LATHICHARGE in KOODANKULAM 12.00 am
Baton charge and tear gas shells being lobbed. People running towards sea. Hemmed in between armed police and the sea. 11.30 am SMS from Dr. S P Udayakumar: Police are intimidating people by moving closer, swaying batons. Thousands of women and children are here. Officials threatened with naval intervention. Situation is very tense and dangerous. We need your appeals to the governments. 10.30 am Police forces moved inside the siege area and also resorted to baton charge, which was resisted by people. The people refused to yield, and the forces withdrew. “The situation is back to normal,” according to my informant, if what prevailed before the lathi charge could be considered normal. There is a larger congregation of forces, mostly wielding batons. A large riot-gear bedecked police force is in the frontline facing the people, and tear gas lobbers are apparently on stand-by. In Chennai, a mass RTI campaign invoking the Life and Liberty clause is being planned at the NPCIL office at No. 51 Montieth Road, Egmore, Chennai 8, at 3 p.m. (via Nityanand Jayaraman) 9:00 am. We just spoke to S P Udayakumar, the humble and inspiring teacher who has been leading consistently non-violent protests in Koodankulam. Thousands of people spent whole night yesterday under open sky near the sea, refusing to go home. The weather was cold and rough. The people have laid siege 500 metres from the reactor compound, braving the armed police. There was some commotion mid-night amid rumors that the police is arresting the leaders. People are protecting the leading activists, against whom the govt has slapped fictitious criminal charges including sedition, by forming layers of human-shield around them. People have demanded that the planned fuel loading in the reactor must be immediately stopped. They have also demanded prohibitory orders imposed in the entire area for last several months must be revoked, so that people from neighbouring villages could visit them without fear and bring food and water. Here are the police officers' numbers; please ask them not to harass people, intimidate them; or incite violence against unarmed civilians and nonviolent fighters including thousands of children and women: Collector, Tirunelveli, 9444185000 DIG, Tirunelveli, 91-9840970530 SP, Tirunelveli, 91-9940193494 DSP, Vallioor, 91-9443554585 Koodankulam Police, 91-4637-250150. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth?hl=en-GB.
