The movement against the Koodankulam nuclear power project in Tamil Nadu has entered a new phase with a Jal-satyagraha following the repressive police action of September 10.
More than 120 eminent citizens from different walks of life have signed the following statement expressing solidarity with the protesters, and calling for serious engagement with them on vital issues of safety.
Here is the full statement:
We are appalled at the police repression unleashed against people protesting peacefully against the Koodankulam nuclear plant. The repression has forced them to take to a jal-satyagraha.
Their legitimate, and as-yet-unaddressed, concerns about the plant’s safety were heightened by the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board’s recent admission that it has not implemented the recommendations of its own review committee, including revision of safety parameters, and installation of backup freshwater and power sources. No emergency-evacuation drill was conducted as mandated, in a 16-kilometre radius, prior to fuel-loading.
The government has refused to disclose pertinent information, including the Site Evaluation and Safety Analysis Reports, nuclear-waste management plans, and the agreement indemnifying the Russian supplier against accidents, which mocks the absolute liability principle. These documents need to be discussed publicly and at least with the people affected by the plant.
Instead, the government is accusing the protesters of sedition, and the protest of being “foreign”- inspired, despite an absence of evidence. This is part of a profoundly undemocratic pattern, recently increasing, of demonising dissent, dismissing people’s concerns about hazards, and brutally repressing protests.
We urge the government to suspend work at Koodankulam and engage directly and democratically with the concerns of the people who live in the vicinity, so that if the plant is to proceed it has their acceptance.
1.A.K.Ramakrishnan
2.Abhishek Shrivastava
3.Achin Vanaik
4.Adil Jussawalla
5. Aditya Nigam
6. Ajay Skaria
7. Amarjeet S Narang
8. Amit Sengupta
9. Amita Baviskar
10. Ammu Joseph
11. Amrita Chhachhi
12. Anand Patwardhan
13. Anandhi S
14. Anita Dubey
15. Anna George
16. Antony Arulraj
17. Arun Patnaik
18. Aruna Rodrigues
19. Aruna Roy
20. Arvid Ghosh
21. Asad Bin Saif
22. Ashish Kothari
23. Ashok Dube
24. Asit Das
25. Bablu Ganguly
26. Beena Sarwar
27. C P Chandrashekhar
28. Capt. J. Rama Rao
29. Cheran Rudhramoorthy
30. Chitranjan Singh
31. D N Jha
32. D. Balasubramanian
33. Darryl D’Monte
34. David Ludden
35. Dilip D’Souza
36. Dinesh Abrol
37. Dolphy Dsouza
38. EAS Sarma
39. G. Arunima
40. Garga Chatterjee
41. Geeta Seshu
42. A Gopalakrishnan
43. Ghulam Mohammad Sheikh
44. Gyanendra Pandey
45. Hanan Sabea
46. Harsh Kapoor
47. Jairus Banaji
48. Jitendra Chahar
49. Jyoti Punwani
50. K Babu Rao
51. K. Ashok Rao
52. Kamal Kant Jaswal
53. Kamal Mitra Chenoy
54. Kamayani Bali Mahabal
55. Kamla Bhasin
56. Kavita Krishnan
57. Lawrence Surendra
58. Leela Samson
59. M V Ramana
60. Mahtab Alam
61. Manasi Pingle
62. Manoranjan Mohanty
63. Mohan Rao
64. Mookhi Amir Ali
65. Nandan Maluste
66. Nandini Sunder
67. Naresh Dadhich
68. Neeraj Jain
69. Neeta Deshpande
70. Nikhil Desai
71. Nikhil Dey
72. Nirupam Sen
73. Nivedita Menon
74. Noorjehan Safia Niaz
75. P M Bhargava
76. Prashant Bhushan
77. Pushpa Achanta
78. Rabin Chakraborty
79. Rafeeq Ellias
80. Rajeev Bhargav
81. Rajeev Suman
82. Rajni Bakshi
83. Ravi Hemadri
84. Ritu Kumar
85. Rohini Hensman
86. S P Shukla
87. S. K. Biswas
88. S.G. Vasudev
89. Sameera Khan
90. Sandeep Pandey
91. Sandhya Srinivasan
92. Sannybhai
93. Santanu Chakraverti
94. Saraswati Kavula
95. Satinath Choudhary
96. Satya Sivaraman
97. Satyajit Rath
98. Shabnam Hashmi
99. Shailesh Gandhi
100.Sheeba Chhachhi
101.Shree Prakash
102.Soumya Dutta
103. Subash Mohapatra
104. Sukla Sen
105. Sumit Sarkar
106. Suresh Khairnar
107. Suvrat Raju
108. Tajeev Suman
109.Tani Bhargav
110.Tanika Sarkar
111. R Subramanian
112. Uma Chakravarty
113. Uzramma
114. V. Prakash
115.Vaishali Patil
116.Vandana Shiva
117. Venu Madhav Govindu
118. Viren Lobo
119 Vivek Sundara
120.Walter Fernandes
121.Wilfred D’Souza
122.Xavier Jeyaraj SJ
123. Zoya Hasan