‘Sea court’ to be set up as protest at Secretariat

Thiruvananthapuram: ‘Kadal kodathi’ (sea court), an old tradition of coastal people to conduct a court in their village to resolve internal village issues and headed by the “ooru mooppan” (village head), is set to be staged in the city.
A sea court will be organised in front of the Secretariat on Tuesday to raise the issues faced by the people in the coastal region. Activities such as street drama, street painting, sea songs, folk songs, poetry and documentary screenings will also be part of the strike. The strike is being organised by “Theerabhoo Samrakshana Vedi”. The coastal people will be deciding their own justice since the government failed in giving it to them, according to the organisers. Over 150 residents from the coastal areas will be staging a strike in front of the Secretariat on Tuesday and Wednesday. The strike will start at 11:00am and continue till 11:00 am the next day.
The coastal people have put forward a few demands. Due to the continuous natural disasters, including cyclones and tidal surge, thousands of people along the coastal area are living as refugees in their relatives’ houses. They need to be rehabilitated immediately. Until then, the government has to pay them house rent. The resettlement plan announced in the name of rehabilitation for coastal people is a fraud, they alleged. They said that the fishing communities are being evicted from the coast and those areas are handed over to corporates and the tourism mafia, the organisers alleged.
As the right of the forest was guaranteed to tribespeople, the right of the coastal areas should be given to the coastal people, they said. The government should be ready to change policies that make the coastal people live like refugees. MPs, MLAs, trade union leaders, writers, art, culture and human rights activists will take part in the strike. Opposition leader VD Satheesan will inaugurate the event on Tuesday at 11am.