That could be because “surrounded by the warm waters of the Arabian Sea”, and lying nearly “240 miles off the coast of Kerala”, Lakshadweep is cut off from “mainland developments”. In any case, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi’s ‘Hey Ram’ wouldn’t have echoed in any of the Lakshadweep islands, then in 1948, as ‘Jai Shri Ram’ wouldn’t, now in 2021.

People say that Lakshadweep’s “socio-cultural life” is unique and that the “Islam in the Lakshadweep” is unlike that anywhere else. Bull! The “Islam of Lakshadweep” is no different from that of anywhere else. That’s because Islam as spelled out in the Holy Quran is a closed chapter, interchangeable in different locations, but cannot be changed by anyone anywhere.

Yes, Lakshadweep society is uniquely matrilineal, and it’s been influenced by Hindu traditions and the caste structure. The islanders are also ethnically and linguistically connected to the people of Kerala. But none of that means that there’s any dilution of Islam in Lakshadweep. If anything, there’s been a hardening of the Islamic stance in the archipelago in interregnum 1947-2021.

The advent of administrator Praful Khoda Patel and his “disturbing” set of regulations have only hardened the stance, giving it a distinct cutting edge. The point is, faced with a fait accompli, the “Lakshadweepis” opted to junk their “innate goodness”, which is marked by “innocence”, to defend Islam at any cost.

The fact of the matter is, the people of Lakshadweep take everybody at face value, for which they often find themselves at a disadvantage, but bring Islam into contention and they’ll go all out to defend it, closet it from ‘outside” influences. That is why Mahatma Gandhi, the “father of the Nation’, could not get a foothold or a perch in any of the islands of Lakshadweep.

Not long ago, during the UPA rule when Manmohan Singh was Prime Minister, the Centre sent a “bust” of Mahatma Gandhi to the islands to mark October 2, Gandhi Jayanti. But for the islanders, Gandhi is ‘Father of the Nation’ only in school-books! As Islam doesn’t allow idolatry, there was opposition to installing the Gandhi bust in any of the islands.

The “people of Lakshadweep led by the Qazi” refused to "accept the cargo” and Gandhi’s bust went straight back to Kochi in the same ship that brought it to Lakshadweep. But the bust was not allowed to be offloaded at Kochi either. This time by the Hindu fundamentalist Vishwa Hindu Parishad. So, the bust went right back to Lakshadweep in the same ship’s hold!

Poor Mahatma Gandhi! The second time in Lakshadweep waters, the Gandhi bust was “secretly” taken off the ship and smuggled into Kavaratti Island in the dead of the night, where it was consigned to gather dust in a corner in the administrator’s office complex, a symbol to this day of the religious intolerance of the archipelago’s Muslim denizens. A move to build a Ganesha temple in an uninhabited Minicoy island was also thwarted by the people of Lakshadweep.

So, it’s not difficult to see where the opposition to Praful Patel’s regulations comes from. In fact, there are sections of Kerala which want the Pinarayi Vijayan Government to include beef dishes in Kerala’s midday brunch for children studying in Kerala schools. The logic is that if Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan is batting for beef in the mid-day lunch scheme for Lakshadweep schoolchildren, why shouldn’t Kerala’s school-kids also get beef and poratta? After-all, charity begins at home!

The point is not every Malayalee is in the same boat with Vijayan on matters-Lakshadweep? There are Hindu and Christian who insist too much is being made of Praful Khoda Patel’s “regulations". The Kerala Assembly has passed a resolution asking for the recall of Praful Patel and demanding the rollback of the ‘Patel regulations’, which it says infringes on the “cultural ethos” of Lakshadweep.

Malayalam film actor Prithviraj is with Pinarayi Vijayan. He says no law, reform or amendment should be allowed to change a way of life. And Lakshadweep does not want Patel’s life-changing regulations, which infringe on the Sharia. People compare Lakshadweep with Kashmir, those who are against Patel’s regulations, as also those who are for the regulations.

The allegation is, the Modi Government is against the “special status” accorded to Lakshadweep, like it was against the special status given to Jammu & Kashmir under articles 370 and 35. Lakshadweep is also Muslim majority, and the ‘Hindu nationalist’ BJP Government doesn’t need any other excuse.

A merchant navy mariner, who has worked alongside Lakshadweep natives, says there cannot be greater patriots than the “Indians of Lakshadweep”. He says they are the first ones to shout ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ when the “tricolour goes up” on the ship. “Quite unlike Muslim sailors from UP and Bihar who worked with us.”

That said, there are allegations that the people of Lakshadweep don’t want outside influences. Therefore, the opposition to some elements of the law of the land, giving rise to allegations that Lakshadweep does not want to integrate, that it’s an Islamic microcosm and prefers to remain so.

The Special Marriage Act, 1954 is a law which the people of Lakshadweep love to hate. You see, Lakshadweep does not have institutions of higher learning, which means students join mainland colleges, where an occasional love affair often ends up in marriage under the Special Marriage Act, 1954. No father of a “Dweep girl” wants that to happen. The news spreads and then it’s a challenge to the entire archipelago to undo the wrong! It has happened in real life, and there are more than one such story. (IPA Service)