Thu, May 15, 2014 at 11:21 AM
Memorial meeting: 3 pm. Thursday ,15th May, 2014
Indian Social Institute (ISI) Lodi Road, New Delhi
Fr. Thomas Kocherry, leader of the fishworkers movement in India and well known anti-globalisation activist passed away on 3 May 2014 in Thiruvanthapuram, Kerala. He died a week before his 74th birthday.
Tom (as he was fondly referred to) was known across the world as one of India’s most articulate and active defenders of the rights of traditional fishing communities and the protection of the coasts and seas. He was one of the founder leaders of the Kerala Swatantra Matsya Thozilali Federation (KSMTF) National Fishworkers Forum (NFF), the World Forum of Fisher Peoples (WFFP) and the National Alliance of Peoples Movements (NAPM).
Born on 10 May, 1940 in Changanassery, Kerala, Tom was ordained as a priest in 1971. Soon after, he went to work among refugees in Raigunj a border area of Bangladesh. In the 1970s, as the fishing community in Kerala began to organise and assert for their rights, Tom was right in the middle of the movement, leading hunger strikes and was sent to jail on numerous occasions on trumped up charges.
Despite his recent ill-health he played an active role in the struggle of the coastal community in Tamil Nadu against the Kudankulam nuclear project. He was also closely following the political developments leading up to the current elections. A few hours before he passed away he sent this article to the activist website, Countercurrents.http://www.
The Delhi Solidarity Group (DSG) is organising a condolence meeting in his memory on Thursday, 15th May, 3 pm at Indian Social Institute (ISI).
We hope that you will attend and share your memories of him with us.
