I fully endorse the above statement. I have written to the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh long ago when India entered into a nuclear treaty with the USA, that our policy should be solar ever and nuclear never. Years ago when I was in Moscow at a Conference, the Soviet Scientists offered nuclear help. The Chernobyl and Three Mile Island tragedies were lessons enough for us not to have any more nuclear power. I told the Moscow scientists what we want is not nuclear energy investment. It is like giving no energy, but crematorium. Nuclear power means enormous radiation, colossal cancer deaths and the victims will be poor. I strongly oppose Prime Minister on the Koodankulam project. For heavens sake, for Indian humanity sake, for divinity sake, heed the message of Fukushima, Hiroshima and Nagasaki disaster. Please speak for the hungry have-not people of India and not for the Big Business of the U.S. There is no need for nuclear energy at the cost of the masses. Why no nuclear in USA? Why no nuclear in Europe’?
The Tamil Nadu government, the Govt. of India and the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited are moving ahead with their plans to commission the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant at Koodankulam in Tamil Nadu. The Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) has given the necessary clearance for loading of fuel in Reactor-1, notwithstanding stiff public opposition to the project. The People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE), which is spearheading the struggle in Koodankulam, has strongly condemned the AERB’s decision.
The statement below condemning the State suppression of democratic rights in Koodankulam has been endorsed by eminent personalities from all over the country, notably Mahashweta Devi, Justice V R Krishna Iyer, Medha Patkar, Aruna Roy, Vandana Shiva.
On the eve of Independence Day, we urge the State to put an end to the violent repression of a non-violent struggle at Koodankulam.
We have come to know of the unfortunate State suppression of people’s dissent with the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant in Tamil Nadu. People are upset about the unwillingness of the government and the nuclear establishment to share with them basic information, including information pertaining to the safety aspects of the Koodankulam Plant, especially after the Fukushima disaster of 2011.
The Prime Minister himself expressed concern about the liability issue about Reactors 3 and 4, in the event of a nuclear accident. Does not this issue of liability apply to Reactors 1 and 2? Meanwhile, the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) has given its clearance for fuel loading in Koodankulam Reactor-1. The People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE), which has been at the forefront of the struggle, express their strong dissent with the undue haste with which the government has been proceeding to load the fuel without explaining to the country how it proposes to deal with the issue of inadequate fresh water required for the routine cooling of the reactors, the liability issue and its failure to implement the post-Fukushima Taskforce’s recommendations. A writ-petition filed at the Madras High Court has raised these issues, and the court is yet to deliver its verdict. The government’s and the nuclear establishment’s hasty decision to load the fuel before the court delivers its verdict challenges the position of the judiciary in this country.
In such a situation, it is but natural for people to express their dissent, which they have been doing in the most non-violent and democratic manner. We learn that the state government came down heavily on the protestors in March 2012, blocking all communication to the area and the supply of essential items, including food, water and milk. We now learn that the government is clamping down on the villagers with greater force, declaring Sec. 144 and blocking all movement of people within and between villages. This is in addition to the numerous false cases that local protestors have been charged with, over the past one year, for peacefully protesting against the plant.
On the eve of Independence Day, we urge the state to put an end to the violent repression of the non-violent struggle at Koodankulam. We appeal to the nation’s conscience, to honour peoples’ right to dissent, which is one of the core values of a democratic system.
We urge the government to withdraw all false cases against the peaceful satyagrahis of Koodankulam and to withdraw all prohibitory orders from the area, including Sec.144, so that normalcy can be restored. In a democracy like ours, state violence through police action cannot and should not be the approach to resolving dissent. We call upon the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Kum. Jayalalitha to stop police repression and to engage in an open dialogue with the peaceful protestors at Koodankulam. We call upon the Hon’ble Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh to review the situation and to ensure that the liability issue is resolved to the satisfaction of the people of this country, especially the people of Koodankulam. We urge the Prime Minister to initiate a broad-based and transparent national debate on nuclear energy keeping in mind concerns related to safety, viability and the adverse social and environmental impacts of nuclear plants.
List of Eminent People who have endorsed the statement:
Mahashweta Devi
Justice.V.R.Krishna Iyer
Medha Patkar
Aruna Roy
Swami Agnivesh
Vandana Shiva
Sugutha Kumari
Benoy Vishwam
Prashant Bhushan
Sandeep Pandey
Shailesh Gandhi
Annie Raja, NFIDW
Nikhil Dey
Shankar Singh
Vinod Raina
Alok Agarwal (Narmada Bachao Andolan)
Arundhati Dhuru
Prof Devaki Jain
Prof.M.G.S.Narayanan
Prof M K Prasad, KSSP
K Venu
Kavitha Kuruganti (Alliance for Sustainable and Holistic Agriculture)
Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat (RTI Movement, Jammu and Kashmir)
Prahlad Shekhawat (Director, Alternative Development and Research Centre, Jaipur).
Pradip Pradhan
Jayati Ghosh
Sowmya Sivakumar, Jaipur
Jayanti Banerjee
Kiran Bhatty
SUVENDU CHATTERJEE
DR.NANDITA BANERJEE
VIDYARTHY CHATTERJEE
SUBHAJIT DASBHAUMIK
EAS Sharma
Sarah Joseph
Charul Bharwada, Loknaad, Ahmedabad
Vinay Mahajan, Loknaad, Ahmedabad
Ramesh Nandwana (Jungal Jameen Jan Andolan)
Namita Unnikrishnan
Saiket Dutta
Tarun Bhartiya
Puneeta Roy, Tehelka Foundation
Rajni Bakshi
Bela Bhatia
Krishnendu Bose, Earthcare Films
Bhaskar Prabhu (Mahiti Adhikar Manch, Maharashtra RTI Council)
PUDR, Delhi
Sundarrajan, Poovulagin Nanbargal, Chennai
Dunu Roy
Smita Gupta
M G Devasahayam
Muthukrishnan
Amit Sengupta
Praful Bidwai
Achin Vinaik
Arati Chokshi (PUCL, Bangalore)
Sowmya Dutta (Bharat Gyan Vigyan Jadha)
Suvrat Raju
Advocate Kamayani Bali Mahabal
Wilfred D’Costa (Insaaf)
B G Kolse Patil
Neeraj Jain, Lokayat
Shabnam Hashmi
Chaitanya Kalevar (Just One World)
Gopalkrishna
Nandan Mulaste
Aditya Vikram
Himanshu Kumar
Dipa Sinha
Mahtab Alam
Kavita Krishnan
Preeti Sampat
Manshi Asher (Environment Research and Action Collective, Himachal Pradesh)
Shripad Dharmadhikary (Manthan Adhyayan Kendra)
Dr Sathis Chandran Nair
Dr S Santhi
Prof.M.P.Mathai
Father Thomas Kochery
Prof. R.V.G.Menon
Sri.B.R.P.Bhaskar
K Venu
Sri.Civic Chandran
T P Padmanabhan
Thayat Balan
Prof. Shobeendran
Kalpetta Narayanan
Alamcode Leelakrishnan
Prof.P.J. Joseph
P.A.Pouran
S. Usha, Thanal
Ajitha,K
Justice.P.K.Shamsudeen
V.G.Thampy
Vaisakhan
Rosy Thampy
N Subramanian
K Sahadevan
K Ramachandran
Kumar Sundaram
Anitha Sharma
Ashok Sharma
Geo Jose
Jacob Vadakkanchery
Gokul V B Nair
Jyothi Krishnan
Abey George
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