Social activist and Narmada Bachao Andolan leader Medha Patkar has said the Indian Marine Fisheries Bill seeks to further the interests of corporate companies similar to the contentious farm laws that have been been repealed by the Centre.
Speaking at a remembrance meet organised by the T. Peter Memorial Trust, in memory of the late coastal community leader, at Veliaveli on Saturday, Ms. Patkar said the proposed law threatened to take away the rights of traditional fish workers. It also did not take cognizance of women who were the real marketeers in the fisheries sector. By promoting Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ), the Bill threatened to widen inequities that existed in society.
“The Bill is being pushed in a manner of the farm laws without considering the power and authority that is granted to State governments in the federal structure by the Constitution. The Centre is hell-bent on privatising the fisheries sector. Such activities are being promoted without holding consultations with the fish workers’ community,” she alleged, exhorting the section to challenge the law with the “greatest possible force” similar to the “battle” fought by the farmers.
Ms. Patkar also hit out against the Vizhinjam international seaport project that, she alleged, witnessed the takeover of coastal lands for serving the interests of capitalist investors without showing regard for the human and natural resources that are the “real investments” of the land.
Claiming that nearly 200 houses of fish workers have been destroyed due to the environmental impact of the project, Ms. Patkar accused politicians of viewing corporatisation as the sole path to economic growth with scant regard for sustainability and natural justice.
Thiruvananthapuram Archbishop (Latin rite) Soosa Pakiam M. inaugurated a remembrance meet held at Valiaveli St. Thomas Church.
Palayam Imam V.P. Suhaib Moulavi formally launched the trust launched in memory of T. Peter, former general secretary of the National Fishworkers Forum, who succumbed to COVID-19 last year. Santhigiri Ashram general secretary Swami Gururetnam Jnana Tapaswi delivered the memorial discourse.
