In May and June 2021, residents of Lakshadweep protested a set of draft regulations and orders issued by Administrator Praful Khoda Patel, including a land development law, a preventive detention law, a beef ban and a two-child rule for panchayat candidates. On 7 June 2021 people on all ten inhabited islands held a 12-hour hunger strike. The Kerala Assembly asked the Centre to recall Patel, a filmmaker was booked for sedition, and the courts declined to block the measures. The two-child rule became law in 2022.
Key takeaways
- Lakshadweep residents protested four draft regulations from Administrator Praful Khoda Patel: a land development law (LDAR), a detention law (PASA), a beef ban and a two-child rule for panchayat candidates.
- On 7 June 2021 all ten inhabited islands held a 12-hour hunger strike, and on 31 May the Kerala Assembly unanimously sought Patel's recall.
- The administration cited development, tourism, security and nutrition, and called the campaign "misleading" and run from outside.
- Filmmaker Aisha Sultana was booked for sedition over a "bio-weapon" remark and got anticipatory bail on 25 June 2021.
- Courts did not block the measures. The two-child rule became law in 2022, and Patel remains Administrator.
Background: a new Administrator and four drafts
Lakshadweep is a Union Territory with no legislature, run by an Administrator appointed by the Centre Al Jazeera. About 96.5% of the population is Muslim, according to a letter from former civil servants TNM.
Praful Khoda Patel, a former Gujarat minister of state for home, took additional charge as Administrator in December 2020. He was also Administrator of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu TNM. His administration published drafts for public comment ThePrint The Leaflet:
- Lakshadweep Development Authority Regulation (LDAR), 2021: lets the Administrator declare planning areas and acquire land needed for a public purpose. Comments were invited from 28 April to 19 May 2021.
- Prevention of Anti-Social Activities Regulation (PASA): lets the Administrator detain a person for up to a year to prevent acts "prejudicial to the maintenance of public order".
- Animal Preservation Regulation: bans slaughter of cows, calves, bulls and bullocks and the sale, transport or storage of beef, with up to 10 years in jail.
- Panchayat Regulation: bars people with more than two children from gram panchayat seats, and reserves half of sarpanch posts for women.
Residents also objected to orders closing government dairy farms, dropping meat from school midday meals, allowing liquor at tourist resorts and ending contract jobs TNM Deccan Herald. Covid-19 added to the anger. The islands had no case in 2020. The first was reported on 18 January 2021, after quarantine rules for arrivals were relaxed Scroll TNM.
Job cuts
A government employee told The News Minute that over 500 contract workers had lost their jobs, including 200 marine watchers and 197 labourers at the tourism society SPORTS. Government's position Officials said the watchers were paused for the monsoon and SPORTS could not pay its staff TNM. In July 2021 the tourism department laid off 193 temporary workers, citing the end of the season and similar off-season layoffs in earlier years Onmanorama. In 2024 Al Jazeera put terminations since December 2020 at more than 3,000, without naming an official source Al Jazeera.
Timeline
Collector defends the drafts
Collector S Asker Ali calls the campaign "misleading" at a Kochi press conference TNM.
No stay on LDAR
The Kerala High Court declines to stay the land draft on Congress leader KP Noushad Ali's PIL TNM.
Kerala resolution; MP meets Shah
The Kerala Assembly seeks Patel's recall. MP Mohammed Faizal meets Home Minister Amit Shah The Quint.
Ex-civil servants write to PM
93 former officials ask for the drafts to be withdrawn TNM.
Hunger strike
Islanders fast from 6 am to 6 pm; some in Agatti hold placards underwater Onmanorama.
Sedition case
Kavaratti police book Aisha Sultana. Reports give FIR dates from 8 to 11 June Scroll Maktoob.
Meal and dairy orders stayed
The High Court stays orders closing dairy farms and dropping meat from school meals Tribune.
