T
HE BROCHURE writes itself: a scattering of coral ringlets, each encircling its own turquoise lagoon within the Arabian Sea, Lakshadweep is India at its most alluring. These 36 islands, together totalling just 32 square kilometres of land, are peopled by a matrilineal, mostly Muslim society where families make their living through seafaring and coconut harvests.
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In the past fortnight this drop in the Indian bucket, just 70,000 people among 1.4bn, has come to exemplify a sort of controversy that is becoming incessant. The national government of Narendra Modi and his Hindu-first Bharatiya Janata Party (
The Kerala HC empowered the Chief Judicial Magistrate at Amini, Lakshadweep to order the release of persons protesting against the administration's policies.
Amid the demand for the ouster of Lakshadweep Administrator, Home Minister Amit Shah assured a BJP delegation that all concerns of the locals will be addressed.
The Kerala Assembly on Monday passed a resolution passed by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday expressing solidarity with the people of Lakshadweep who are on a path of protest against the recent actions of the island administrator Praful Khoda Patel.