Congress MP KC Venugopal writes to President Kovind about ‘Widespread protests in Lakshadweep’
The administrator of the Lakshadweep Shod Praful Patel has unilaterally imposed a series of authoritarian measures that lots caused immense disturbance and disquiet in the livelihood
Congress leader and Member of Parliament, K C Venugopal has written a letter to President Ram Nath Kovind regarding, what the party called, ‘widespread protests in Lakshadeep’.
A tweet, with the letter, by the Congress party, said, “Congress MP Shri KC Venugopal writes to the Hon’ble President of India Shri Ram Nath Kovind regarding widespread protests in Lakshadweep.”
The letter has been sent on May 24, 2021 by the Congress MP and has been shared through the tweet.
The contents of the MP’s letter are as follows:
“This is to invite your kind and immediate attention towards wide apprehension among the people of Lakshadweep and resultant widespread protests, owing to the authoritarian measures taken by the current administrator, Shod Praful Patel. It is being reported that Shri Patel who was appointed as the Administrator of the UT of Lakshadweep on 2th December, 2020 has unilaterally imposed a series of authoritarian measures that lots caused immense disturbance and disquiet in the livelihood and the unique culture of the Islands. This includes the curtailment of the powers of democratically elected district panchayats and unilaterally taking over their power.
As per the reports, hundreds of contract laborers working under different departments have been terminated from service until now. It is also alleged that the current administration is imposing restrictions on the traditional food habits, apart from lifting the restriction on the consumption of alcohol which has been put in place due to religious and cultural reasons.
As you are aware, fishing is the main source of income of the people here and certain exemptions were given for constructing sheds to keep nets and equipment. Unfortunately, it was reported that citing the violation of Coast Guard Act, the current Administrator ordered the demolition of these sheds without citing any reasons causing huge financial loss to the poor fishermen. Lakshadweep has strong cultural and historical ties with Kerala since centuries and islanders since decades have been depending on the Beypore port for height transit. Shockingly, the current administration is urging the citizen to shift to Manglore port for this purpose. It is alleged that the decision is aimed at severing the age-old cultural ties with Kerala.
The local people fear that all these unilateral and anti-people decisions would ultimately lead to the destruction of the traditional livelihood and the unique culture of Lakshadweep. This has created huge unrest and protest among the local population there. I would humbly request you to intervene in this matter and urgently ensure the recall of the current Administrator of the UT of Lakshadweep and withdraw orders issued and promulgated under his tenure.
