India removing freedom of information about nuclear industry

 the bill provides for penal action against persons who disclose the information regarding nuclear energy establishments.

“This clause will be used as a shield to prevent disclosure of information relating to even allegations of human rights violation and corruption in such bodies,”

Civil society and govt divided over nuclear safety, Chetan Chauhan, Hindustan Times, New Delhi, March 29, 2012 The Nuclear Safety Regulatory Authority Bill is becoming a new flashpoint between the government and the civil society.   The bone of contention is two clauses in the bill which aims to restrict application of transparency law — the Right To Information (RTI) — in nuclear energy establishments.  These provisions will prevent the citizens from seeking sensitive information regarding nuclear and radiation safety even though section 8 of the RTI Act provides adequate protection of legitimate needs of information which should not be disclosed. Continue reading →

March 30, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | civil liberties, India | Leave a comment

Sedition charges for anti nuclear hunger striker?

Locals Resume Anti-Nuclear Protest, WSJ, March 21, 2012,    “…….. protesters, mostly fishermen and villagers who live in coastal areas, are still worried that nuclear waste from the planned seaside nuclear power plant may damage the ecosystem and ruin their livelihoods.

S.P. Udaykumar of the People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy, a Tamil Nadu-based anti-nuclear power group that is spearheading the protest, is concerned the nuclear site could endanger those who live in close proximity to it. “People have not been given any disaster training…Both central and state government will be held responsible if
any untoward incident happens in the area,” Mr. Udaykumar told India Real Time Wednesday.

Mr. Udaykumar, who started an indefinite hunger strike on Monday in protest, is under investigation on charges that include sedition for his role in the agitation.

Local police officer Vijendra Bidari on Wednesday told India Real Time that more than 150 people have been arrested since Monday in Idinthakarai, the epicenter of protests against the proposed Kudankulam nuclear power plant…

Mr. Bidari said that, to maintain law and order in the state, further protests in the area have been banned.

The news was welcomed by the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd.,
which is building the plant in Kudankulam with Russian support….

March 22, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | civil liberties, India | Leave a comment

Is the world aware of India’s repression of its peaceful anti nuclear protestors?

“There is no need for such massive deployment of police here. This is nothing short of state terrorism against a peaceful group of women, children and men fighting for the last seven months in a non-violent manner”

Tension simmers in Koodankulam http://www.asianage.com/chennai/tension-simmers-koodankulam-750 The Asian Age, Mar 21, 2012 – Pradeep Damodaran & Arul Oli | DC | Idinthakarai  Even as engineers and other workers drove in to resume work following the government’s green signal for the Koodankulam nuclear power project, the situation at Idinthakarai, which is less than 10 minutes drive from the nuke plant, is getting more tense by the minute as the ‘fast-to-death’ by the protesters’ leader S.P. Udayakumar and 14 others entered the second day on Tuesday. Continue reading →

March 21, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | civil liberties, India | 1 Comment

Civil liberties gone, as Tamil Nadu government moves to crush anti nuclear protest

Civil society members warn of “nuclear Nandigram” THE HINDU, CHENNAI, March 21, 2012 Civil society members, including former judges, writers, scientists, academicians, filmmakers and lawyers, have condemned the Tamil Nadu government’s decision “to give the green signal to commissioning of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP) and the massive deployment of police force to crush the peaceful agitation.” Continue reading →

March 21, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | civil liberties, India | Leave a comment

India: the crackdown on protestors, the pro nuclear media ‘spin’

And Koodankulam is Being Hunted Down !  http://www.dianuke.org/and-koodankulam-is-being-hunted-down/ 6000 armed policemen, led by Tamil Nadu’s Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), 3 DIGs (Deputy Inspector Generals) and 20 SPs (Superintendents of Police) who are present themselves and are presiding over this operation that can turn up into a state-sanctioned carnage of its own civilians.

As drumbeats approached Idinthakarai, Tamil Nadu Chamber of Commerce and Industry hails the decision to start the Koodankulam reactor as it is necessary for the State’s “progress”.

A 5-page press statement from the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu ended the rituals of “engaging people”, “dialogue with the locals” and “allaying their fears” in the world’s largest democracy. Not surprisingly, the government crackdown on people’s movement waited for another mega-ritual to end: the elections in the neighbouring assembly constituency of Sankarankoil on March 18.

Since yesterday afternoon, the police squads have blocked every road leading to Koodankulam and Idinthikarai to prevent people from gathering there. Yet, more than 20,000 people have gathered at the gate of Koodankulam nuclear power project, with several hundreds getting detained on their way.