The 7 June hunger strike
The Save Lakshadweep Forum called the strike. Residents of all ten inhabited islands took part and shops other than emergency services stayed shut Onmanorama. Placards read "Save Lakshadweep, Save Democracy" and "We are not against development; don't peddle false information" TNM.
This is the first time all islands are observing such a protest.
UCK Thangal, convenor, Save Lakshadweep Forum, 7 June 2021 (Scroll, citing Hindustan Times)
People stayed at home because Patel had warned of strict action under pandemic laws against crowds in public places Scroll. NCP Lakshadweep president Bunyamin answered the Collector's claim that outsiders were driving the campaign: "The protests began from here, it is very much our sentiments" TNM.
Opposition to the drafts also came from inside the BJP. The party's Lakshadweep president Mohammad Kasim joined the protest, and eight members of its youth wing resigned Scroll. Migrant workers began leaving after new entry-permit rules on 29 May Onmanorama.
The Kerala Assembly resolution
On 31 May 2021 Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan moved a resolution in the 140-member Kerala Assembly, with support from the opposition UDF. It asked the Centre to recall the Administrator, cancel his proposed regulations and protect the islanders' livelihoods and culture. It also said the land regulations gave the Development Authority "unbridled powers" to acquire property LiveLaw.
The Administrator, who is challenging the interests of the people, must be removed and the Centre must take immediate action to protect the lives and the livelihood of people of Lakshadweep.
Pinarayi Vijayan, Kerala Assembly, 31 May 2021 (TNM)
Vijayan called events on the islands "an experiment of the Sangh Parivar agenda". Opposition leader VD Satheesan backed the resolution TNM.
Both accounts
Islanders' and critics' account
Residents said the LDAR could be used to take their land, and that a detention law was not needed on islands with very low crime. NCRB data cited by ThePrint shows 89 crimes recorded in 2020. CPI(M) MP Elamaram Kareem said the purpose of PASA was to "suppress any form of protest or agitation" ThePrint. The 93 former civil servants said the drafts showed "alien and arbitrary policymaking". They warned that the beef ban and the lifting of the liquor ban risked "an avoidable communal colour" TNM.
Administration's and Centre's account
Government's position Patel told ThePrint the LDAR would "usher in development and go a long way in improving the social and economic indicators on the islands", and said he wanted to develop the islands on the lines of the Maldives ThePrint. He said fears about land were "due to a lack of information" and that objections had been studied before the drafts went to the Centre The Week via Onmanorama.
The administration gave a reason for each measure:
- PASA: The Collector pointed to a March seizure of about 300 kg of heroin, five AK-47 rifles and 1,000 rounds, and to marijuana and liquor smuggling. ThePrint. TNM noted that the Coast Guard said the seized boat and crew were Sri Lankan TNM.
- Beef and school meals: Patel said the meal menu was about "nutrition and not the food habit", that fish was now served, and that beef had to be shipped in from the mainland. On beef and liquor he asked, "Why is everything seen from a communal angle?" The Week via Onmanorama.
- Two-child rule: The Collector said it would only apply to children born after the rule took effect, and cited population density. Patel pointed to the 50% reservation for women ThePrint.
- The protests: The Collector said the campaign was "totally misleading and is led by those outside of Lakshadweep" TNM.
Claim · Lakshadweep MP In the reporting reviewed here, the Centre said only in general terms that the changes would bring development Deccan Herald. BJP leader AP Abdullakutty said Amit Shah had promised to "address all their worries". MP Faizal said Shah promised that "People's consent will be taken into consideration before they are finalised" The Quint Deccan Herald.
The sedition case against Aisha Sultana
On 7 June 2021, on a MediaOne debate, filmmaker Aisha Sultana of Chetlat island criticised how the pandemic had been handled on the islands. Police registered a case under IPC Sections 124A (sedition) and 153B on a complaint from Lakshadweep BJP chief C Abdul Khader Haji Maktoob. According to Scroll, she had said the Centre was using Patel as a "bio-weapon" against the islanders Scroll.
