Aerial view of Vizhinjam port, protest | Photo: Mathurbhumi
Thiruvananthapuram: The Latin Archdiocese said that the Vizhinjam anti-port protest was stopped temporarily and that the halt was due to the violence that erupted in the area for two consecutive days. The explanation for ending the protest was given in the pastoral letter that would be read out in churches under the Latin Archdiocese on Sunday.
The letter released by archbishop Thomas J Netto also states the inconvenience it caused to the common people and the state government’s invitation for holding talks influenced the decision to end the protest.
The archbishop also said that over 100 people, including police officials, were injured in the violence on November 26 and 27 at Mulloor and Vizhinjam areas. The protest council was concerned that continuing the protest would lead to more violence, the letter said. The protest was temporarily halted to maintain peace, it states.
It also said the government claims that it has accepted all needs of the protest council except stopping the port construction to conduct a study. But the government has only partially implemented it. No representative from the protest council has been included in the team appointed by the government to study the environmental issues, it added.
A meeting of the protest council was held at the archdiocese headquarters on Saturday. In the meeting, it was decided that there should be an approach to inform the matters to believers.