TIRUNELVELI: As the stir against the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP) spread to the seas on Monday, police swiftly slapped sedition charges against protestors saying that they moved too close to the plant.
The police registered cases against 3,015 persons, under various sections, including 121 (waging war against country) and 124-A (sedition). The cases were registered against protest leaders, including S P Udayakumar, M Pushparayan and Father Jayakumar.
As the relay fast against the plant entered its 35th day at Idinthakarai, people from the fishing community from Tirunelveli and Thoothukudi districts had in large numbers laid siege to the seas off the project site, with black flags hoisted on their boats.
People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE) coordinator Udayakumar spearheaded the agitation. Joining him were other leaders, including Pushparayan and parish priests Father Jayakumar of Idinthakarai and Father Thadues Rajan of Koodankulam.
Sasi, a fisherman from Idinthakarai, told Express that as there was a threat to the marine wealth from the plant, the fishermen had decided to observe the World Fisheries Day as ‘black day’.
Sasi added that fishermen from Idinthakarai in 460 fibre boats took part in the protest and reached up to the restricted area of the KKNPP. The protest, which started around 9 am, went on till 12.15 pm. Meanwhile, hundreds of women staged a protest on the shore shouting slogans against the nuclear power plant. “We staged a protest around 1 nautical mile off the coast. Around 700 policemen were deployed around the plant,” said Pushparayan.