National Council of Churches urges Jaya to support ‘local people’ in Kudankulam issue

The National Council of Churches in India, an umbrella organization of Indian Protestant and Orthodox Churches, has urged Chief Minister Jayalalithaa to be ‘pro-people’ on Kudankulam issue and expressed concern at the ‘law and order methodology’ adopted by her.

Following is the full text of the letter that the National Council of Churches in India has written to Jayalalithaa on the stand-off between anti- nuclear power plant agitators and the government at Kudankulam:

Honourable Chief Minister of Tamilnadu,

Kudankulam has a sizable Christian population, which is opposed to the nuclear plant

Greetings from the National Council of Churches in India! The National Council of Churches in India, the apex body of the Indian Protestant and Orthodox Church traditions of 13 million Indians express its anguish about your press statement and the decision of your government to deploy large contingents of paramilitary and police forces in the vicinity of Idinthakarai protest site and the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant.

The world perceives you as a popularly elected Chief Minister and a political leader who is Pro-people and who gives due regard to the people and peoples’ voice considering them as important constituents of just-democracy and just-governance. And you have set a role model to other States when you passed a cabinet resolution demanding the Central Government puts on hold the commissioning of any project until the people say ‘yes’ to the commissioning.

While the struggling communities see you as the only beacon of hope, your decision to give the go-ahead to the power plant has made the people more vulnerable than ever since their 30 years of struggle and has created restlessness and hopelessness among the women, men, young, children and old of Radhapuram region.

We have been informed that implementation and execution of Sec 144 by the State authority has caused road blockades, thereby creating a situation in which the people of Radhapuram are starving for food and suffering because of inaccessibility to essential commodities. Even little children are subjected to suffering for want of milk, water and other necessities.

Therefore, we the NCCI would urge you to reconsider using the law and order methodology. Such activities do not lead to a lasting solution. Therefore we advise you and your government to go for a mutually respectful dialogue with the objective and spirit of seeking a responsible solution.

We, the NCCI expressing our distress over the deployment of thousands of armed policemen in the vicinity and plead with you to lift Sec. 144 without any delay and make the vicinity tension free and a zone of peace.

We the NCCI are very much concerned about the safety and well-being of our Children, Sisters and Brothers. As the head of the Government of Tamilnadu, you can protect the vulnerable people of the State. Let nothing undermine the dignity, health, life, and peace of the people.

We the NCCI would like to bring to your notice that some State Governments have put on hold the commissioning of proposed Nuclear Power Plant Projects considering sentiments of the peoples in Jaitapur in Maharashtra, Chutka in Madhya Pradesh, Gorakhpur in Fatehabad District in Haryana, Haripur in West Bengal and so on.

Your ‘go-ahead’ action for the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant seem to portray you as an anti-people political leader. Therefore, we request you to be pro-people and to act in accordance with the wish of the people of that locality.

We the NCCI, therefore exhort the Tamil Nadu Government to respond wisely and compassionately thereby leading the State on the path of environmental and social justice. Thanking you in anticipation!

Sincerely,

Roger Gaikwad
General Secretary, NCCI

- TWL Bureau