THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The coastal community organised a massive protest to mark the 100th day of stir against the Vizhinjam seaport project in Thiruvananthapuram, on Thursday. The protesters took out a march to the project site through the main gate at Mulloor and also by the sea in boats from Muthalapozhi, located on the northern side.
The agitators, including women, removed the barricade erected before the main gate to enter the site despite a large posse of police officers stationed there. The fishermen also burned an old boat in the sea near the port as a symbolic protest. They raised slogans against the government, Adani Ports — who is the concessionaire of the project—and the police. The protest that began at 8am continued till 5pm.
Earlier, the protesters stayed away from entering the project site due to the High Court direction against activities that stop the construction work. Thursday’s protest, however, gave an indication of what could be expected in the coming days. “We’ve decided to continue our protest from the shed set up in front of the main gate. At the same time, there will be protests from the sea as well,” said Thiruvananthapuram Latin Archdiocese Vicar General and the general convenor of the protests, Eugine H Pereira. The court had directed the government to remove the protest shed based on the petition filed by Adani Ports.
Apart from Vizhinjam and Mulloor, a parallel protest was organised at Muthalapozhi.Film actor and activist Alencier Ley Lopez came in support of the protest at Muthalapozhi. He said it was not proper for a Left government to ignore a fishermen’s agitation. However, when he said the protest of fishermen does not need the support of Church and priests, the gathering corrected him.
Addressing the issues concerning the Muthalapozhi harbour is one of the seven demands raised by the protesters before the government. The fishermen community blamed the unscientific construction of Muthalapozhi harbour for the rise in sea accidents.
Muthalapozhi is also a strategic location for carrying construction materials for the port, by sea.
The Church started the protest by demanding the government to stop port construction and study its ecological impact by involving coastal people, give fair compensation and rehabilitation for loss of property and houses, compensation for fishermen who lost work days due to adverse weather warnings, ensure smooth navigation at Muthalapozhi harbour, provide subsidised kerosene as done in Tamil Nadu, rent-free accommodation for people who lost houses and rehabilitation of families affected by sea erosion.
Even as the protest passed 100 days, the talks between protesters and government seem to have met a dead end as both sides remain firm in their stands. The cabinet sub-committee held five rounds of talks with the protesters. They had also met Governor Arif Mohammed Khan, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and major political leaders. Though the government claims to have addressed six out of seven demands raised, the protestors call it a lie.
Mediapersons roughed up
Protesters roughed up media personnel covering the Vizhinjam protest. They destroyed the cameras of some TV channels. The district unit of the Kerala Union of Working Journalists registered protest over the incident while the Latin Church expressed regret. They, however, blamed a senior police officer for deliberately provoking a group of people.
“ADGP M R Ajith Kumar is behind the provocation. The police had tried the same trick earlier also to create a negative image about the protesters. This time a police photographer was sent for the task. He tried taking photographs of women who came to the protest site from close range. When we objected, he tried to manhandle a priest. The idea was to provoke people and turn them against other journalists,” said Thiruvananthapuram Latin Archdiocese Vicar General and general convenor of protests, Eugine H Pereira.
Minister V Sivankutty urged the protesters not to make the place a riot zone with unreasonable demands. However, the protesters responded that the minister should earnestly try to find a solution to their problems rather than looking for an easy way out by labelling every protester a rioter.
CASES AGAINST PROTESTORS
T’Puram: The Vizhinjam police have registered three cases against 100-odd protestors who took part in Thursday’s stir. The cases were registered for violating the High Court order directing the protestors not to obstruct construction works at the port, for attacking the cameraperson of a Malayalam television channel and for manhandling the police photographer.