KOCHI: Youth Congress Kerala President and Congress MLA Shafi Parambil on Tuesday wrote to the Chief Minister of Kerala, Opposition Leader and the Speaker of the Kerala Legislative Assembly requesting to pass a resolution "as a solidarity of the Malayalee community to the struggle of the people of Lakshadweep" against the new 'authoritarian decisions' taken by the current Administrator of Lakshadweep Praful Patel.
In the letter, Shafi said, "I request to unanimously pass a resolution as a solidarity of the Malayalee community to the struggle of the people of Lakshadweep against the Sangh Parivar agenda being implemented under the administrative rule of the Central Government without showing any democratic decency."
On Monday, Congress had written to President Ram Nath Kovind alleging that the current Administrator of Lakshadweep Praful Patel had taken "authoritarian measures" and demanded his recall.In a letter written to the President, Congress general secretary KC Venugopal said that there is apprehension among the people of Lakshadweep and resultant widespread protests "owing to the authoritarian measures taken by the current Administrator Praful Patel".
Venugopal alleged that Patel, who was appointed as the Administrator of the UT of Lakshadweep on December 2, 2020, has "unilaterally imposed" a series of measures that have "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 labourers 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," the letter said.
Congress leader and Kerala MP Hibi Eden has also written to President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah urging them to "protect the interests and culture of the islanders."
Patel, who was appointed as the Administrator of Lakshadweep in December 2020 is facing opposition over policies introduced by him from the people of the union territory and politicians, both from within Lakshadweep and neighbouring state Kerala.
In his letter, Eden said that the people of Lakshadweep are ethnically similar to Keralites and thousands of students from the Island depend on Kerala for their higher education and the appointment of Patel as the new Lakshadweep Administrator in December 2020 and the reforms followed by his appointment has drawn protest among the islanders.
The Congress MP listed four "discriminative decisions" taken by Patel and said they are "against the interest of Lakshadweep Islands".
Eden raised objection on Lakshadweep Administrator's decision to take over the control of the Administrative powers of elected zilla panchayat regarding-- Education, Health care, Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Fisheries.(ANI)