the goan I network
PANAJI
A large number of “concerned citizens of Goa” gathered outside the ‘Sesa Ghor’ building at Patto, Panaji earlier on Saturday and demonstrated spontaneous anger against the killing of 13 innocent citizens at Thoothukudi in Tamil Nadu.
The citizens, who protested from 10.30 am to 12.30 pm expressed solidarity with tens of thousands of protesters agitating for over 100 days against the severe environmental pollution caused by the Copper Plant belonging to Sterlite Vedanta, and echoed their demand for the immediate closure of the plant.
“All those who are responsible for the murder of the 13 individuals should be taken into custody and dealt with by law,” Tania Devaiah who led the agitation said adding that the copper plant has to be shut down immediately and any plans of expansion of the plant must be stopped.
“It is apparent that this uncalled for action was perpetrated by the state in defence of a repeat violator of numerous laws and norms namely Sterlite Industries (India) Limited which is a subsidiary of Vedanta. We are shocked by the excessive force by which the state has chosen to respond to this movement which was exercising its constitutional right to peaceful protest. The presence of sharpshooters at a civilian, unarmed, peaceful protest can only further break any remaining trust in the administration,” she added.
The protesting activists demanded the immediate arrest of Anil Agarwal, the owner of Vedanta, government officials and all other responsible persons, for the “cold-blooded murder of 13 persons by sharpshooters, in complete disregard to all democratic principles and the law of the land.
“We hold the government of Tamil Nadu, Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board, district administration of Thoothukudi and Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, government of India, squarely responsible for the escalation of violence and deaths in Thoothukudi. They must be held responsible for turning a blind eye to the violations of Sterlite for so many years and for their current violent actions,” the activists said.
“We observe that environmental governance in our country today is unapologetically geared towards allowing businesses to exploit our resources and at the same time ensures that common people are left running from pillar to post in order to ‘follow due process’ which clearly doesn’t apply to corporations,” they said.
“Vedanta and other big corporates have taken over the land, wherein the cake is had by all the rich big corporates and companies and the bullets are left for the common man to take,” the protesting activists said.
“We are deeply concerned that our democracy is being undermined on a daily basis by the very people who are meant to safeguard it. In such situations, it falls on us, citizens, to protect the best interest of our land and communities. And this is exactly what our sisters and brothers in Thoothukudi are doing. We stand staunchly with them,” the activists add.
