THOOTHUKUDI: Even as a section of villagers and the fishermen community alleged that they were brainwashed by the members of Makkal Athikaram, villagers from Madathur, on Tuesday, said that they were neither brainwashed nor instigated to participate in the Anti-Sterlite agitation.
They demanded that the state government should cancel all the licenses and ensure that the copper smelter is displaced from the SIPCOT unit. A group of women from Madathur, the main hub of the anti-Sterlite agitation, submitted a petition to the district legal services authority here, on Tuesday. The villagers, through the petition, wanted the Tamil Nadu government to strongly challenge Sterlite’s appeal at the National Green Tribunal (NGT) using leading lawyers. They appealed for an expert committee to assess the environmental damages in the villages.
Saying that none of the men could stay in the village due to fear of police arrest, the women demanded that the state government should stop the police from arresting those who had participated in the protest.