The right to clean air and water for the common man is under threat -in Tamil Nadu and in Punjab. In other regions as well. Much of this threat is engineered by private mills, like Sterlite.  As the state turns a blind eye, people protest and get sniper-bullets in return. World Sikh News takes stock of the situation and expresses full sympathy with the Tamils, seeking complete closure of the plant and arrest of Vedanta MD Anil Aggarwal, even if that means getting a red corner notice of Interpol.

100 days of protests at Thoothukudi did not bestir the police, the administration and the government of Tamil Nadu. Then suddenly when the patience of the protestors ran out, Tamil Nadu police with sniper assault rifles shot dead protesters on the streets, chased them like cattle and after shooting them dead, lifted their bodies to stay, “stop acting.”

Only in these days of hate and heartlessness one can see such scenarios. The sight of the police with guns chasing women into their hamlets in Therespuram was reminiscent of the police violence against the Jallikattu protesters.

13 dead and more than a 100 wounded and Chief Minister Palaniswami talks of self-defence. The photos of sniper-borne policemen in mufti atop vehicles reminds one of some mafia war in downtown Italy.

Translation of the Voice of the child protesting Sterlite in the above video

Protest! protest! Protest for our people!
Protest! protest! Protest for our land!
Protest! protest! Protest Tuticorin!
Can’t you hear you, can’t hear hear! Can’t you hear our voices!
We are school going children! What sin have we committed!
We are tiny toddlers! Can we sleep in the graveyard!
State Government, Central Government! Can’t you hear? Can’t you hear?
Can’t you hear our voices?
Destructive Sterlite, Destructive Sterlite, Close down, close down! Destructive Sterlite, Destructive Sterlite, Close down, permanently close down!
We won’t take rest!

The utterly inhumane Managing Director of the company, Anil Aggarwal, from foreign shores only has to say, “we will abide by law.” Britain’s Shadow Chancellor, the illustrious and friendly John McDonnell of the Labour party has said, “the cloak of respectability must be removed” and the Sterlite holding company Vedanta Resources should be held responsible for the killing of innocent protesters and the “company must be delisted from the London Stock Exchange.” British authorities must be made aware of the violations and proceedings must begin against the errant MD in England too. Nobody can be allowed to move around scot free if he is responsible for polluting environment resulting in deaths. Remember Union Carbide in Bhopal?

“Now, Sterlite should never be allowed to open operations again, even if there is a dire need for copper in the country. We need people’s lives, not copper.”

The local director of the company has the temerity to say “hope that we will restart the company soon.” Earlier on, the company had said that the protesters were nefarious anti-social elements. All 20 thousand of them?

 

What happened to those who met the injured in hospitals? Cases of violation of Section 144 have been imposed on Seeman and other leaders who visited the injured.

The Sterlite plant nearly 580 kms to the south of Chennai is currently shut, while the company boasts that it will restart soon. Right from day one, in cahoots with all governmental agencies, the company has violated all rules and regulations.

Data collected by social activist Jayaraman shows that since March 2018, 15 ground-water samples were taken by Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board and all were found polluted and not fit for drinking purposes; all samples violated the BIS -Bureau of Indian Standards norms for drinking water.

Let us not forget that for the second time in two months more than a lakh residents of this coastal town have taken to the streets with one clear demand: Immediate and Complete Shutdown of Sterlite. The state government and the district administration should also be blamed for failing to appreciate the depth of resentment among the people of Thoothukudi to Sterlite’s illegal and polluting operations and the betrayal by the State of its people.

The Government of Tamil Nadu has lost its moral right to govern, and should at the very least ensure that the senior ministers who failed to read the signs properly and take preventive action, resign forthwith. Before anything else, the Government of Tamil Nadu should have the decency to declare an end to the toxic terrorism unleashed by Sterlite and permanently close down the polluting unit.

The killing of innocent protesters with sniper rifles is nothing but murder. All the police personnel atop police vans must be identified and tried under Section 302 and 307 IPC. Apart from suspension of a few police personnel and transfer or district officers, no substantial action has been taken.

Who gave the permission to use sniper rifles? Where are the water canons? If the protesters were armed, even with stones, how many police persons were injured? It will not be inappropriate to ask, “what was the quid pro quo between the company officials and the police” to use such reckless force to “disperse crowds.”

The Government of Tamil Nadu, Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board and the Thoothukudi District Administration have been playing havoc for over two decades. The protests have been simmering all along. Sometimes through forces, at other times through law by changing land use laws, still other times protecting the high and mighty, Vedanta Sterlite is violating all laws of the land with impunity.

I will not hesitate to say that even the Supreme Court of India’s hands are also soaked in the blood of the innocents who were killed in Tuticorin. In 2013, the apex court found Sterlite guilty of misrepresentation, unlicensed operation and violative of polluting the environment, but shockingly, the court felt that “India needs copper” and allowed the company to have a free fun by paying a paltry fine. So much for justice for the common man.

The decision to close down, first the expansion and now to temporarily close down the factory is like the decision to close down Union Carbide after substantial loss of lives. If the Tamil Nadu government has any love for the lives of its people, then it should declare Anil Aggarwal persona non grata, register an FIR against him and his managers who are polluting land, air and water and damaging the lives of the people around the Thoothukudi copper plant. All departments, regulators and ministries allowed Sterlite to operate with lower-than-required chimney stacks, thereby exposing lakhs of residents to higher levels of toxic pollutants.

The findings of the government’s medical college’s health study that reported higher incidence of certain health problems among the villagers living around the factory.

Now, Sterlite should never be allowed to open operations again, even if there is a dire need for copper in the country. We need people’s lives, not copper.  

The managing director of the company Mr. Anil Aggarwal has given out a statement, typically like the chairman of Union Carbide after the Bhopal Gas tragedy, which left hundreds dead and thousands affected due to the gas leak, “we will abide by the rules of the country.” With the law enforcement agencies, the ruling political parties and the political class on his side, he has nothing to worry.

“Tamil Nadu is like a leaderless state and a fatherless house now. It is doubtful as to whether or not the regime is even happening. The government ignored the needs of the people and did not even bother to meet with them.”

Seeman, Naam Tamilar Katchi

Two decades ago, Anil Aggarwal was a scrap dealer, who has the acumen to flout rules and laws with impunity. Today he “runs” the BJP government though funding about which he and the government both maintain a stoic silence.

Ordinary people have died. Ordinary people protested against the high and mighty because the whole administration failed to enforce rule of law on Sterlite. It was in fact, Sterlite which made “rules” and the compliant administration followed it.  

The District Collector, the chairperson and member secretary of Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board, the Secretaries holding the environment portfolios in the central and state governments, the ministers of environment at the state and centre, and the chief minister of Tamil Nadu need to account for their inaction in the face of overwhelming evidence of illegalities, environmental harm and damage to public health.

“Two decades ago, Anil Aggarwal was a scrap dealer, who has the acumen to flout rules and laws with impunity. Today he “runs” the BJP government though funding about which he and the government both maintain a stoic silence. ”

As its history goes, Sterlite is likely to continue its escapades. As the people’s’ voice, Naam Tamilar Katchi leader Seeman told the World Sikh News, “Tamil Nadu is like a leaderless state and a fatherless house now. It is doubtful as to whether or not the regime is even happening.” He stated that “the government ignored the needs of the people and did not even bother to meet with them.”

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Tamils beware. Tamils maintain a close watch, otherwise the powers to be are against the  people and with such companies. The next stop sadly is likely to be Kadiramangalam and the killer company there will be state-owned  ONGC. Tamils rise before another round of killings is let loose. By the way, where are the leading environmentalists and human rights organisations in the country?