Chennai:
A report on the Kudankulam nuclear power plant protests, released by an independent committee today, suggests that human rights were violated in the way the Centre and the state governments handled the agitations at the site. The report says people's right to freedom of speech and freedom of movement were suppressed and that the state police was used to harass the protesters.
The committee which released the report today based its findings on the testimonies given by villagers at a public hearing it conducted on May 14. The committee was headed by justice A P Shah, who is a former Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court. Other members included advocate Geeta Ramaseshan and Prabha Kalvimani of Irular Tribes Protection Association.
The Rs. 13,000-crore Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KNPP) is located in Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu. It is being built with the help of the Russians. Upon completion, it will be India's largest atomic power plant - its six reactors will generate unprecedented power supply for the state.
But the project got delayed after protesters, and villagers who live nearby, began agitating against the plant. The villagers say the plant is unsafe and a threat to their life. They are also worried about ecological damage by radioactivity which would affect the livelihood of thousands of fishermen. But two government-appointed expert committees have found the plant to be safe and public fears unfounded.
The villagers however disagree with this and are demanding the closure of the plant. Several thousand of them have held indefinite hunger strikes at the site and more than 200 of them have been booked on charges of sedition and waging war against the country. The 'Report of the Jury on the Public Hearing on Kudankulam and State Suppression of Democratic Rights' suggests that these cases and the prohibitory orders around Kudankulam power plant should be withdrawn.
"The jury recommends that all cases against persons under these provisions be withdrawn as they are only exercising their legitimate right to protest and there was nothing to indicate they were committing such serious offences," it said.
The committee, in its report, has also suggested that the Centre should release information on safety and site evaluation and make public the inter-governmental liability agreement with Russia. "The order of the Central Information Commission directing the government to release such information should be complied with immediately."
It also wants the talks with the group spearheading the protests - the People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE) - to be resumed and their concerns addressed.