South Asia Citizens Web

Narendra Modi’s fast is getting major response and the continuing indefinite fast of 100 odd people for 7 days in Idinthakarai in Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu for life and livelihood which is supported by a gathering of more than 15000 is being ignored. Today Justice V.R Krishna Iyer the most respected judge in the country has sent a request to the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu J.Jayalitha to initiate a genuine dialogue with the fasting people and also requested the fasting people to continue their struggle in a non-violent manner without putting the lives of the fasters in danger. The fast has reached the 8th day and the protest is spreading to many parts in Tamil Nadu and other states as well with solidarity events happening all over. Medha Patker is expected to join the fasting team tomorrow on September 19th. On the 7th day of the fast no effort from the state or central government has happened with the fasters.
With the hunger strike crossing 7 days the situation of many of the 127 people on hunger strike in Indinthakarai has become critical.

Nandan Nilekani maintains UIDAI is not mandatory, but various institutions of the state are slowly converted to work with a UIDAI based system. Why this double speak? There might be an explanation: In the early days of UIDAI, during press conferences whenever some reporter would raise a question about privacy issues Nandan Nilekani would reply with a smile; ‘But the scheme is not mandatory’, thereby preempting or limiting speculation anchored around privacy. Perhaps not projecting the scheme as mandatory was part of a well thought out strategy to blunt set attacks which could come from the privacy advocacy sector. Such a smart approach may work very well with the corporate sector, but should the state not communicate a new policy with a bit of earnestness? If the scheme is called Aadhar (foundation) how the hell can it not be mandatory? If it is mandatory, who mandates it? The Parliament of India has certainly not mandated UIDAI, so who has?

With the hunger strike crossing 6 days the situation of many of the 127 people on hunger strike in Indinthakarai is becoming more and more critical. More than 15000 people have been gathering every day for the past 6 days from 30 odd villages around Koodankulam from 3 districts Kanaykumari, Thoothukudi and Tirunelveli. Protest is spreading to outside of Idnthakarai also. In neighboring Kanyakumari district some colleges had gone on strike. The local MP Helen Davidson’s house was picketed. The collector office in Kanaykumari was also picketed. Small protests happened in Chennai and Thoothukudi. From the neighboring villages of Koodankulam nuclear plant town ship where the staff of the plant including Russians stay the people mostly women have refused to go for work. The non violent protests that are happening is not being paid enough attention by the governments and they are playing with peoples emotions and patience.

Last few weeks have witnessed an intense struggle in the Koodankulam district of Tamil Nadu in India against the nuclear power project. Coalition for Nuclear Disarmament and Peace (CNDP) extends is solidarity to the struggling people in Koodankulam and with their demand. We demand that the Central and State Governments stop harassing the protestors immediately. We also demand the Central Government should hold a democratic and transparent national consultation on nuclear power projects in the country with proper assessment of economic, environmental and human cost of such expansion.

There are more than 35 sectarian terror groups and 25 illegal tax collecting religious and ethnic groups who have besieged the city from all sides. Arms are being smuggled into Karachi via the Gulf and the Arabian Sea. The underground networks of Afghan, Irani, Pakistani and Central Asian arms and drug smugglers has created a warlike situation in the city. Finally: these are some factors behind the killing, burning, battering, and smashing in Karachi over the last three decades. As the state and its institutions are mired in corruption, violence is spreading across the country.