People's Democracy

CPI(M), CPI CONDEMN POLICE REPRESSION

Left to Mobilise Resistance to Jaitapur Nuclear Plant

Ashok Dhawale, secretary of the Maharashtra state committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), and Narayan Ghagre, joint secretary of the Maharashtra state council of the Communist Party of India, issued the following statement on July 13, regarding the Jaitapur nuclear power plant in the state.

AFTER the nuclear catastrophe in Fukushima, Japan, the security as well as the future of nuclear power reactors the world over has come into serious question. A preliminary examination of the Jaitapur nuclear power project (JNPP) shows that none of the basic issues related to the project has been addressed by the government. There is no scientific, technical and economic justification for the project which is going to adversely affect the livelihood of thousands of people, and cause unimaginable damage to biodiversity and environment in the area. Yet it is apparently being pushed for purely political considerations, in the wake of the now discredited Indo-US nuclear deal.

The Left parties --- the CPI(M), the CPI and the PWP --- firmly believe that the safety of the Indian people is paramount, and are therefore firmly opposed to the JNPP. We strongly condemn the manner in which the government of Maharashtra and the Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL) have used force to acquire land for the project and have started preliminary works in the proposed project area against the will of the people. What is even more condemnable is the manner in which the government has trampled upon the democratic rights of the project affected people, and resorted to brutal lathicharge and firing to cow them down. Already two young men have been martyred and several people including women, children and elderly people have been injured during the last few months. False police cases have been put on them to break their resistance to the project. We salute their courage and resilience. The Left parties will organise political resistance not just in Maharashtra but all across the country to support the people’s struggle to ensure that the government withdraws the project forthwith.

A high level delegation of the three Left parties, including the general secretary of the CPI(M), Prakash Karat, the national secretary of the CPI and Rajya Sabha MP, D Raja, and Tapan Sen, general secretary of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) and Rajya Sabha MP, visited the JNPP site today. They were accompanied by other Left leaders from Maharashtra, including the PWP MLA Dhairyasheel Patil. The delegation met the parents and widow of Tabrez Sayekar who died in police firing in April 2011. They condemned the Maharashtra government for having failed to give the family of the two martyrs any compensation. They assured the people of the project affected villages that their struggle would be taken up at the national level. Comrade Prakash Karat announced that the Left parties would take the initiative to form a national committee of political parties and organisations to spearhead the struggle to scrap the project.

We also strongly condemn the manner in which the meeting organised by the Konkan Vinashkari Prakalp Virodhi Samiti was disrupted by anti-social elements owing allegiance to the Congress party. Instead of being mere bystanders, the police should have stepped in immediately to stop them. We demand strong punitive action against such anti-democratic forces.