N-Plant turns into ‘Graveyard’
27 Sep 2012 1:45 AM GMT
A three-member independent fact finding team on Wednesday asked the NHRC and the Supreme Court to take a serious note of alleged police atrocities on anti-Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project protesters during the September 10 crackdown on them.
Condemning the ‘reign of terror’ that followed 10 September, the team led by retired Bombay High Court Judge Justice B G Kolse Patil said the police action had created a ‘fear psychosis’ in the area and people feel as if they were under a state of siege.
‘We believe that our findings raise a matter of great gravity given that they endorse widespread reports about violence against women, children and the elderly by police. The actions of the police also include acts of looting and damage to public and private property and open intimidation.’
The report released here said IPC sections like 124A [sedition], 121A [waging war] had been ‘irrationally’ used to charge those arrested on September 10 when police lathicharged and burst teargas shells to quell the protesters when they attempted to lay siege to the nuclear plant. ‘We believe the use of force against peaceful protestors was extreme and totally unjustified... We urge the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, State/National Commissions for Women, and the National/State Human Rights Commissions and Supreme Court to take serious note of these violations and act to restore normalcy and a sense of justice,’ it said.
After protests on land that killed one fisherman and human chains in the sea, protesters have taken to burying themselves in the sand to form ‘graveyards’ at Kudankulam, Idinthakarai, the epicentre of the over year long protests over safety concerns.
Condemning the ‘reign of terror’ that followed 10 September, the team led by retired Bombay High Court Judge Justice B G Kolse Patil said the police action had created a ‘fear psychosis’ in the area and people feel as if they were under a state of siege.
‘We believe that our findings raise a matter of great gravity given that they endorse widespread reports about violence against women, children and the elderly by police. The actions of the police also include acts of looting and damage to public and private property and open intimidation.’
The report released here said IPC sections like 124A [sedition], 121A [waging war] had been ‘irrationally’ used to charge those arrested on September 10 when police lathicharged and burst teargas shells to quell the protesters when they attempted to lay siege to the nuclear plant. ‘We believe the use of force against peaceful protestors was extreme and totally unjustified... We urge the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, State/National Commissions for Women, and the National/State Human Rights Commissions and Supreme Court to take serious note of these violations and act to restore normalcy and a sense of justice,’ it said.
After protests on land that killed one fisherman and human chains in the sea, protesters have taken to burying themselves in the sand to form ‘graveyards’ at Kudankulam, Idinthakarai, the epicentre of the over year long protests over safety concerns.
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