After beef ban & land use patterns, language is new friction point in idyllic Lakshadweep

However, on 5 June, the Kerala High Court deferred the Lakshadweep administration's order. In an interim order, the court emphasised the need to preserve the Mahal language and said that a decision regarding the inclusion of Arabic would also be taken after consultations with relevant stakeholders. The order followed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Ajas Akber, president of the National Students' Union of India (NSUI) Lakshadweep unit.
The tussle of the residents with the administration over language broke out after the administration implemented a three-language policy in schools under the National Education Policy, 2020 and the National Curriculum Framework, 2023.
Thiruvananthapuram: The Lakshadweep administration's decision to implement a three-language policy has triggered fierce protests this week, with residents accusing it of erasing indigenous tongues and culture. Though the Kerala High Court has now stepped in, concerns remain high as many residents fear the policy is part of a broader attempt to dilute their cultural identity under the current administration.
Located between the Arabian Sea to the west and the Laccadive Sea to the east, about 220–440 km off the Malabar Coast, the predominant language across the islands is Jeseri, a dialect of Malayalam. In Minicoy, the spoken language is Mahal, which is a dialect of the Maldivian language (Dhivehi).
However, the language fight is only the latest in a series of controversial policy changes and regulations that have led to growing anger among Lakshadweep residents over the past few years.
'Arabic and Mahal are integral to our cultural identity, community life, and early literacy in the island. Arabic is the primary language of religious instruction, while Mahal, on the other hand, is the only indigenous language of Minicoy Island and represents the unique heritage of the Divehi-speaking community,' Lakshadweep MP and Congress leader Muhammed Hamdullah Sayeed told ThePrint.
According to a government order dated 15 May, signed by Padmakar Ram Tripathi, director of education in the Union Territory (UT), the administration has mandated Malayalam, English, and Hindi as R1, R2, and R3 (the levels denoted by the NCF) in Malayalam-medium schools, and English, Malayalam, and Hindi as R1, R2, and R3 in CBSE schools.
The order said the aim was to 'strengthen foundational literacy and language development among children in Lakshadweep, and to align with the vision to enhance the quality of language education in the Union Territory of Lakshadweep,' while providing multilingual exposure and cognitive development opportunities through the mother tongue and introducing English and Hindi in a 'developmentally appropriate' and 'pedagogically sound' manner.
However, the exclusion of Mahal and Arabic, Sayeed argued, violates the rights guaranteed under Article 29(1) (right to conserve one's language and culture), Article 14 (equality before the law), and Article 21A (right to inclusive and meaningful education) of the Constitution.
ThePrint reached out to the office of the Lakshadweep administrator through messages and calls. The report will be updated as and if a response is received.
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A history of controversial regulations
A Union Territory comprising 36 islands, of which 10 are inhabited, Lakshadweep has a population of 64,473. Islam is the major religion followed by Hinduism and Christianity, according to the 2011 Census.
According to Sayeed, changes in the archipelago began soon after 2014, when the BJP-led Centre started appointing politicians as administrators.
'Till 2014, the administrator used to be a senior civil servant. But since 2016, politicians are being appointed. In a place where there is no elected assembly, a political appointment is not going to bring any good,' Sayeed told ThePrint.
In 2016, the Centre appointed retired Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Farooq Khan as the administrator of Lakshadweep. Khan, who retired in 2013, had joined the BJP in 2014 and became its national secretary and head of the party's minority morcha.
In 2019, former IPS Dineshwar Sharma was the administrator for one year, after which Praful Khodabhai Patel was appointed. A seasoned politician with close ties with the BJP and the RSS, Patel was the BJP MLA from Gujarat's Himatnagar in 2007. He also served as Gujarat's minister of state for home from 2010 to 2012 under then-chief minister Narendra Modi.
'One of the major issues we are facing is the lack of employment. Over 3,000 people lost their jobs immediately due to many of the regulations. It means 3,000 families are affected,' said Shahul Hameed, a resident of Lakshadweep and an M.Ed (Master of Education) student at the Kozhikode Government College of Teacher Education.
Hameed said the loss of jobs was mostly due to the closure of dairy farms and the merging of schools.
In 2021, the UT administration passed the Lakshadweep Animal Preservation Regulation proposed by Patel, which sought to prohibit the transport of cattle for slaughter and the selling or buying of beef or beef products. The move sparked controversy and protests. In June 2021, the Kerala High Court stayed the decision, providing interim relief. The same year, the administration ordered the closure of government-run dairy farms, with plans to import dairy products instead.
The administration also removed meat from the midday meal menu in schools. Although the Supreme Court stayed this decision in 2022, in September 2023, it upheld the administration's decision, ruling that it was a policy matter beyond the judiciary's purview.
Another flashpoint was the Lakshadweep Development Authority Regulation, 2021, which granted the administration sweeping powers to acquire, alter, and transfer land owned by residents. The law allowed the government to declare any area a 'planning area' for development.
In response to these changes, the 'Save Lakshadweep' campaign emerged in 2021 as a widespread grassroots protest movement against the administration's policies.
Hameed also said that no panchayat elections have been held after 2022. 'There is no elected people's representative, other than the MP. He has limitations to his involvement in local issues,' he said. The panchayat election was held in Lakshadweep in 2017, but the term expired in 2022. Elections have not taken place since.
Hameed added that the administrators in the archipelago are only 'outsiders' who don't know the know-how of the place.
(Edited by Sanya Mathur)
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