The members of the Village (Dweep) Panchayat at Minicoy in Lakshadweep on Thursday boycotted Amit Verma, a Senior Superintendent of Police delegated by the Union Territory administration to discuss the proposed legislations with the islanders.
In a letter to Mr. Verma, the people’s representatives of the panchayat said that the islanders “are extremely aggrieved by the atrocious attitude of the Administrator and the administration” and demanded that the draft legislations, notifications and orders that made many islanders jobless be revoked forthwith.
“District Collector Asker Ali has raised baseless and fabricated allegations of arms and drug trafficking in islands... which shows his haughty attitude towards the islanders. His statements are derogatory with malicious intentions to smudge the island community and to create unrest... (sic),” they wrote in the letter demanding “nothing less than an apology” from him.
“The insane decisions and reforms have turned the peaceful islands turbulent”, they said, calling Administrator Praful Khodal Patel and District Collector Asker Ali inefficient and incapable of holding such decisive posts. They are acting like dictators, the letter said.
