Fora support Koodankulam protest

BANGALORE: City-based activists from various people’s fora have expressed their concerns about the deteriorating situation of peaceful protesters at Kudankulam Nuclear Plant.The activists from the Bangalore Wing of People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), People’s Democratic Forum (PDF), People’s Solidarity Group and South India Cell for Human Rights Education and Monitoring (SICHREM) got together and highlighted their concerns at a press conference on Saturday.“Around 20,000 peaceful protesters from Idindhakari village protesting against the Kudankulam Nuclear plant have been camping there for eight months. On March 19, the Tamil Nadu government ordered the deployment of 32 battalions of Tamil Nadu Special Police Force and four companies of Rapid Action Force (RAF) belonging to the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), creating a sense of anxiety among the protesters and with the clear intention of breaking the struggle through any means,” said Jagadish G Chandra, Convenor, People’s Solidarity Concerns.Further, the activists of the fora who have been hearing from protesters about their troubles said that peaceful demonstrators have been under a sort of medieval siege since March 19 with total denial of access to the outside world.“Food supply, including water and milk, have been cut off by road blockage. On the brink of a humanitarian crisis after four days of blockade, the villagers who incidentally are fishermen managed to supply the protesters with minimal basic needs. People’s voices should be heard and only those who want to provide a boost to big businesses will support such a project,” said Ramesh, member of the People’s Democratic Forum.Meanwhile, the South India Cell for Human Rights Education and Monitoring expressed grave concern regarding the large deployment of the police and has written to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), International Foundation for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders and the High Commissioner of Human Rights at the United Nations Office o f Geneva regarding the issue.“Internationally acclaimed independent journalists have urged the Tamil Nadu government to modify orders and allow journalists full access. The government is going all out to promote the interest of multinational nuclear commerce powers,” commented Ramdas of the People’s Union for Civil Liberties, Bangalore.