Lakshadweep admin opposes plea seeking recall of draft refutes; refutes Malayalam's status

On Monday, the Lakshadweep administration opposed NCP MP PP Mohammed Faizal's plea seeking recall of the contentious draft regulations before the Kerala High Court. The Lok Sabha member sought a direction to not implement them until residents can give more objections and the COVID-19 norms are in place. In a counter-affidavit, the Union Territory administration argued that the writ petition was not maintainable as the draft regulations are yet to become law.

It noted, “The Ministry of Home Affairs, as well as the Ministry of Law and Justice, will analyse the draft regulations meticulously and seek clarifications from the Administration if required. Only if the regulations are approved after the scrutiny, the same will be placed before the Union Cabinet for consideration.” “Only if the cabinet approves the regulations the Hon’ble President of India will be requested to promulgate the same,” it added. 

Moreover, the Praful Khoda Patel-led regime rejected Faizal's plea calling upon the administration to make public the vernacular version of the draft regulations. The counter-affidavit revealed, “It is also submitted that Malayalam has not been adopted as the official language of Lakshadweep under Art.345 of the Constitution. The language mainly spoken by the people of Lakshadweep except in Minicoy Island is Jeseri’ which has no script and English is taught in all schools of Lakshadweep". 

Opposition seeks withdrawal of draft regulations 

Multiple opposition parties including Congress, NCP, Makkal Needhi Maiam and CPI(M) have joined hands in seeking the recall of the Lakshadweep Administrator for his purported "anti-people" policies. A BJP leader, Praful Khoda Patel took charge in December 2020 thus becoming the first person from a non-civil service background to be appointed to this post. Defending the contentious rules, the Lakshadweep Collector claimed that the administration wished to develop the Union Territory as the next Maldives. Meanwhile, Union Home Minister Amit Shah has assured that all their concerns will be addressed. 

Here are some of their concerns: 

• Easing stringent Standard Operating Procedure for COVID-19 led to a rise in COVID-19 cases to the extent that Lakshadweep has the highest test positivity rate
• The Prevention of Anti-Social Activities Act has been notified by the administration which paves the way for preventive detention in a place that records the least number of crimes
• Unemployment has increased manifold after hundreds of people working for the government including 200 marine protection watchers, over 193 contract employees of the Tourism department, and over 190 employees of other departments have been laid off
• The draft Lakshadweep Animal Preservation Regulation seeking to ban the slaughter, transportation, buying and selling of beef products infringes the right of the locals to adequate means of livelihood
• New amendments consist of "unconstitutional rules" such as barring people with two children to contest polls or work in Panchayats

(With PTI inputs)