unit’s president Abdul Khader Haji backs Patel, its general secretary Mohammad Kasim “calls him “authoritarian” stated the IE. The BJP is reportedly divided on the issue. According to the IE report, even in Kerala’s culturally the sister state of Lakshadweep, some BJP members back the UT Administrator Praful Patel, while other leaders call his decisions “unilateral.” The report quoted an unnamed senior BJP leader at the Centre saying, he disapproved of the developments in Lakshadweep and that “Patel should have taken people into confidence.” However, there is no denying the fact that Praful Khoda Patel, a former minister in the Gujarat cabinet of the then Chief MInister Narendra Modi, is close to the PM, as well as Home Minister Amit Shah. He was not even scathed by the recent controversy after Mohan Delkar, a seven-term Lok Sabha MP from Dadra and Nagar Haveli, committed suicide. According to the Indian Express report, Dalkar’s son had accused Patel, who was then the Administrator of Daman and Diu, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli, of harassing his father. 

According to the news report, Patel has also been criticised by the BJP general secretary Mohammad Kasim who called him “authoritarian” adding that the proposals were “not in the interests of people on the islands.” He too had written to Prime Minister Modi putting his objections on record. According to IE, Kasim said, “Patel’s measures will lead to job losses and harassment of people. He is running Lakshadweep like a king. He has not discussed the measures with the leaders here nor taken anyone into confidence.” Lakshadweep so far has not accepted the BJP’s presence, it is NCP’s Mohammad Faizal P P who has been chosen by the people in both 2014 and 2019. The IE recalled that the BJP candidate got a mere 125 votes in 2019, the lowest score for the party in the Islands.

The Union Territory has Muslims making up over 90 per cent of the population and proposals such as a ban on beef where “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” is seen as a directly targeting the community. As is the crackdown on the fishing community that makes up more than 80 per cent of the population. As reported earlier the fisherfolk’s 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.    

Related:

AIKS calls for the sacking of Lakshadweep administrator Praful Patel

Lakshadweep: Beef Ban, Goonda Act proposed by Administrator Praful Khoda Patel 

The post Lakshadweep: Is Praful Khoda Patel fishing in troubled waters now? appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Immediately sack Lakshadweep Administrator Praful Patel and restore the original laws of the union territory, said the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) on May 25, 2021 in response to Patel’s recent proposals to ban beef and introduce an anti-goonda act on the islands.

General Secretary Hannan Mollah condemned Patel for his controversial decisions since assuming office in December, 2020. He claimed that changes in existing laws of a region where Muslims comprise about 99 percent of the population goes against the secular fabric of the country and its Constitution. He also said that it points to the fascist intolerance to democratic protests. People protesting the Citizenship Amendment Act (anti-CAA) by putting up posters were arrested soon after Patel took charge.

“In the name of reforms and schemes Patel is trying to destroy the harmonious life and unique culture of the people of Lakshadweep,” said Mollah.

This charge is particularly true in the case of agriculture and allied activities like fishing that will be adversely affected by the new laws. The Lakshadweep Animal Preservation Regulation, 2021 bans slaughter of cattle, selling, transportation and buying of beef products. This means that slaughter of all bovines including bulls, bullocks, cows, calves, male and female buffaloes and buffalo calves will result in punishment ranging from seizing of vehicles and animals, to a minimum of 10 years imprisonment or a maximum punishment of life sentence and a fine of up to Rs. 5 lakh!

“This is a blatant onslaught on the people who depend on dairying and growing of cattle as a means of livelihood. It is also an infringement on their food habits and right to choice of food. Many people were terminated from the Department of Animal Welfare and the Department of Agriculture. Dairy farms under the administration have been ordered to close down,” said the AIKS.

Similarly, fisher folk that are among the main contributors to the island’s income, had their storage sheds full of nets and other equipment demolished by the new administration on the grounds that they violated the Coast Guard Act. These temporary buildings constructed under an exemption exclusive to fishermen were destroyed without any warning, resulting in huge loss for the community.

Culturally, the AIKS also condemns Patel’s unilateral decision to lift the restrictions on the use of alcohol, despite anger from islanders. Earlier, Lakshadweep was protected under special provisions that disallowed liquor sales.

In addition, the Lakshadweep Town and Country Planning Regulation 2021-TCPR 2021 has led to serious apprehensions regarding indiscriminate land acquisition in the name of infrastructure, buildings, engineering, mining, quarrying and other “developmental activities” on ecologically rich and sensitive islands. Previous laws restricted the purchase of land and visits to the islands without special permission from the administration.

Aside from these, the administrator also proposed drafts of the Lakshadweep Prevention of Anti-Social Activities Regulation 2021 (allowing a person to be detained without public disclosure for up to a year), the Lakshadweep Panchayat Regulation, 2021 (banning people with more than two children from contesting in Panchayat elections, citing Lakshadweep’s low total fertility rate of 1.6) and the Lakshadweep Development Authority Regulation, without due consultation with people.

“This is against the democratic ethos guaranteed by the Indian Constitution. The Administration has also closed about 38 anganwadis, hundreds of casual and contract labourers working under different departments including in mid-day meal scheme have been terminated. This is adding to the crisis in times of a pandemic,” said Mollah.

To make matters worse, the AIKS talked about Patel’s decision to change the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for preventing spread of Covid-19. The unscientific altering of the SOP saw an alarming rise in cases from zero in 2020 to thousands of cases, said the farmers’ organisation. According to the people-sourced Covid19India website, Lakshadweep reported 7,111 confirmed cases on Tuesday.

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3 Jhansi junior doctors detained, allegedly manhandled for trying to approach UP CM

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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.

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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.