Kerala woman calls off her lonely protest against mighty sand mafia

Jazeera, who has been sitting on the protest at Jantar Mantar along with her three minor children, announced her decision after Chief Minister Oommen Chandy met her at the venue of her protest and assured to take strong steps against the sand mafia causing irreparable damage to the environment.

However, she asserted that she will continue to intervene in social issues. Jazeera said she would also contest against Kannur legislator A P Abdulla Kutty in the next Assembly elections.

She said that she would accept Rs500, 000 offered to her by Cochin-based prominent industrialist Kochouseph Chittilappally for showing courage to take on the powerful sand mafia. Earlier she refused to receive the money when the businessman insisted that she had to attend the function organised by him to receive the money. The chief minister, who was in New Delhi for discussion on finding a new president for the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee met Jazeera after she threatened to take extreme steps if he did not personally intervene in the issue.

Jazeera had taken her stir to New Delhi after the promises given by various authorities to check the indiscriminate sand mining in coastal areas were not fulfilled. The chief minister himself had given the assurance following a 64-day-long sit-in by the woman outside the secretariat in Trivandrum.

The lonely crusade by the burqa clad woman made headlines in the national media. Following the media reports, the National Human Rights Commission took suo moto coginzance of her case. Jazeera embarked on her silent campaign after she saw the beach where she grew up vanishing on her return from her husband’s house at Kottayam for her third delivery.

She started off after persuading two of her brothers, engaged in sand mining, to give up the illegal activity.

She launched a sit-in in front of the local police station and later before the collectorare after her numerous representations to the local authorities and the district collector fell on deaf ears. She shifted the venue to Trivandrum after the mafia and the local police started harassing and physically assaulting her and her children.

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