Sultana said she was talking about Patel, not the country: "I have compared Patel as a bio-weapon, not the government or the country" Scroll. Her lawyer said she spoke in the "heat of the moment" and had apologised. The administration's counsel S Manu argued: "She has practically sowed the seeds of separatism in the minds of people" Scroll.
After a week's interim protection, Justice Ashok Menon granted anticipatory bail on 25 June, saying her statement did not appear to amount to imputations prejudicial to the national interest. On 2 July the court refused to stay the investigation because it was at a "preliminary stage" TNM TNM.
The court cases
- Challenge to the drafts: On 17 June 2021 the Kerala High Court dismissed Noushad Ali's PIL. It called the petition "premature" because the measures were only drafts The Leaflet.
- Plea for translations: Opposing MP Faizal's plea for drafts in local languages, the administration said all drafts had gone to the Home Ministry after consultation, and that Article 240 regulations need no consultation by law LiveLaw.
- School meals and dairy farms: The High Court lifted its stay in September 2021 and dismissed the challenges, including one from the Save Lakshadweep Forum Deccan Herald. In May 2022, on lawyer Ajmal Ahmed's appeal, the Supreme Court ordered that the High Court's interim stay continue. On 14 September 2023 Justices Aniruddha Bose and Bela M Trivedi dismissed the appeal, saying policy decisions were outside judicial review. The Centre had argued that eggs and fish met nutrition norms and that the farms were losing money LiveLaw.
It is not the court's domain as to what food should be eaten by children of a particular region.
Supreme Court, 14 September 2023 (Scroll, Tribune)
Outcome
- Deaths or injuries: None reported.
- Criminal cases: Sedition case against Aisha Sultana; anticipatory bail granted.
- Administrator: Not recalled. The Centre gave him 'Y' category security in July 2021 Onmanorama, and he is still listed as Administrator on the territory's website Lakshadweep Administration.
- Two-child rule: Documented Promulgated by the President as the Lakshadweep Panchayat Regulation, 2022, published on 19 September 2022. It disqualifies anyone with "more than two children", except those who already had more when it took effect Gazette of India.
- School meals and dairy farms: Upheld by the Supreme Court in 2023.
- LDAR, PASA and the beef ban: Sent to the Home Ministry in 2021. The reporting reviewed here does not show any of them being notified.
Where things stand
As of July 2025 the islands had no functioning panchayats, according to MP Hamdullah Sayeed Onmanorama. Land is still disputed. In July 2025 the administration proposed acquiring all of Bitra island for defence use, citing national security. Sayeed said this would displace its residents South First.
In the 2024 Lok Sabha election, Sayeed of the Congress won the seat with 25,726 votes. The NDA candidate got 201. Deccan Herald's report on the result recalled the 2021 resistance to the Patel administration's reforms Deccan Herald. The sources reviewed do not say how Sultana's case ended.
Questions people ask
What was the Save Lakshadweep movement?
A 2021 campaign by Lakshadweep residents against draft laws and orders from Administrator Praful Khoda Patel. Its biggest protest was a 12-hour hunger strike on all inhabited islands on 7 June 2021.
What is the Lakshadweep Development Authority Regulation?
A 2021 draft that lets the Administrator declare planning areas and acquire land for public purposes. Residents feared losing their land; the administration said it was needed for planned development.
Why was Aisha Sultana charged with sedition?
Over a "bio-weapon" remark about the Administrator in a TV debate on 7 June 2021, on a complaint by the Lakshadweep BJP chief. The Kerala High Court granted her anticipatory bail.
Is beef banned in Lakshadweep?
A 2021 draft proposed a ban, but the reporting reviewed here does not show it being notified. In 2023 the Supreme Court upheld dropping meat from school midday meals.
Were the Lakshadweep draft laws withdrawn?
