Celebration
of struggle starts in Kudankulam this New Year
Press
Release: 30th
December 2012
Thousands of people, brought together by
the spirit of resistance, democracy and freedom gathered on the beaches of
Southern Tamil Nadu- in the coastal villages of Tirunelveli. Idinthakarai
village, which has been the nucleus of the Kudankulam anti-nuclear power plant
struggle, welcomed hundreds of people who have come to celebrate New Year with
the local communities spearheading the People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy
(PMANE).
Groups from West Bengal, Jharkhand,
Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Delhi, Odisha, Maharashtra, Gujarat,
Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Goa, Pondicherry, Kerala and other
regions of Tamil Nadu have assembled to salute the valiant struggle of the
local people against the Kudankulam nuclear project. The local people
represented the coastal villages of Idinthakarai, Kudankulam, Vairavikinaru,
Kuthankuzhi, Koottappuli and Perumanal.
The program was inaugurated by the drummers
of Janwadi Sanskrutik Andolan, Odisha
which got the children and youth of the local villages along with the visiting
groups tapping to their beats. Fr. F.
Jayakumar, parish priest of the Idinthakarai Lourde Matha Church extended a
warm welcome to the visiting people. Dr.
S.P. Udayakumar, an active member of the PMANE struggle committee thanked
all the people who travelled long distances to come to Idinthakarai, to spend
the New Year eve with the struggling people.
“The
second phase of our struggle began on the 16th of August 2011. More
than 500 days since, we have sustained this struggle against the worst odds,
facing extreme repression unleashed by the undemocratic and insensitive Indian
state. We wish to remind Sonia Gandhi, Jayalalitha, Dr. Manmohan Singh,
Karunanidhi and other such political leaders that this struggle will continue
till our last breath. The last child of Kudankulam area also will resist this
destruction of our land, livelihood and natural resources”, said Dr. S.P. Udayakumar. The inaugural session also witnessed release
of a painting, made by Madurai based artists, depicting the mowing down of the
Kudankulam plant by the struggling people led by children and women.
Testimonials by different movement groups,
fighting different destructive developmental projects in different parts of the
country, is planned in the next two days of the celebration gathering. Along
with this, songs, dances, theatre performances, painting, sportive events, etc.
have been planned to make the two day celebration of the ‘New Year 2013 @ Kudankulam: Celebrating Resistance, Asserting Freedom’,
a memorable experience for both visiting and the local people.
People from various walks of life including
Dr. Binayak Sen, Adv. Prashant Bhushan, Admiral (Rtd) Ramdas, Achin Vinaik, Adv. Colin
Gonsalves, Praful Bidwai, Gabriela Dietrich, Ashim Roy, Lalita Ramdas, Anil Choudhary, Ajitha
George, Dr. Meher Engineer, T. Peter, CR Neelakandan, Sr.
Celia, Vilayodi
Venugopal, Laha Gopalan, and others are scheduled
to address the national and local media from Lourde Matha Church premises at
Idinthakarai at 3 pm on the 31st December 2012. They will be
joined by local movement representatives including Dr. S P Udayakumar, Malar Manickam, Pushparayan and others.
Today, the visiting dignitaries and groups
visited the coastal villages and interacted with local villagers. Villagers
cited the experiences in the struggle, from the early days in late 1980s to the
latest police repression and martyrdom of local people – while in the struggle.
The visiting groups were also shown the plant site and its proximity to the
villages. It was clear that the plant existed in clear violation of
internationally set practices of setting safe nuclear reactors, away from areas
of human habitation – along with AERB norms.
Background
to the event: All through 2012, Kudankulam – the
now famous epicentre of anti-nuclear struggle in Tamil Nadu, India – was in the
news for the local people’s valiant fight against the nuclear power plant. The
place became renowned for the militancy of the local fishing communities, the
clashes they had with police and the kind of state repression the people had to
bear, despite being a democratic and peaceful struggle. It was also in the news
for the loss of ecology and livelihood that will affect the local people, if
the plant was commissioned. The Indian state has rubbished their struggle and
with support from the state run atomic department scientists, setting aside the
concerns of the local communities as ‘unscientific apprehensions’ and ‘baseless
fears’. However, to the dismay of many, the local people in thousands, continue
to believe that their ongoing struggle shall succeed and that the nuclear plant
will not be commissioned in their neighbourhood, which will destroy their lives,
livelihood and the marine ecology they depend upon.
Press
Conference on 31st December will be held at Lourde Matha Church Premises,
Idinthakarai at 3 pm.
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