Residents of Lakshadweep went on a 12-hour hunger strike on Monday to protest three proposed rules governing tourism, cattle, and panchayat elections, which they believe will destroy the island’s unique culture and tradition.
During the first major protest in the Arabian Sea archipelago, the Save Lakshadweep Forum, a body formed to channel mounting protests against the rules, local residents will fast in their homes and all shops and establishments, except emergency services, will remain closed from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. The island administration, led by Praful Khoda Patel, has warned that strict action will be taken under pandemic laws to prevent overcrowding at public facilities.
“This is the first time all islands are observing such a protest. Though we have been assured repeatedly that local sentiments will be heard and addressed, the administrator is going ahead with his partisan and retrograde decisions,” said UCK Thangal, one of the convenors of the forum.
Residents of Lakhadweep, an archipelago in the Arabian Sea made up of 37 tiny islands, 11 of which are inhabited, have been protesting the Lakshadweep Development Authority Regulation (2021), which aims to develop the islands as a major tourist destination. Residents claim it will destroy the islands’ character and identity because pristine forests cover 97 percent of the islands and 95 percent of the population is classified as a protected scheduled tribe.
They are also protesting the proposed Lakshadweep Animal Preservation Regulation, which would prohibit the killing of bovine animals as well as their consumption, storage, transport, or sale in island environments. The majority of Lakshadweep residents are Muslims, and they believe the regulations are directed at their eating habits.
Residents are also opposed to the Lakshadweep Panchayat Regulation, 2021, which proposes disqualifying candidates in gramme panchayat elections who have more than two children.
The draught regulations have been described as “arbitrary” and insensitive to the majority community of the islands by many parliamentarians, former bureaucrats, and artists. Last week, the Kerala assembly passed a unanimous resolution calling for the administrator’s recall, and on Sunday, 93 retired bureaucrats wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, criticising the new administrator’s “partisan attitude” and urging him to protect the islands’ unique culture and tradition.
“Because the crime rate on the island is very low compared to the rest of India,” the letter said, “it has generated fear that the true purpose of the regulation is to suffocate dissent or protests against the administrator’s policies and actions.”
According to them, the proposed regulations are currently awaiting approval from the Union home ministry.
