Against the backdrop of the NDA government’s decision to extend the period of trawling ban and the new policy of deep sea fishing, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday warned Prime Minister Narendra Modi against confronting the fishermen community. Addressing a convention organised by Fishermen Congress at Chavakkad beach in Kerala’s Thrissur district, Rahul said, “The Modi government does not understand who it is confronting. It is picking up a fight not with fishermen, farmers and tribals, but with the soul of the country. Modi should remember that nobody has won a fight against the country’s soul. I am telling you from this stage, they (Centre) should be very, very careful, about who they are confronting.’’ Referring to the Centre’s decision to promote deep sea fishing, he said the government wants to take the sea away from fishermen. [related-post] “Like land is mother to kisan, sea is mother to fisherman. They (government) want to take away the mother (sea) from the fishermen and give it to someone else,” he said. Citing the plight of farmers and fishermen, Rahul said everyone is unhappy with the Modi government and “only a few (of its) friends” are happy. Assuring that the Congress would fight for their cause, the Congress vice-president said the party would organise the fishermen at the national level. Earlier in the day, Rahul visited a fishermen colony near Chavakkad. He later said that he was shocked to see the poor housing and sanitation facilities there, with seven to eight members living in a single house. The fishermen also informed Rahul, with the help of an interpreter, that they were returning empty handed from the sea. They said the trawlers have been fishing close to the shore, spoiling the chances of traditional fishermen. Rahul assured them that he would take up their cause in all relevant platforms. Later, he met representatives of rubber growers’ organisations at Aluva who apprised him of their plight in the wake of the fall in natural rubber prices.
