Kerala’s head of government attacked the protest supported by the local Church. They renew the claim for an environmental impact assessment. Fr Thelekat, at : “It is forgotten that development must be for the benefit of the people and not only for the benefit of companies.”
Thiruvananthapuram () – Confrontation between the head of government of the Indian state of Kerala, Pinarayi Vijayan, and the Archdiocese of Thiruvananthapuram, which supports the fishermen’s protest against plans to build a new deepwater seaport and terminal container transshipment in the town of Vizhinjam.
Vijavan went on Monday to distribute subsidies to a hundred families affected by coastal erosion and took the opportunity to attack the diocese, which had called on the fishermen to boycott the ceremony. “Some think that the government is a puppet in the hands of a few,” he said, stating that the people supported the government.
On the occasion of this event, the fishermen organized a protest march and, during a meeting with the government, they renewed their request that the construction of the new port be stopped and that a proper environmental impact study be carried out.
In statements to Fr. Paul Thelakat – director of “Light of Truth” and former spokesman for the Syro-Malabar Synod – said: “The head of government of Kerala seems to forget that the new seaport project is for the people and not for the companies It is only feasible if it brings substantial benefits to the well-being of the population In addition, the displaced must be safely relocated and their livelihoods must be safeguarded Today, progress and development are primarily for business and the rulers and not for the people”.
Next, referring to the communist party ideology of which Vijavan is an expression, Fr. Thelekat asks: “Is Marxism in Kerala turning into a kind of state capitalism, like in China or North Korea? The experience of the uprooted Moolampilly has not been forgotten. The Bishops’ Conference of Kerala supports the fishermen of Trivandrum and their Archbishop. The Church will stand by the fishermen to safeguard their rights. We must seriously rethink our projects with a perspective wider, of protection of the ecosystem”.
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