Deomocracy teeters in India, as government cracks down on anti nuclear protest

India government responds bluntly to anti-nuclear push In response to villagers’ concerns about the Kudankulam nuclear plant project, Indian officials have deported a sympathizer and cracked down on charities they accuse of aiding anti-nuclear efforts. By Mark Magnier, Los Angeles Times March 18, 2012
Reporting from Idinthakarai, India— The fishermen, farmers and
cigarette rollers sitting on mats in front of the St. Lourdes Church
had a few demands: Halt work on the nearby Kudankulam nuclear power
plant. Answer our questions. Convince us the technology is safe.

Their concern was hardly unusual: Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear
plant disaster a year ago this month stirred up safety worries
worldwide.

A bit more unusual, though, has been the Indian government’s response
to villagers in this hot, dusty southern fishing hamlet.

Late last month in an American science journal, Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh accused U.S. and Scandinavian civic groups of funding
the protests to hold back India’s development.

That accusation was an apparent cue for the Indian security
establishment, which then arrested and deported a German visitor
traveling in the area on a tourist visa, accusing him of funding the
Kudankulam protests.

Government officials also initiated an investigation of the finances
of church and rural charities, alleging that the groups were illegally
diverting to protests funds meant for orphans and anti-leprosy
programs. Three of the groups’ operating licenses were canceled, bank
accounts were frozen, and the visa was revoked for a Fukushima-area
resident invited to India by Greenpeace to speak about Japan’s nuclear
disaster.

In the latest move last week, a ruling party lawmaker demanded full
surveillance and monitoring of all foreign money going to about 65,500
Indian charities — which amounted to about $6.5 billion between 2007
and 2010 — in what some critics are calling a “witch hunt.”

The dramatic reaction, political analysts say, points to the growing
frustration of a government battered by corruption scandals, a
weakening economy, high inflation and setbacks in state
elections……
The Catholic Church, meanwhile, called on the government to either
provide evidence that funds were being illegally diverted or unfreeze
its bank accounts, and the European Union denied that any of its 27
member states were fanning anti-nuclear protests as part of a hidden
agenda to “weaken” India.

“In a democracy, dissent is normal,” Joao Cravinho, head of the EU
delegation to India, told reporters. “Civil societies strengthen
democracies.”

Hermann Rainer Sonntag, the German who was deported, said by email
that he had provided no funding or direction to India’s anti-nuclear
movement and, as a retiree living on limited income, can barely fund
himself. Though he opposes nuclear energy, he has spent long stretches
in India because his money goes further, he said.

The government hasn’t revealed his alleged violations, but activists
say the deportation is emblematic of New Delhi’s arbitrary
overreaction, pointing out that if he’d really broken the law, he
probably would have been jailed, not shunted out of the country.
The plan to build six Russian reactors in Kudankulam was concocted in
the late 1980s, but the Soviet Union’s collapse stalled the start of
construction until 1997. Protests have delayed commissioning of the
first reactor, which is 99% complete, and a second reactor that is 94%
done.

The postponements have added $500 million to the now-$3.3-billion
project, which is partly financed by aid from Russia. Under the deal,
the Russian government is to supply uranium for the life of the plant,
with India allowed to keep and reprocess the spent fuel, a provision
not generally allowed in U.S. agreements….
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-india-no-nukes-20120318,0,1975365.story