Anger and angst of the fisher communities over the delay in bringing back their kin missing after Cyclone Ockhi boiled over on the streets of the Kerala capital on Monday.
The roughly two-kilometre distance from the Martyrs’ Column on the MG Road to the Raj Bhavan became a sea of humanity as thousands of fishers and their family members, drawn from coastal hamlets of southern Kerala and Kanyakumari, marched under the leadership of the Latin Catholic Church leaders. Many vented their anger at both the Central and State governments for their ‘indifference’ towards the agony of the fisher communities post-Ockhi.
Inaugurating the march, Archbishop Soosa Pakiam M. said though the authorities had received information about the impending cyclone days earlier, they had not shown the alacrity to warn the fishers about its magnitude.
Although the State government had announced a relief and rehabilitation package after the event, deviating from the rules, it was far from sufficient considering the huge devastation and loss of life caused by the cyclone. “It is not our intention to find fault with anyone or question anyone’s sincerity, but if there was timely action, so many lives would not have been lost,” he said.
Dr. Soosa Pakiam, who was flanked by Cardinal Baselios Cleemis, Latin Church Auxiliary Bishop Christudas, CSI Bishop Oommen George and Vicar-General Eugene H. Pereira, said the Prime Minister should visit the hamlets that had been hit hardest by the cyclone and declare the event as a national disaster.
The Centre should also set up an independent Ministry of Fisheries and announce a special package to support the cyclone victims and their families. Long-term measures to ensure safety of the fishers should also be put in place, he added.
Representatives of the diocese and the fishers met Governor P. Sathasivam after the march and submitted a memorandum containing their demands.
The emotionally charged crowd took sometime to settle down as they kept raising slogans, despite attempts by the church representatives to calm them down. “A cabinet sub-committee should be formed immediately to assess the magnitude of the devastation wrought by Ockhi,” the Vicar-General later said.
