Vizhinjam port under construction. Photo: Biju Varghese/Mathrubhumi Archives
Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala government is planning to proceed with caution in bringing central armed forces at Vizhinjam. The government will not demand to deploy the central forces here. However, it would not resist if the central forces were stationed as per the request of Adani Group.
The Kerala High Court has directed the Centre and State to jointly decide over deployment of armed forces. Meanwhile, the LDF leadership has decided not to be an initiator for such discussions. If necessary, the state government will submit a report to the Centre after analysing the current situation in Vizhinjam.
By this, the state government is trying to bring down the rumours of attempt to suppress the strike with the help of central forces.
The Central Industrial Security Force is in charge of the security at ports and airports. The central force did not take up the security duty while the construction works are proceeding. However, the state government can request the stationing of central forces at any stage and the latter has to abide by the instructions given by the state government. Hence, the state government has to take up responsibility if any unfortunate incident happened due to deployment of the central forces.
Meanwhile, the government has commenced talks at various levels to resolve the issues in Vizhinjam. Chief secretary VP Joy, Thiruvananthapuram Archdiocese Metropolitan Thomas J Netto and protest committee convener Eugene Perera attended the meeting held under the mediation of Cardinal Cleemis on Saturday. No representatives of Adani Group participated.
The issues of the rehabilitation package have been discussed in the initial phase of discussions. The church leadership accused the government of taking decisions unilaterally and urged to withdraw the cases registered against the protesters. However, the government did not yield to this demand.
RELATED STORIES
.jpg?$p=1400dd6&q=0.8&f=16x11&w=104)
.jpg?$p=06c01ca&q=0.8&f=16x11&w=104)
.jpg?$p=430c1f1&q=0.8&f=16x11&w=104)
