nuclear-news

250 arrested in Tuticorin as India’s govt cracks down on anti nuclear movement

Kudankulam protest: 250 anti-nuclear activists arrested Zee News, September 16, 2012, Kudankulam (TN): Around 250 people were arrested in Tuticorin when they attempted to set out on a march to express solidarity with anti-nuclear agitators here who on Sunday buried themselves upto waist in beach sand, in a new form of protest against loading of fuel in Kudankuklam plant.

A ‘solidarity march’ by cultural leaders from Kerala to Kudankulam to express support with the anti-nuclear activists here was also stopped on the state’s border with Tamil Nadu.

Leader of Peoples Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE), which is spearheading the protest here, meanwhile, offered unconditional talks with the central and state governments and said they were ready to give up the agitation if the government assured that fuel would not be loaded for now. …..

Earlier, taking a cue from a similar protest demanding land as
compensation and reduction in water level of Omkareshwar Dam recently
by villagers of Khandwa district in Madhya Pradesh, the protesters
under PMANE too had launched the ‘jal satyagraha’, forming human chain
in sea waters from September 13. …. The latest bout of intensified
protests have been launched after authorities gave the go ahead for
loading fuel in the plant.

Around 250 members of smaller parties were arrested in Tuticorin, about 50 km from here, when they attempted to set out on a march to Idinthakarai to express solidarity with the anti-KNPP protesters.

Actor-Director Seeman, heading the ‘Naam Tamizhar Iyakkam’, Periyar
Dravida Kazhagam leader Kolathur Mani and workers of Tamilnadu Muslim
Munnetra Kazhagam were among those arrested, police said. …
The PMANE leader alleged that the expert committees formed by the
state and central governments to address the safety concerns of the
protesters neither held any discussions with the people nor heard
their views.

A ‘solidarity march’ by 100 cultural leaders from Kerala to Kudankulam
to express support with the anti-nuclear activists here was also
stopped at Kaliyakavila on the state’s border with Tamil Nadu.

The march, inaugurated by noted poet and environmental activist
Sugathakumari at Parasalla, was stopped when it reached Kaliyakavila,
a Thiruvananthapuram report quoting police said.
http://zeenews.india.com/news/tamil-nadu/kudankulam-protest-250-anti-nuclear-activists-arrested_799958.html

September 17, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | civil liberties, India, opposition to nuclear