Vizhinjam Port: Church Led Protesters Vandalize Police Station And Attack Policemen After Cases Registered Against Bishops

The protests against Vizhinjam Transshipment hub in Kerala spearheaded by the latin catholic church took a violent turn on Sunday night (27 November).

A violent mob descended on Vizhinjam police station and held the police officers hostage demanding the release of five protesters who were taken into custody for obstructive protests on Saturday (26 November).

At least 29 policemen were seriously injured and police vehicles were damaged in the attack. Agitators did not spare even the media persons, reportedly they snatched the equipment and attacked some media persons present at the attack site.

The protesting mob threatened to torch the police station if their demands were not met. To pacify the crowd, police have released four out of five accused.

According to the FIR, the attack was part of a conspiracy to kill the cops. Police have registered a case against 3,000 people for this attack. The damage done to the police station is estimated to be Rs 85 lakh, reports Mathrubhumi.

This violent attack on the police station happened after police booked almost 50 bishops including Latin archdiocese archbishop Dr Thomas J Netto and auxiliary bishop Christudas for defying court orders and obstructing the construction activity at the port site on Saturday.

Church opposes India’s alternative to Dubai, Colombo and Singapore

The deep-water, multipurpose, international seaport and container transshipment terminal at Vizhinjam is being constructed by Adani Vizhinjam Ports Pvt Ltd (AVPPL). It is expected to boost India's maritime ambitions significantly.

The port project was signed during the tenure of the Congress-led UDF government led by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy. The Adani Group and the Kerala government signed a Rs 7,525 crore deal, but the project hit several roadblocks and controversies.

Once complete, Vizhinjam will emerge as a significant competition to the transshipment ports of Colombo, Singapore and Dubai as it is the only transshipment hub in the Indian subcontinent, closest to the international shipping routes, and is centrally located on the Indian coastline. It has a natural draft of 20-24 m and minimal littoral drift.

However the port’s construction was halted for the last four months due to protests led by the church. Further delay in its completion would increase the project's cost and damage the investment’s confidence, particularly in the crucial coastal state of Kerala.

While the catholic church is leading the protests to stop construction of the port citing environmental concerns, Hindu outfits are demanding the project’s timely completion.

Several Hindu organisations like Nair Service Society, Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam and Vaikunda Swami Dharma Pracharana have begun counter protests demanding the completion of the port project.

Earlier, keeping aside their ideological differences, both the ruling communist parties and the opposition BJP have come together and supported the counter protests in support of the port project.

The protesters, led by the Latin Catholic Church, had on November 22 assured the High Court that they would not block any vehicles coming to the Vizhinjam seaport.

However, on Saturday, hundreds of protesters gathered in front of the gate of the seaport, where the agitators blocked the road by erecting a shed across the road and stopped the vehicles.