Congress MPs Hibi Eden, TN Prathpan, CR Rakesh Sharma had sought permission to visit Lakshadweep, which has been seeing widespread unrest since a series of controversial orders by the Central government-appointed administrator Praful Khoda Patel.
The Lakshadweep administration denied entry to a group of Congress MPs to visit the islands, saying it might instigate violent agitations, which is part of planned effort to ruin the peace and could also lead to a surge in COVID-19 cases while citing a police report.
“The proposed visit of MPs from Kerala to Lakshadweep is likely to cause unrest in the islands as the political parties and leaders from the mainland have been making attempts to instigate local people, political parties/activists, social workers, and people from different walks of life to oppose all administrative actions and to agitate against the Administration,” said Lakshadweep additional district magistrate S Asker Ali in the order.
Congress MPs Hibi Eden, TN Prathpan, CR Rakesh Sharma had sought permission to visit Lakshadweep, which has been seeing widespread unrest since a series of controversial orders by the Central government-appointed administrator Praful Khoda Patel.
Eden and Prathapan have said they want to visit the Union territory to “understand problems faced by islanders due to new policies of the administration.”
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Recently, the High Court had put some of his proposals on interim stay, hearing a series of appeals. One of these was the controversial removal of chicken, beef, and other meat from the school menu and the closing down of dairy farms.
Islanders are also protesting against the draft legislation like Lakshadweep Prevention of Anti-Social Activities Regulation (Goonda Act), which they think is not required for the Lakshadweep considering it has the lowest crime rate in the country. They are also against the Lakshadweep Animal Preservation Regulation, and Lakshadweep Panchayat Regulation, 2021 among others. The Save Lakshadweep Forum (SLF) said that the protests will continue until the administration withdraws the measures.
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