Even as people across the world celebrate Christmas on Monday, the festival is shrouded in gloom for the hundreds of families belonging to the fishing communities in Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
The aftermath of Cyclone Ockhi continues to linger, as at least a hundred fishermen from Kerala have been missing for over three weeks, ever since the cyclone hit the Kerala coast on November 30.
“On this Christmas Day, let us all think about the affected families”, said Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in a Facebook post to the people of the state.
"Christmas must be an opportunity for all of us to strengthen our humanitarian values. Jesus Christ loved the people of this world as one. Christ's message will be fulfilled in true spirit when people unite despite their differences. Christ always stood by the downtrodden and the shunted," he said.
Saying that Christ's words that one must feed the hungry, Pinarayi Vijayan said that everyone needs to remember those words on Christmas.
"You should think about the hungry, you should have the mind to feed them. Let us celebrate this Christmas, thinking about the hundreds of people who were affected by Ockhi," CM Pinarayi said.
On Saturday, speaking at the inaugural ceremony of AKG library in Malappuram that was allegedly burnt down by the RSS a year and a half ago, CM Pinarayi had spoken about how the festival of Christmas was being politicised.
"Christmas is a festival that is celebrated by all, irrespective of their religious belief. But recently, a news that shook me was how the right-wing factions said in a part of the country that Christmas must not be celebrated in school. This clearly shows their intolerance," the CM had said.
Meanwhile, Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran visited fishermen communities in Vettikadu in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday. The Minister assured the affected families that the compensation declared by the state government will reach the families after Christmas. On his official Facebook page, minister Kadakampally also shared a Christmas message, saying that the day signifies hope and peace.