'Save Lakshadweep Forum' observes Black Day to receive Praful Patel to island

Thiruvananthapuram: As the controversial Administrator of Union Territory of Lakshadweep Praful Khoda Patel is all set to reach the islands on Monday, the "Save Lakshadweep Forum", an umbrella group of local activists and opposition politicians, has decided to observe "Black Day' tomorrow.

The forum has decided to stage protest marches in the islands and urged boycott public programs initiated by the administration. The forum which includes Lakshadweep MP Muhammed Faisal, Former MP Hamdulla Syed, also decided to wear a black dress and mask to protest against the unilateral decisions and draconian laws implemented by Patel in the islands.

Ever since Patel, a former Gujarat Home Minister, assumed office as the Administrator, there have been protests against his style of functioning with the opposition charging that he is bent on destroying the culture of the island, a charge denied by the Administrator's office.

Reacting to the media, Lakshadweep District Collector S. Askar Ali told that the Administrator is reaching on Monday and will continue to stay there till Sunday. "He will be reviewing a slew of projects in the power sector, hospitals, and schools at the Agatti, Kavaratti, Minicoy, Androth and Kalpeni islands."

While Members of Parliament from Kerala had petitioned the Administrator to allow them to visit the islands to have a first-hand study on the new measures being implemented, film-maker Aisha Sultana, a native of Lakshadweep, was slapped with sedition charges after she made an observation during a discussion in a television channel that the Union government had used "Bio Weapon" on the people of Lakshadweep.

Sultana had later come out with a statement that she had some network problems while speaking at the television debate and that she had used the term "Bio Weapon" for Patel.

Meanwhile, CPI-M Rajyasabha MP, Elamaram Kareem accused that the Lakshadweep Administrator is planning something massive which will destroy the culture of the island and the lives of the people of this serene place.

"This is a highly eco-sensitive place and highly fragile and any constructions like huge resorts will have a negative impact on the ecology of the region, he said. "The Administrator is acting like a dictator and is not listening to the voices of the people of Lakshadweep.", he further added

Political leaders and parties from Kerala have been conducting several protest marches across the state and had burnt the Administrator in effigy in front of his office at Ernakulam to protest against the controversial rules and regulations he tried to implement in the islands.