Thiruvananthapuram: An FIR has been registered against Fr Thedocious D'Cruz, convener of the Vizhinjam protest committee, over his verbal retaliation to Kerala Fisheries Minister V Abdurahiman . According to the report, Fr Thedocious's remarks against the minister was aimed at provoking the public, giving rise to communal polarization and insurgency.
Fr Thedocious D'Cruz, who had on November 29 called fisheries minister V Abdurahiman the "biggest anti-national the world has ever seen", had retracted his words on Wednesday. "It was just a slip of the tongue, born out of a sudden emotional distress on hearing the minister's words" said Fr Theodocious said in a press release on Wednesday.
He said he regretted that his comments had caused divisions among the minority communities when the need of the hour was for them to stand united.
The Latin priest's outburst on November 29 was following the fisheries minister's comment over the motive of the Latin Church-led agitation. "To ask a government to conduct a study by stopping construction, even if it is only for a week, is not a protest. It is something else," the minister had said during the Vizhinjam International Seaport Expert Summit held in Thiruvananthapuram on November 29.
Vizhinjam protest
Fisherfolk of Vizhinjam and other coastal areas have been protesting for more than four months against the under-construction seaport, and also led to violence on November 26 and 27. The protesters attacked Vizhinjam police station on the night of November 27, injuring several policemen.
The state police on Wednesday said that investigation has not reached a stage to suggest involvement of any extremist groups in the recent incidents of violence at Vizhinjam here.
(With inputs from PTI)