Foreign-funded protests?

Tuesday, 11 September 2012 00:10

PNS | Chennai / New Delhi

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The agitation against the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KNPP) took an ugly turn on Monday when one agitator was killed in police firing in Tuticorin, 60 km away from Kudankulam, as anti-nuclear protesters turned violent on Monday after police foiled their repeated attempts to lay siege to the atomic power plant in Kudankulam against loading of uranium fuel. In Delhi, Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said that the agitation was being backed by foreign NGOs.

Fisherman Antony John, 48, killed in the police firing, was among the group which set fire to a coastal checkpost and damaged a coastal police station at Kulasekarapattinam in Tuticorin, according to Kamaraj, inspector in charge of the office of the superintendent of police.

“They were moving menacingly towards the police station when the police fired one round to disperse them. John was hit and died on the spot,” Kamaraj told The Pioneer over telephone.

He said the firing occurred at 4 pm. Reacting to the development, Shinde justified the need for “cheap” nuclear energy and said foreign NGOs were supporting the protest at Kudankulam. “We are aware about the NGOs which are behind it,” Shinde said.

In February, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had blamed some US-based NGOs for being a spanner in the works while launching the Kudankulam N-plant in Tamil Nadu. The Government had also probed fundings of around 12 to 13 Indian voluntary organisations which were launching the protest movement in Kudankulam.

SP Udaya Kumar, convener, People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE), said he was happy to note that the agitation was progressing on expected lines.

Since early morning, nearly 2,000 activists of the anti-nuclear brigade tried to lay siege to the KNPP to press for their demands for closure of the Rs 17,000 crore plant.

They tried in vain to set up a shamiana in the sanitised area near the power plant which was foiled by the police.

The district administration had deployed a massive contingent of police and Rapid Action Force (RAF). Though senior police officers asked them to disperse, the activists did not heed their pleas. The police resorted to mild lathicharging and firing of tear gas shells to disperse the anti-nuke protesters, who again tried to lay siege to the nuclear power plant here demanding a halt to the loading of enriched uranium in the reactor.

The district authorities had made elaborate arrangements to meet any emergencies. All mainline political parties had made their stance clear that the KNPP has their support.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa appealed to the people not to fall prey to the anti-nuclear lobby.Expressing  shock over the death of a fisherman, she said the nuclear plant was safe.

Jayalalithaa, who had been considerate to the apprehensions raised by the PMANE, got it studied and analysed by a committee of experts. The group headed by former Atomic Energy Commission chairman MR Srinivasan had told the Chief Minister that the 1,000 MW plant was safe and secure.

“The Chief Minister had ordered the stoppage of all works in KNPP when the agitators sent a letter to her. The green signal was issued only after she was convinced of the safety of the plant. Now that the Madras High Court too has given a clean chit to the plant, there is no chance of the Chief Minister caving in to the demands of the PMANE. She wants the commissioning of the plant at the earliest so as to relieve the State from the severe power shortage,” said a source close to the Chief Minister.

BS Gnanadesikan, president, Tamil Nadu Congress Committee, said the activities of the PMANE should be thoroughly  probed. “They are a group of anti-national activists supported by some Tamil chauvinistic groups. There is strong evidence of them getting financial support from abroad. All major political parties in Tamil Nadu are unanimous in their demand for the early commissioning of the plant. The anti-nuclear activists are instigating the common man with fear psychosis,” he said.

Gnanadesikan pointed out that Udaya Kumar, the PMANE leader, is following the style of LTTE leader V Prabhakaran by surrounding himself with women and children. “There are more than 210 FIRs filed against him and he still roams free. The police do not want a bloodbath, which explains why he is a free bird,” said the TNCC supremo. 

Source: http://www.dailypioneer.com/home/online-channel/360-todays-newspaper/93727-foreign-funded-protests.html