Learning from the democracies in the West, the corporate media here has also embedded itself to this ‘shock and awe’. Newspapers and TV channels are abuzz with the ‘green signal’ given to the nuclear project and the country’s progress. The titles say it all: …. http://www.dianuke.org/and-koodankulam-is-being-hunted-down/

March 20, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | civil liberties, India | Leave a comment

Thousands of police surround India’s anti nuclear protestors

Indian Police Arrest 10 at Nuclear Power Plant Protest IDINTHAKARAI, Tamil Nadu, India, March 19, 2012 (ENS) – Thousands of police today surrounded thousands of anti-nuclear protestors demonstrating against the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant in Idinthakarai.

Ten people have been arrested, including three protest leaders, Continue reading →

March 20, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | civil liberties, India | 2 Comments

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 Continue reading →

March 20, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | civil liberties, India | Leave a comment

India’s democracy shrinking, as government tries to stifle anti nuclear voices

India Cancels Visa for Japanese Anti-Nuclear Activist, Voice of America, Kurt Achin | New Delhi, 10 March 12,  India’s government has revoked the visa of a Japanese anti-nuclear activist who was scheduled to visit during the one-year anniversary of the Fukushima disaster.

Nuclear energy opponents say the move fits a pattern of seeking to stifle criticism of India’s rapid push toward nuclear power…. Activists like Raina say the visa cancellation reflects a “shrinking democratic space” when it comes to discussing nuclear power in India. Continue reading →

March 10, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | civil liberties, India | Leave a comment

India’s democracy disappearing under nuclear lobby pressure?

‘The fact that the government is going to the extent of cancelling legitimately granted visas clearly shows that they don’t want people from Japan to come to India and share their experience’ said Karuna Raina of the green group. Kobayashi helped save children from
radiation as part of a network of local mothers……

Scared India denies visa to nuclear activist and Fukushima disaster survivor Mail Online India, By DINESH C SHARMA, 7th March 2012 ‘We are a democracy, we are not like China’. Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh professed while making his ‘foreign hand behind nuclear protests’ remark recently.
However, actions of his government show that India is behaving much like China when it comes to muzzling dissent. The latest example of the government’s intolerant behaviour is denying a survivor of Fukushima disaster from visiting nuclear protest hotspots in India on the eve of the first anniversary of the Japanese nuclear accident on March 11. Continue reading →

March 8, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | civil liberties, India | Leave a comment

Global anti nuclear movement opposes nuclear in all countries, not just India

The anti-nuclear movement today is a pointer to the huge crisis that India and the world is facing.

the same movement is also opposing American reactors coming up in Gujarat, French EPRs coming up in Jaitapur and indigenous reactors being constructed in places like Chutka and Fatehabad.

How ‘Foreign’ Is The Anti-Nuclear Movement In India?, Counter Currents,  By P K Sundaram http://www.countercurrents.org/sundaram290212.htm 29 February, 2012 Dianuke.org The Indian Prime-Minister has started an open tirade against the movement opposing the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant. In his recent interview, he alleged that it is “foreign-hand” and NGOs with American funding that are blocking India’s progress, not only in nuclear energy but also in GMOs.

It is one occasion where we can agree with our Prime Minister. It is important to understand today that the anti-nuclear movement in the country is a voice from beyond the existing system. Entirely foreign to the Manmohan Singh’s imagination of India.

The ‘illiterate’ fisherfolk in Koodankulam today earn at least thrice more than what they would earn in the employment guarantee scheme if they become part of the Manmohan-land governed by primitive market policies. Through opposing the reactor, a sustainably-living community is basically refusing to be part of the neo-liberal India. It is not only foreign to our PM’s imagination, it is essentially opposite to what his economics stands for.

The local administration in Jaitapur, in its attempt to ‘reach out’ and ‘educate’ people after their massive protests, went to the Madban village with vehicles loaded with armed men. Nobody from the village came out to welcome them except an old women who asked: if you have come to talk, whom are you afraid of? Why all this battalion? This moral landscape of dignity of the Jaitapur women definitely has no space in the India that Manmohan Singh, Ahluwalia, Chidambaram and other ex-employees of the World Bank and IMF want to impose on us.

The compensation amount for land in Haryana, for the nuclear power plants in Gorakhpur (Fatehabad district), has been raised dramatically over last 2 years. This month, it was raised to 34 hundred thousands rupees per acre of land. This is an unthinkable amount in India for farmers. One of the main reasons to plan a reactor in Haryana, criminally overlooking other requisites of setting-up reactors, was the assumption that farmers there are more likely to agree on better compensation. But the farmers of Gorakhpur and surrounding villages have refused to accept this amount, at the cost of their health, safety and livelihoods, particularly after Fukushima. This is beyond the neo-liberal mindset of our ruling class, where nothing is more than just a commodity. Continue reading →

March 2, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | civil liberties, India | Leave a comment

India deports German tourist solely because of his anti nuclear opinions

March 2, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | civil liberties, India | Leave a comment