CPIM keen to visit Lakshadweep to gauge situation, says 'Administration delaying it'

In a key development, Member of Parliament from Rajya Sabha and Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Elamaram Kareem on Sunday alleged that the Lakshadweep administration is trying to 'hide reality' by delaying his party's delegation visit to the Union Territory to understand the current situation. He went on to say that the Additional District Magistrate (SDM) informed the CPI(M)'s delegation to 'plan the proposed visit on a later date' considering the COVID-19 situation. 

Taking to his official Twitter handle, Kareem stated, "A delegation of CPIM Kerala MPS has decided to visit Lakshadweep to understand the current situation. Today ADM informed us to 'plan the proposed visit on a later date' considering the COVID situation. They wanted to delay our visit and avoid the world from knowing the ground reality." He also used the hashtag- #SaveLakshadweep.

The CPI-M state secretariat has decided to stage a protest on May 31 in front of the Lakshwadeep office in Beypore and Kochi. Earlier, the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) staging a protest in front of the Lakshadweep Administration Office in Kochi against Administrator Praful Khoda Patel's new regulations. ET Muhammad Basheer, Lok Sabha MP and IUML National Organising Secretary told the media that the Lakshadweep administrator is undermining the country's democratic system by taking anti-people and anti-Constitutional acts. 

IUML leader had stated, "Muslim League will continue its strong agitation until the wrong policies of the island's administrator and the central government that supports him are corrected. The Administrator is trying to make the island tense through anti-people measures. The life of the islanders, who were in a peaceful atmosphere, became very difficult when Praful Patel became the new administrator. The court itself had to express concern."

What's happening in Lakshadweep?

Praful Khoda Patel, who belongs to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), is the first non-bureaucrat administrator of the Lakshadweep Islands, who took over the Lakshadweep administration in December last year. Since that time, he has pushed through a range of new laws and regulations without consulting locally elected representatives in India’s only Muslim-majority territory apart from Indian-administered Kashmir.

The controversial proposals range from a ban on beef, disqualification of people with more than two children who wish to contest the village council elections, to taking over land belonging to the locals for the purpose of development without safeguarding the interests of the landowners. Residents say the proposals threaten their livelihoods, land ownership, culture, and even the fragile ecology of the tropical islands while the leaders of the opposition have been protesting against the laws, and many including Congress leader Rahul Gandhi have written to PM Modi demanding revocation of the same.

A plea has also been filed in the Kerala High Court, seeking fresh public consultation before the Draft Lakshadweep Town and Country Planning Regulation, 2021, before it is finalised by the UT's Administration. After hearing the plea on Friday, the court sought the response of the UT's Administration within two weeks.

(Credit-RahulGandhi_Insta/Twitter-PrafulKPAtel,@ElamaramKareem_)