In accordance with its plans for the political recovery before the upcoming local election elections, the Catholic Church increases its campaign against what it considers to be the apathy of the left democratic leading government against farmers in central Travancore.
All organizations and institutions under the Archdiocese of Changanassery in the Syro-Malabar Church will be attended by a massive demonstration organized by the Catholic Congress of All Keral (AKCC), the official lay organization of the Church, in Kuttanad’s mancomb. The event scheduled for August 17, when the state celebrates the Day of Farmers, takes place as a continuation of “pissed sangamam” (Christian meeting), which took place in February this year.
Archbishop Mar Thomas Tharyil, head of the Archdiocese Changanassery, will lead a daily demonstration. “Although tens of thousands have participated in Sangamam, the government has not yet taken meaningful measures. In this context, the protest is organized in Kuttanad, which will also include the submission of petitions and a mass memorandum on the Union and state government,” said AKCC President Biju Sebastian.
The protest will be seen by the participation of all priests, members of the Pastoral Council, the Committee on Ages, the bearers of the Archdiocese Office and the Forane of the Church and the organization at the level of units, as well as farmers, agricultural workers and leaders from other communities.
The sources of the Church said that a demonstration that requires urgent measures to restore agriculture and living in Kuttanad will coincide with similar protests Kothamangalam and Idukki dioceses over the ongoing agricultural anxiety and growing attacks on wild animals. These coordinated events are considered part of a wider offer to obtain reduced public visibility of the community in the last two decades. “It is indeed an attempt to show that Christians have the power to rise again,” said the official of the higher church.
The latest step assumes importance, especially because the Church is completing the action plan to strengthen the position of a community aimed at introducing the maximum number of community members in the upcoming elections of the local authority. This step accepts the allusion from the recent call of the Catholic Bishops’ Council (KCBC), which urged young Christians to enter and play an active role in politics.
Published – August 13, 2025 17:08
