Word: kerala
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...missionary in Kerala, India for 17 years, I disagree that "the vast majority" of the catch of shrimp, lobster, mackerel and sardines is sold for export, and that Keralans "largely ignore the sweet potatoes, bananas, pineapples and coconuts that abound" in the state [Feb. 25]. Fish and shrimp are part of the regular diet of millions of people, and the other items mentioned are eaten daily. Unfortunately, the prices of such commodities have risen tremendously recently...
Though shortages could be largely alleviated by proper management of food distribution, the government has barely begun that task. In Kerala, where the food shortage has struck hardest because its 19 million inhabitants shun all grains except rice as "foreign food," people must now subsist on a daily rice ration of only 5 ounces. The Keralans have been rioting on and off for three weeks in protest, and last week the rioting spread to other rice-short parts of India. A 15-year-old student died of gunshot wounds after police fired on a mob attacking a police station near...
Even so, Indians often ignore available food. Though Kerala fishermen haul in tons of shrimp, lobster, mackerel and sardines each year from the fish-rich Arabian Sea, the vast majority of the catch is sold for export, and Keralans use the money to buy extra rice at exorbitant black-market prices. They also largely ignore the sweet potatoes, bananas, pineapples and coconuts that abound in the state's lush tropical forests. And, though more Hindus discreetly eat meat, the vast majority in cow-rich India leave their beef on the hoof for religious reasons. Half of India...
...Kerala's influential Communists egged the mobs on. The government retaliated by jailing 13 Reds, including E. M. S. Namboodiripad, who was Kerala's chief minister during the 27 months in the mid-1950s when the state was under Communist rule. Even in jail the Reds managed to make trouble by going on a hunger strike, which they vowed would not end until the government provided Kerala with larger rations...
This will not be easy. For one thing, the rice-eating people of Kerala stubbornly refuse to supplement their diet with other grain. Thus President Johnson's announcement last week authorizing shipment of 3,000,000 tons of wheat and maize to replenish India's depleted food supplies will be a boon to the nation, but will not necessarily keep the rioters off the streets in Kerala...