Kanyakumari Comes Out In Huge Numbers Against Luddites

For 60 long years it has been the cherished dream of the people of the Kanyakumari district – a port project.

This tiny district at the southernmost end of the Indian mainland is also a district with high literacy rate and good natural resources. An important pilgrimage destination and with underutilised tourist attractions, the district can rightly be called the 'Cinderella' of Tamil Nadu. And not without reasons. When the late Kamaraj stood as a candidate in this district he defeated his Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) rival despite the entire Tamil Nadu being swept by DMK wave. The party supremo, M Karunanidhi even tried the communal card stating that Kamaraj was a Nadar from Virudhunagar worshipping Shivalinga while the rival candidate was a Christian Nadar from the local area.

Nevertheless, the people of Kanyakumari district voted overwhelmingly for Kamaraj. So, in frustration, Karunanidhi coined the now famous slogan, “Nellai is our border and Kumari is our problem" (Nellai engal ellai; Kumari engal thollai). Kanyakumari district paid the price for standing with nationalism in the form of underdevelopment under Dravidian regimes. Communalism also took over and the stranglehold of churches in district politics dictated everything from candidate choice to alienation of sections of society with the mainstream.

However, things changed when Pon Radhakrishnan became the member of the Lok Sabha from Kanyakumari. He brought in development projects to the district. In decades after Kamaraj it was under Radhakrishnan that the district started witnessing development. Last time he brought the government medical college to the district. This time he started the port project – a long time dream of the people. Initially the port was envisaged at Enayam – a Rs 27,000 crore container transshipment project, which when realised would transform the district economically. Director (finance) of the Ministry of Shipping, B Krishnamoorthy, points out that currently Indian containers are “being transshipped through foreign ports: Colombo Port handles 1.2 million TEU and the rest is through the Port of Singapore and Port Klang. And the transshipment loss for the Indian port industry can be pegged at Rs 1,500 crore." So, the project not only will fulfil the dream of the people but will also serve the national economy. (Read: 'Why Tamil Nadu's Enayam port is the need of the hour')

However, a section of the local population were instigated against the project by communal and Luddite elements. Typical left-luddite-Dravidian rhetoric was used and the Catholic Church, which controls most of the coastal community through its institutions, provided tactical support to the anti-Enayam movement. Fortunately, Radhakrishnan, who is now the Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Shipping, was not adamant and without taking a confrontationist stand, he decided to change the port from Enayam to another suitable place - Kovalam. Even as a detailed project report (DPR) on Kovalam is being made to be submitted to the government, the Luddite-communal forces have started opposing the scheme here as well. Development in the coastal areas perhaps irks the communal forces which have had the coastal communities always under their control. However, this time the people of the district have come together against this repeated stalling of development projects in the district. (See: 'Enayam container terminal project may move to Kovalam')

So, this Sunday (18 February) people from all parts of the district assembled at the collector's office in huge numbers. They came with their families and demanded that there should be no more stalling of the port project. In a fitting reply to the communal elements, some of the most respected leaders of the district, cutting across the party lines – like Muhammad Ismail, an icon of secularism in the district, M R Gandhi, a veteran BJP leader known for his simplicity and often called by all as the Gandhi of Kanyakumari, veteran Congress leader Rajagopal, Ayya Vazhi spiritual leader Sivachandran - shared the dais and addressed the huge gathering. In Tamil Nadu, of late, while people have been hoodwinked by left-Dravidian Luddites into opposing each and every project, thus stalling progress, in Kanyakumari district, people have united, cutting across party ideologies and communal divisions and have spoken in favour of development.