Tirunelveli: Assault, Stone-Pelting on Nuclear Plant Protest
February 1, 2012
Justice Shri K.G.
Balakrishnan,
Chairperson, National Human Rights
Commission
Faridkot House, Copernicus Marg,
New Delhi,
PIN 110001
INDIA
Fax No. 23384863
E-Mail: covdnhrc@nic.in, ionhrc@nic.in, jrlawnhrc@hub.nic.in
Re: Tirunelveli: Assault And Stone-Pelting On Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant Protestors Including Women Activists
Dear Chairperson, National Human Rights Commission,
I am a Human rights activist and journalist. I am sharing my deep concern the attack and stone pelting on the representatives of Peoples Movement against Nuclear Energy including 15 women.
Incident:
A civil group
spearheading the protest against the Koodankulam Nuclear
Power Project (KNPP) called off talks with the central
government-appointed experts’ panel, after the former’s
members were assaulted in Tirunelveli District of Tamil Nadu
on January 31, 2012 when they were on their way for the
talks.
According to the information received, the Central government-appointed expert group was scheduled to have its fourth round of talks on 31st January 2012 (Tuesday) at 11.00 a.m. in the District Collector’s office, Tirunelveli. The representatives of Peoples Movement against Nuclear Energy (PMANE) – Pushparayan and Jesuraj and 20 women accompanying them have been attacked by Goondas (hired thugs) near Tirunelveli Collecotrate on their way to attend talks with the Central Government Expert Panel. The women who tried to shield the PMANE representatives were also beaten up and they are in hospital now. The goons were said to have been hired by some local Congress leaders.
The activists came to meet the Central
government-appointed expert group for the fourth round of
talks but after stones were pelted at them, they decided to
boycott the meeting.
The Koodankulam Anti Nuclear protest
has stood out as a symbol of non-violent protest. This move
of attacking movement leaders is a strategy of trying to
create tension and turn the movement violent. The PMANE
movement has withdrawn from the talks after the incident
which gave clear indications of the Central Government’s
backdoor working. Protests are happening in Tirunelveli and
other southern Tamilnadu districts condemning the
attacks.
It is note-worthy that for the past three months the activists have been said to receive threats from the goons of Congress Party. On the eve of the crucial talks, anti-nuclear activists had said that their representatives would not engage in any dialogue, despite promising their attendance.
Additional Information:
The coordinator of
the People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE)
stated “We have no faith in the talks. None of the
questions we had asked were answered and the documents we
had asked for were not furnished. Meanwhile, our members
have been assaulted when they had gone to participate in the
talks. We are calling off the talks”.
A representative
of the protestors in the expert panel formed by the State
Government said that they would go to the meeting but would
not engage in any dialogue with them. They also demanded
that they needed to talk to the people living within a
radius of 30 km (around the Plant) and to the expert
panel.
The anti-KNPP agitators’ intensifying their stir, has come a day before the fourth and possibly, the final round of talks between the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) nominated panel of experts and the state government’s committee, slated to be held in Tirunelveli on Tuesday, as part of a long-drawn exercise to dispel local people’s fears about KNPP.
It was expected that M Pushparayan, convener of Coastal People’s Federation and M P Jesuraj would represent the anti-nuke protestors as part of the state panel in the talks with the Central panel headed by E Muthunayagam. PMANE had initially protested that they would boycott the talks, but changed the stance.
The previous
three rounds of talks between the panels held on the 7th and
18th of November and 15th of December 2011 had failed to
make any headway towards commissioning of the first unit at
the KNPP as local people protesting against the project were
not satisfied with the answers given by the expert group to
their queries.
The Central Government Panel has failed to
answer most of the questions raised by the movements own
panel and whatever answers given, were all unsatisfactory.
Moreover the central panel and central government have also
refused to meet the movement’s expert panel and have an
open discussion.
The Indo-Russian joint venture ran into
trouble with activists and local people going on protest
citing safety concerns in the wake of the Fukushima Disaster
in Japan early last year.
Simultaneously, pressure from
various quarters including industry is mounting on Tamil
Nadu government and the Central team to resolve the deadlock
as the state’s power situation is taking a turn for the
worse.
We are concerned that the attack on the activists
was pre-planned and aimed at suppressing their genuine
voices of protest against the Koodankulam Nuclear Power
Plant in Tamil Nadu.
Appeal
I, therefore, urge you to
immediately take necessary steps to
- Guarantee in all circumstances the physical and psychological integrity of all the activists of anti-Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant Campaign who were protesting in a peaceful manner;
- Initiate a departmental enquiry against the perpetrators who pelted stones and attacked the group of activists which included women and those behind them;
- Conform to the provisions of the United
Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted by
the UN General Assembly on December 9, 1998,
especially:
- its Article 1, which states that “everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, to promote and to strive for the protection and realisation of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels”;
- and its Article 12.2, which states that “the State shall take all necessary measures to ensure the protection by the competent authorities of everyone, individually and in association with others, against any violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action as a consequence of his or her legitimate exercise of the rights referred to in the present Declaration”;
- Ensure in all circumstances respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with international human rights standards and international instruments ratified by India.
Looking forward to your immediate action in this regard,
Yours sincerely,
William
Nicholas Gomes
William’s Desk
www.williamgomes.org
ENDS