No formal withdrawal was reported. The two-child panchayat rule became law in September 2022. The fate of the land, detention and beef drafts is not clear from public reporting.
Sources
- The News Minute: #SaveLakshadweep: Thousands of island residents protest at homes and beaches, 7 June 2021
- Onmanorama: 'Recall Praful Patel': Lakshadweep residents observe 12-hour hunger strike, 7 June 2021
- Scroll: Lakshadweep residents hold hunger strikes in protest against proposed regulations, 7 June 2021
- LiveLaw: Recall Lakshadweep Administrator; Kerala Assembly passes unanimous resolution, 31 May 2021
- The News Minute: Kerala Assembly passes unanimous resolution to call back Lakshadweep Administrator, 31 May 2021
- The Quint: Amit Shah says locals to be consulted over laws: Lakshadweep MP, 1 June 2021
- Deccan Herald (PTI): Lakshadweep MP says Amit Shah has assured draft laws won't be finalised without consulting locals, 31 May 2021
- The News Minute: 'Give Lakshadweep people-sensitive Administrator': 93 ex-civil servants write to PM, June 2021
- ThePrint: These are the 3 Lakshadweep draft laws that have triggered controversy, 28 May 2021
- ThePrint: 'Want to develop Lakshadweep like Maldives': Administrator Praful Patel defends draft land law, 28 May 2021
- Onmanorama (The Week): Interview with Lakshadweep Administrator Praful Khoda Patel, 14 June 2021
- The News Minute: 'Misleading campaign': Lakshadweep Collector defends Administrator Patel's regulations, 27 May 2021
- Deccan Herald: Explained: Why are people in Lakshadweep protesting?, 25 May 2021
- The News Minute: Lakshadweep contract employees face job cuts, uncertainty amid administrative reforms, May 2021
- Onmanorama: Lakshadweep tourism lays off nearly 200 temporary employees, 4 July 2021
- The News Minute: Kerala HC declines to stay draft Lakshadweep Development Authority Regulation 2021, 28 May 2021
- The Leaflet: Kerala High Court dismisses PIL on Lakshadweep draft rules, 17 June 2021
- LiveLaw: Lakshadweep administration opposes plea to publish draft regulations in vernacular languages, 12 July 2021
- Scroll: Sedition case against filmmaker for calling Lakshadweep administrator 'bio-weapon' during TV debate, June 2021
- Maktoob: Filmmaker Aisha Sultana appears before Lakshadweep police, June 2021
- Scroll: Sedition case: Kerala HC grants filmmaker Aisha Sultana interim anticipatory bail, 17 June 2021
- The News Minute: Sedition case against Aisha Sultana: Kerala HC grants anticipatory bail, 25 June 2021
- The News Minute: Kerala High Court refuses to stay sedition case proceedings against Aisha Sultana, 2 July 2021
- Deccan Herald: Kerala HC dismisses plea against administrative reforms in Lakshadweep, 17 September 2021
- LiveLaw: Supreme Court refuses to interfere with Lakshadweep decision to drop meat from mid-day meal menu, 14 September 2023
- Scroll: SC upholds Lakshadweep administration's decision to ban meat from school meals, shut dairy farms, 14 September 2023
- Tribune: Supreme Court upholds omission of meat from midday meals in Lakshadweep, 15 September 2023
- Gazette of India: The Lakshadweep Panchayat Regulation, 2022 (No. 5 of 2022), 19 September 2022
- Al Jazeera: Caught in India-Maldives spat, Lakshadweep islands want jobs, then tourists, 23 January 2024
- Deccan Herald: NDA candidate gets mere 201 votes in Lakshadweep despite Modi's outreach, 6 June 2024
- Onmanorama: Eviction concerns over proposed acquisition of Bitra island, 19 July 2025
- South First: Indigenous residents face displacement as Lakshadweep administration seeks to take over Bitra island, 20 July 2025
- Lakshadweep Administration: Administrative setup page, accessed 12 October 2026