Govt. warned against patronising liquor mafia

By Our Staff Reporter

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, JUNE 15. The Auxilliary Bishop of Thiruvananthapuram Archdiocese, Dr. Joshua Mar Ignathios, on Friday sought to send a message to the UDF Government by warning that any policy of patronising the liquor mafia could lead to yet another liberation struggle similar to the historic movement of 1959.

Inaugurating the 42nd anniversary of the `Martyr's day' observance for fisherfolk killed in the police firing during the liberation struggle, Dr. Ignathios said no Government could expect to survive for long if it ignored the interests of the poor sections, including coastal people, even while blatantly patronising the abkari mafia.

The remembrance was held under the auspices of the `Latheen Katholica Aikyavedi'.

According to the Auxilliary Bishop, it was the bounden duty of any democratically-elected Government to protect the interests of the poor. ``The Government is the custodian of the people. There is no leadership without the people and no leader without the cadres,'' he said.

He appealed to the UDF Government to respect the sentiments of the people.

The Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Mr. M.M. Hassan, called for drawing lessons from the liberation struggle which culminated in the ouster of the Communist Ministry in 1959. While the question as to whether we require a second liberation struggle is debatable, there was no doubt that the historic movement of 1959 was a defining phase of the State's political history, he said.

The movement was a precise reflection of the tide of resentment against the EMS-led Communist Ministry's moves against religion and educational institutions.

Mr. Hassan said it was tragic that a section of Congressmen had gravitated to the Communist view that the liberation struggle was a political sin.

He accused the Communist intellectuals of double standards on Article 365 of the Constitution which empowered the Centre to dismiss a democratically-elected State Government. The Left leaders who demanded the scrapping of the Article did not hesitate to invoke it whenever they shared power at the Centre, Mr. Hassan said.

The Cooperation Minister, Mr. M.V. Raghavan, said that it had always been a practice of the Communists to decry use of police force when they were in the Opposition but brazenly commit the opposite when in power.

Family members of fisherfolk victims of the liberation struggle were felicitated on the occasion.

Mr. V.S. Sivakumar, M.P., and Mr. A. Charles, former M.P., were among those who spoke on the occasion.

Meanwhile, the 13th State conference of the Aikyavedi, in a resolution, appealed to the Chief Minister, Mr. A. K. Antony, to institute an impartial probe into the circumstances that led to the suicide of a Std IX Harijan student in Neyyatinkara.

In a memorandum, copies of which were sent to the Education Minister, Mr. Nalakath Soopy, and the Director General of Police, the Aikyavedi alleged that the student of the M.V. Higher Secondary School was driven to suicide by the constant harassment of school authorities.

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Section  : Southern States
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