A fact-finding team has slammed Indian administration in the state of Tamil Nadu for manhandling peaceful anti-nuclear protesters at Idinthakarai. The team points especially at the distress it has created in the minds of the locals, who it reports are fearful to leave the village to seek medical help for fear of getting arrested. Media reports indicate that the police have rejected these findings.
A protest against fuel loading in the Kudankulam nuclear power plant that had been going on for several days was broken up by police on Sept. 10 after the Madras High Court gave permission to the plant to operate.
Police who had cordoned off the area around the plant at Kudankulam were taken by surprise after the protesters approached the plant by walking along the beach, leading to a standoff.
These protests date back as far as 1988, when the Indian government made plans for an atomic power project. With the new nuclear power plant project, locals are concerned about their safety, health, and livelihood.
Back in August, the Madras High Court refused a petition to stop the project, and the government announced it would load uranium into the reactors in September.
The fact-finding team’s report terms the use of force against the peaceful protesters as unjustified. Police cane-charged the protesters, who wanted work on the nuclear plant to be stopped.
The team, led by former Bombay High Court judge Justice Kolse Patil, said in its report, “We believe that our findings raise a matter of great gravity given that they endorse widespread reports about violence against women, children, and the elderly by the police. The actions of the police also include acts of looting and damage to public and private property and open intimidation.”
The fact-finding team was formed in response to demands from the Chennai Solidarity Group for Kudankulam Struggle and Teachers Against Nuclear Energy.
Justice Kolse’s team has urged the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, the state and the national commissions for women, the state and the national human rights commissions, and the Supreme Court of India to take serious note of these violations and act to restore normalcy and a sense of justice.
The team also said that the acts of charging the protesters with sedition and waging war against the state were irrational, and that police action has created “fear psychosis” in the area.
“Villagers showed us notices from the police with identical charges irrespective of the age of the person arrested, including four juveniles and several senior citizens,” stated the fact-finding report.
Reports by various media cited that the Tamil Nadu Police said that they had acted “responsibly” and had been attacked by villagers.
The report, which cites testimonies from five areas, said that many people are untraceable or are reported missing. At this point, the protests are ongoing.
The Epoch Times publishes in 35 countries and in 19 languages. Subscribe to our e-newsletter.
