Tension prevailed at Vizhinjam on Sunday when a section supporting the port project and the protesting fishermen led by the Latin Archdiocese stood face to face with provocative slogans for a while. However, timely intervention by the police to disperse the two sides prevented any escalation of the tension. A civil police officer, Shaji, was injured in the melee when the police stood in the middle to separate the two groups.
A bike rally comprising local residents, including women, who bat for the port project reached the protest venue first. The police then blocked the rally from entering the protest venue of fishermen, using barricades. This was followed by another march led by the Latin Archdiocese, which spearheads the fishermen’s protest, to the venue.
The police then stood between two groups of people, who raised slogans and booed at each other, to avoid any untoward incident. However, some of the fishermen tried to sneak into the sit-in site of the local residents, which was prevented by the police by parking police buses in the middle. At times, the protestors and the local residents nearly came to blows. A section of protesters also allegedly vandalised the flex boards and flags put up by various political parties.
Meanwhile, the march, titled Jana Bodhana Yatra taken out from Moolampally in Ernakulam district on September 14 expressing solidarity with the protesting fishers reached the protest venue. The rally was taken out from the Vizhinjam fishing harbour to the port with an aim to create awareness about the strike demanding a lasting solution to the concerns of the coastal community. The concluding function was inaugurated by senior lawyer and activist Prashant Bhushan.
The Latin Archdiocese has also decided to intensify the protests from Monday by holding a 24-hour indefinite strike at the protest venue, raising the demand of halting the port construction which, according to it, aggravated coastal erosion, displacing hundreds of families.
