May 16, 2012

Dear Sisters and Brothers of Britain:

Greetings! We, several millions of people from the southernmost tip of India, are writing to thank you for this London protest and to request your continued support for the peaceful and nonviolent struggle that we have been waging for the past nine months against the Koodankulam nuclear power project (KKNPP). This mega nuclear power park is being built with Russian loan and technology against the will and wishes of the local people.

The Indian authorities have not conducted any public hearing to seek our permission or consent for this project. They have not shared the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Report, the Site Evaluation Study, and the Safety Analysis Report with our people. After a long and hard struggle of more than 22 years, we have just obtained a copy of the EIA report which is outdated and so full of inaccuracies and incomplete information.

16 May 2012

Idinthakarai

There are reports in the media today that the KKNPP has received three inland letters threatening them with possible bomb attacks. The PMANE has no role whatsoever in this as we have been leading a peaceful, democratic and nonviolent struggle for the past nine months without even a single incident of violence.

In fact, the members of the PMANE Struggle Committee have also been receiving several death threats, and some of the physically challenged men of Koodankulam were brutally attacked by the police on October 13, 2011 in front of the Koodankulam plant. These incidents have been glossed over by the police and the governments.

On May 11, 2012 one of our Struggle Committee members, Mr. V. Rajalingam from Koodankulam, was badly beaten up and verbally abused at 5:15 PM near the East Bazaar of Kodankulam by Mr. Stanley Jones, Vallioor Deputy Superintendent of Police and Mr. Rajapaul, Inspector of Koodankulam police station. Both Mr. Rajalingam and one Mr. R. K. Selvakumar who witnessed this brutal attack have submitted written and signed depositions at the Public Hearing conducted on May 14, 2012 in Chennai by the Chennai Solidarity Group for Koodankulam Struggle.

Chennai Solidarity Group for Koodankulam Struggle has organized by a Public hearing of State Suppression of Democratic Rights of Koodankulam People in their peaceful struggle against Koodankulam Nuclear Power plant in Chennai on May 14,2012. Justice (Retd) A.P.Shah ,Advocate Geeta Ramaseshan and Professor Prabha Kalvimani will preside over the public hearing. Along with the residents of Idinthakarai , Koodankulam and surrounding areas , Advocate Prashant Bhushan and Journalist Sam Rajappa will give their testimonies about state suppression.

The hearing will start at 9.30 am in Lawrence Sundaram Hall, Loyola College , Chennai. The panel will brief the press media at 4 pm in the same venue.

Use of Sedition Law Undermines Free Expression
May 11, 2012

The Tamil Nadu protesters are simply speaking out on an issue of great public concern. Filing police cases against peaceful protesters happens in China, but should never happen in a rights-respecting democracy.

Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director (Delhi) – Indian authorities should drop sedition cases against peaceful protesters opposed to the construction of a nuclear power plant in Tamil Nadu state. At least 3,500 people are facing police investigations into allegations of sedition and “waging war” against the state for protesting against the plant in Kudankulam, according to a recent report by local activists.

Human Rights Watch urged the Indian parliament to repeal the colonial-era sedition law, which has frequently been used by authorities around the country to silence dissent.

“The Tamil Nadu protesters are simply speaking out on an issue of great public concern,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Filing police cases against peaceful protesters happens in China, but should never happen in a rights-respecting democracy.”