Thiruvananthapuram: Opposition leader VD Satheesan on Sunday said the FIR against the Archbishop of Trivandrum Latin Archdiocese over the Vizhinjam port protest is unacceptable.
“Cases have been registered against nearly 50 priests. This cannot be accepted. Now it looks like the Pinarayi Vijayan-led government will go all out for the Adani group. The Latin Church’s allegation that the violence was orchestrated by the government is serious,” he said in a statement on Sunday.
Satheesan said the United Democratic Front had earlier pledged support to the protesters and would continue to do so.
Multiple cases have been registered against at least 15 Latin Catholic priests, including Metropolitan Archbishop Thomas Y. Neto, in connection with the violent anti-port protests that took place in Vizhinjam here.
IPC Section 143 (Unlawful assembly), 147 (riot), 120-B (criminal conspiracy) 153 (Immense provocation with intent to cause riot), 447 (criminal trespass), 353 (Assault or criminal force to restrain public servant from dismissal of their debt) are struck against them.
The police have registered a case on a complaint by the People’s Forum, a group of people who support the project, that the anti-port protesters had attacked them.
The Latin Catholic Church, which has led protests in the coastal village of Vizhinjam for more than 100 days, today urged the faithful to protest against the left.
An audio clip is circulating in which one of the priests can be heard asking parishioners to gather at the protest site.