By Matters India Reporter
New Delhi: The People’s Union for Civil Liberties has condemned as “cold blooded murder” the killing of 13 people in police firing in Tuticorin town in Tamil Nadu.
“Many of those killed were part of an unarmed, democratic protest by thousands of local people in and around …Tuticorin town, demanding the closure of the severely polluting and environmentally hazardous Sterlite copper smelting plant,” the group said in a report released to the press on May 24.
The firing on May 22 also wounded hundreds of people, including a Catholic priest, Father Jeyaseelan. The priest, who was shot in the hip, is reportedly recovering at a local hospital.
On May 24, federal Home Minister Rajnath Singh appealed to the people of Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu to remain calm and maintain peace. His ministry has sought a report from the Tamil Nadu government on the police firing and the prevailing situation in the port city.
On the same day, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami said the state government was taking legal steps to permanently close down Sterlite Copper, a Vedanta Group company, in Tuticorin.
Earlier in the day, the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board ordered the closure of the Sterlite Copper unit with immediate effect and disconnected electricity supply to the plant at 5.15 am.
However, the PUCL, a human rights body formed in India in 1976 by socialist leader Jayaprakash Narayan, says it found the police action in Tuticorin “deplorable” as it was apparent that the firing was intended to kill protesters.
It said the anti-Sterlite Movement had earlier announced its plan to call people together on May 22, the 100th day of the protest, and proceed to the Tuticorin Collector’s Office to demand immediate closure of all construction activities undertaken to expand the plant.
The district administration and the police, who were aware of the popular sentiments against the copper plant, should have taken steps to defuse the situation by engaging in discussions well in advance, says the report prepared by PUCL’s national president Ravi Kiran Jain and general secretary V. Suresh.
“They could have invited a small representative gathering of leaders to meet the District Collector to submit their representation,” the report added.
Numerous video recordings as also eye witness accounts state that the police used professional sharpshooters, standing atop police vehicles, in mufti, to shoot directly at people leading the march, aiming to kill them. This much is also made clear by the fact that most of those killed seemed to have bullet wounds in the top torso or part of the body above the waist.”
Meanwhile a petition was moved before the Delhi High Court seeking direct intervention of the National Human Rights Commission or an independent probe into the “unlawful killings” of protesters during the anti-Sterlite rally.
The petition filed by advocate A Rajarajan, national vice president of National Union Backward Classes, SC/ST and Minorities, is likely to be come up for hearing before the High Court on May 25.
Rajarajan said the rights commission refused to consider his representation for an urgent hearing while ignoring the ground realities happening in Tuticorin.