Vijayan: CM Satheesan's remarks on missing fishers 'callous', 'unbecoming'

Kerala's Leader of the Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday accused Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan of making 'callous' remarks that added insult to the coastal community, which he said was already 'injured by the lack of government support' during recent rainstorms that caused widespread destruction across the state.

Speaking at a press conference, Mr. Vijayan said the Chief Minister had attempted to cover up the government's 'bungled' disaster response by commenting, 'rather cruelly', that as many as 148 fishers were lost at sea during the previous Left Democratic Front (LDF) dispensation, while fewer than 10 seafarers went missing under his current administration.

'Mr. Satheesan has sought to inject coloured politics into a calamity that has left several families bereaved of their breadwinners. His reprehensible attempt to draw a comparison between death figures under past and present administrations smacked of a brazen lack of humaneness. The statement is unbecoming of a Chief Minister, whose job is to unify the polity during a crisis,' Mr. Vijayan said.

The opposition leader said the Chief Minister's 'dismissive attitude' towards the plight of fishers had caused bitterness among the coastal community. He also referred to another minister's statement that locating the bodies of missing fishers took time and the government was not to blame, calling it unsympathetic.

Mr. Vijayan further alleged that the Chief Minister's claim that the current United Democratic Front (UDF) government's deployment of helicopters, military aircraft and drones for marine search and rescue was a first in Kerala was 'a mockery of truth and an insult to the coastal community's intelligence'.

'The government's ineptitude cost the state the golden hour when a rapid marine rescue operation would have saved lives. Ministers and ruling-front MLAs played truant rather than reassure the families of the missing fishers or coordinate relief, rescue and rehabilitation in flood-affected regions,' he stated.

Mr. Vijayan also dismissed the Chief Minister's announcement that the government would negate the seven-year time period set for compensating families of fishers whose bodies could not be recovered, calling it 'mendacious propaganda'. He said the previous LDF government had already removed the restrictive regulation in the aftermath of the Okhi cyclone in 2016-17, setting a template for future disaster response.

The opposition leader noted that families of the missing fishers had to stage sit-ins on roads for several days to get search operations moving. He alleged that UDF social media handles, at the instance of the government, disparaged survivors for standing up for their rights. Relief camps, he said, lacked basic facilities including food and medicine, and on-ground coordination between volunteers and government agencies was totally absent.

Pointing to the uncertain future faced by the grieving fisher families, Mr. Vijayan said, 'For them, the government appeared a distant and unresponsive authority. Their dear ones remained missing at sea due to the government's belated disaster response. The families require emotional closure and financial assistance, including jobs for survivors, compensation for lost boats and fishing gear, and state funding for their children's education.'