People's Democracy

National Committee Formed in Support of Jaitapur Struggle

A NATIONAL Committee has been constituted to support the struggle against the Jaitapur nuclear project in Maharashtra.

The people of the Jaitapur and the surrounding areas in Ratnagiri district have been struggling against the setting up of the giant nuclear project which will have six nuclear reactors bought from the French Areva company. This project has displaced farmers and uprooted lucrative mango orchards. The livelihood of thousands of fishermen is threatened. There is a serious threat to the ecology and environment of the region. The Areva EPR reactors have not been commissioned anywhere in the world, not even in France. They are prohibitively expensive and the technology is untried and untested. After the Fukushima disaster in Japan, there are serious concerns about the safety and the health of the people in the region.

The popular protests in Ratnagiri district have been met with severe police repression and permanent restrictions on holding protests. False cases have been instituted against many activists.

To extend support to the people’s struggle in Jaitapur and to mobilise people’s support all over the country to demand a halt to the Jaitapur project, it was decided on October 23 to set up a National Committee in Solidarity with the Jaitapur Struggle. A 15-member committee has been constituted consisting of political leaders, members of parliament, eminent scientists and leading activists. The committee will organise a countrywide campaign against the Jaitapur nuclear project. The list of the members of the committee is given below. Some more persons will be added to the committee.

The National Committee’s members are Prakash Karat, general secretary of the CPI(M); A B Bardhan, general secretary of the CPI; Nama Nageswara Rao, leader of the Telugu Desam parliamentary party in Lok Sabha; Ramvilas Paswan, president, of the Lok Janshakti Party and MP (Rajya Sabha); Danish Ali national general secretary, Janata Dal (Secular); N D Patil, president, Peasants and Workers Party; Dr A Gopalkrishnan, former chairman, Atomic Energy Regulatory Board; Sitaram Yechury, leader of the CPI(M) group in Rajya Sabha; Dr Sulabha Brahme, adhayksha, Konkan Bachao Samiti; D Raja, leader of the CPI group in Rajya Sabha; Bhai Vaidya, national president, Socialist Party (India); S P Shukla, former union finance secretary; Pravin Gavankar, president, Janhit Seva Samiti; Vivek Monteiro, secretary, Maharashtra state committee, CITU; and Prakash Reddy, secretary, Mumbai committee, CPI.