Indefinite Fast Against Koodankulam nuclear plant: 6th day Update
6th day Update
With the hunger strike crossing 6 days the situation of many of the 127 people on hunger strike in Indinthakarai is becoming more and more critical. More than 15000 people have been gathering every day for the past 6 days from 30 odd villages around Koodankulam from 3 districts Kanaykumari, Thoothukudi and Tirunelveli. The 127 fasting people are from all 3 districts. Doctors and nurse are monitoring them consistently. With the deteriorating health situation of some of the fasters the doctors are concerned that some peoples condition could go beyond control if the fast continues and fasters are not heeding to the doctors advice. If such a situation arises then the crowd who are gathering in Idinthakarai and the people in the neighbouring villages and districts could turn violent. There is a huge battalion of police personnel around Idinthakarai and neighbouring villages. There is road blockage for around 20 kms and no shops are open also. For the fifth day in succession fishermen, farmers, manual laborers, merchants of the area did not go for their jobs while students continued to boycott schools and all shops remain closed for kilometers around Idinthakarai. No food is available for the people who are gathering for the protest and most of them who return to the villages and come back the next day are day fasting also. People are losing their patience.There are false cases against 500 odd people filed by the police before the fasting started. Four people have also been put in jail.
The concern of the people in terms of the impact on people in neighbouring places is nowhere addressed to by the state and central government. One just needs to go to Kalpakkam further North in Tamil Nadu itself to understand the impact that an operating nuclear plant could have on neighbouring places. Radiation exposure has been reported within the plant many times and plant staff exposed to radiation has died also. Since plant operations began in the early 1980s, incidents of cancer and auto-immune thyroid diseases in the surrounding villages have increased considerably and many people have died also. The whole nuclear operation by the government is held in secrecy and no worthwhile information is available in public domain. With the two 1000MW reactors nearing completion Koodamkulam is going to produce 5 times more power and resulting radiation compared to Kalpakkam. Imagine the situation if all 6 reactors are allowed to function together in Koodankulam.
Meanwhile the Chief Minster of Tamil Nadu and the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited officials are trying to undermine the fat and protest by issuing press releases saying that the nuclear plant if safe even to factors beyond their control and understanding like natural disasters, accidents and terrorist attacks. On the 6th day of the fast no effort from the state or central government has happened with the fasters.
In the mean time the protest is spreading to outside of Idnthakarai also. In neighboring Kanyakumari district some colleges had gone on strike. The local MP Helen Davidson’s house was picketed. The collector office in Kanaykumari was also picketed. Small protests happened in Chennai and Thoothukudi. From the neighboring villages of Koodankulam nuclear plant town ship where the staff of the plant including Russians stay the people mostly women have refused to go for work. The non violent protests that are happening is not being paid enough attention by the governments and they are playing with peoples emotions and patience
5th day Update
The 25000 people who gathered in Idinthakari village for protesting against Koodankulam nuclear plant rejects Tamil Nadu Chief Minister freebies like mixy, grinder, laptop etc… distributed on the occasion of Aringar Anna the first CM of Tamil Nadu’s birthday on September 15th. These people had gathered as part of the ongoing indefinite hunger strike by 127 people from September 11 demanding closure of the nuclear plant in Koodankulam. These fasting people are from the villages in Thoothukudi, Tirunelveli and Kanyakumari districts. More than 15000 people have gathered every day at Idinthakarai. With the fast reaching the 5th day the situation of some of the people are slowly turning critical. The non-violent struggle from people are not being responded to with seriousness by the state government and central government. There is a huge battalion of police personnel around Idinthakarai village. For the fifth day in succession fishermen, farmers, manual laborers, merchants of the area did not go for their jobs while students continued to boycott schools and all shops remain closed for kilometers.
The people agreed to meet the 3 ministers and 2 MLAs of AIADMK to discuss the situation. Though the ministers refused to meet the representatives of the struggle at the venue of the fast the leaders of the protest went and met them at the Taluk Office in Radhapuram. But there was no favourable response from them and they turned out to be just messengers only. They conveyed that the CM will only talk with them if they end their fast. PMANE representatives conveyed to the messengers that they are ready to talk with the CM but the indefinite fast will go on. They demanded that the CM should force the passing of a resolution in Tamail Nadu assembly asking for stopping the Koodankulam Nuclear Plant as a first step. The movement representatives demanded the immediate withdrawal of all false cases against 500 odd people filed by the police before the fasting started. Four people put in jail should also be released they demanded. The local MLA Michael Rayappan of the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam – (DMDK) showed up and expressed his solidarity with the people. He was denied permission in the Tamil Nadu assembly to discuss about Koodankulam issue after repeated attempts. He has been sitting along with the fasting people at the venue itself for the past 2 days and has been part of the delegation which met the Ministers. Leaders of the Grama Sabhas and Panchayath of Koodankulam and other neighboring villages who passed a resolution demanding the close down of Koodankulam plant also was part of the delegation which met the ministers.
The fast will continue for the 6th day tomorrow and solidarity messages are reaching from across the country and prominent national level leaders are expected to join the fasting people in Idinthakarai in the coming days. The fasting individuals are getting more and more determined. The crowd gathering in Idinthakarai is getting impatient by the day seeing the health of their near and dear ones fasting reaching critical stage and the neglect by the state and central governments. The government should intervene immediately with a sincere interest to help else it could lead to chaos. Till now the people have resorted to the usage of non-violent means to fight against the most violent technology in the world.
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