The Kerala government appears to be close to achieving a détente with Latin Catholic Church-backed fishermen and coastal residents agitating against the Vizhinjam port construction, citing livelihood and environmental concerns. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan chaired a meeting of the cabinet sub-committee on the port project late on Monday night.
The administration gave a clear indication that it was ready to meet most of the demands of the agitators affiliated under the Vizhinjam Action Council (VAC) banner, except to drop the flagship project of the state.
The VAC sought his nomination to an independent committee set up to study the environmental and social impact of the port. It also sought a monthly honorarium of not less than ₹8,000 for fishermen displaced from their habitations by the encroaching sea.
The VAC reportedly refused any direct talks with the government until the two sides reached an agreement away from the public glare. The government had yet to put its cards on the table.
Criminal cases registered against church leaders and hundreds of VAC activists in connection with the attack on the Vizhinjam police station and violation of the Kerala High Court order not to blockade or trespass at the project site could be a potential obstacle to breaking the impasse. ,
The government appeared keen to fast-track the negotiation process to improve the chances of an early reconciliation with the Church and the fishermen community. It wanted to take steam out of the opposition’s move to raise the highly emotive Vizhinjam issue in the assembly.
The government was also concerned that the movement would take a communal turn, given that another group of residents strongly opposed the VAC’s attempt to stop port construction and block the project site.
The government hoped to build on the back-channel peace-building efforts of Baselios Clemis, Major Archbishop-Katholicos of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church. The Archbishop met with the leaders of the Latin Catholic Archdiocese on Sunday. The closed-door talks paved the way for a peace mission in Vizhinjam on Monday.
The peace ambassadors spoke to groups for and against the port. Sousa Pakiyam, former Archbishop of the Latin Archdiocese of Thiruvananthapuram, VP Suhaib Maulvi, Imam of the Palayam Juma Masjid, and Swami Gururatnam Gyan Thapaswi, General Secretary of Shantigiri Ashram, led the peace mission. The former archbishop called for a peaceful solution to the issue.
The communally sensitive coastal area has been restless since VAC activists stormed the local police station on November 27. The mob ransacked the station house and broke the windows of public transport buses. About 35 police officers and hundreds of residents were injured in the attack.
Months of discontent revolving around the embankment construction of Vizhinjam port came to an end.