nuclear-news

India’s government, not the anti nuclear protestors, is promoting foreign interests

The question, Shankar says, is to address whether or not nuclear plants are safe. “If they are safe, why did the government agree to free the companies of liability for safety of people,” asks Shankar.

 The power plant itself is a foreign entity. It is a Russian plant in Koodamkulam. So whose interest would it serve?”…

PM’s statement on foreign hands unites NGOs, divides govt, Ramesh clarifies freeze on BT brinjal done not under influence of NGOs Business Standard, Sreelatha Menon / New Delhi Feb 27, 2012, A finger of suspicion that Manmohan Singh pointed at non-governmental

organisations last week for pushing foreign agendas has united such bodies in the country, while leaving the government itself divided.

The prime minister’s remarks that foreign-funded NGOs were pushing alien agendas to thwart nuclear enterprises and biotechnology research in India have found the most vocal protests and denials coming not just from such not-for-profit organisations, but even from union rural development minister Jairam Ramesh. Ramesh, while responding to the matter, said yesterday that a moratorium he imposed on BT brimjal was not under the influence of NGOs. It was done, after taking into account the views of states, scientific opinion and the community, he added.
The remarks have created a wedge between the government and the civil society, while indicating that the country’s administration is itself split on key issues…..

Forest rights activist Shankar Gopalakrishnan notes NGOs back S P
Udayakumar, who has been leading the anti-koodankulam protests. “Mere
money won’t motivate people to risk their lives,” says the volunteer
who campaigns for the dignity of tribals and local residents who have
been resisting mining projects in the forests of Orissa and other
states.

The NGOs claim that the prime minister’s attack “only seeks to cover
up” the issues and “exposes the government’s double standards” on
them. For instance, as one of them notes, “we are united”, be it on
the anti-nuclear plant protests by activists of prominent mass
movements like the National Alliance of People’s Movements led by
Medha Patkar or the campaign for the survival of local people affected
by developmental projects or the GM crops.

The question, Shankar says, is to address whether or not nuclear
plants are safe. “If they are safe, why did the government agree to
free the companies of liability for safety of people,” asks Shankar.

“This kind of a clearly double standard echo in the rest of the cases too.”

Activist Sabu George, who has been part of a movement against female
foeticide and a campaing to free alleged Naxal activist Binayak Sen,
claims the government’s stance on such issues would lead the country
to lawlessness. “It is a question of morality. The right of the weaker
sections of society must be heard,” he says. “If the government wants
to suppress it by blaming NGOs, it is on the road to anarchy. People
would be forced to resort to violence.”

George notes that the government, on the one hand, wants FDI and
foreign technology. “On the other, it wants the poor who are crying of
injustice to not get any support from NGOs — with or without foreign
aid.”
he activists, pointing at the nuclear protest history of countries
like the US, say American respected dissent on the matter for decades
— and allowed no plant to come up in that country. “Now,” chimes in
Shankar, “the US wants a liability cap for investing companies in
India. And our government has bent backwards to accommodate the demand
in its nuclear law….
“When people protest, the nuclear plant is said to be safe. But when
companies don’t want to take liability for damage, the government
gives them a liability cap,” says one of the. “What kind of a
dichotomy is this?”

The government had lately been sharpening its claws against the
people’s movements. Last year, it amended the Foreign Contribution
Regulation Act in an alleged bit to keep them out of all foreign
assistance. Recently, there were income-tax notices slapped against
NGOs like Helpage India and Eklavya, inviting criticism where many
termed it as witch hunt.

Even so, massive campaigns have been happening regularly on the issue
of human rights, land displacement, biotechnology and nuclear power
plants…….
The last of these in the series was an anti-corruption movement. That,
again, was riddled with accusations of a foreign agenda. Not different
was the allegation that forest rights activists faced while fighting
alongside villagers against displacement and loss of resources in
Orissa and Jharkhand……
The NGOs conceded that the some of the government’s concerns may be
valid. “But,” asks one of the activists, “what about the foreign
partnership or ownership of the power plants or mines that are in the
centre of various protests?”

Adds Rajesh Tandon, founder of PRIA: “The NGOs’ money may be foreign,
even the food given to protesters may be videshi, but the people are
from the community? The power plant itself is a foreign entity. It is
a Russian plant in koodamkulam. So whose interest would it
serve?”….. http://business-standard.com/india/news/pms-statementforeign-hands-unites-ngos-divides-govt/465974/

February 27, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | general