TN should have acted swiftly, close down plant now: MK Stalin

Chennai: The police action on the protesters who turned violent while demanding the closure of Vedanta's Sterlite Copper smelter plant in the port town of  Thoothukudi in the State on Tuesday allegedly for causing pollution, evoked spontaneous condemnation from political party leaders.

DMK working president M. K. Stalin who condemned the "police atrocities" during the protest this morning, said the police should have deftly handled the issue before it took a serious turn.

"The State government should have sorted out the issue earlier through talks with the protesters. Atleast now the government should take steps to close down the plant," he said. Since the government did not take any steps in this regard, the people had launched a massive rally today. The police should have taken appropriate precautionary measures before the situation went out of control leading to a riot. The police failure and their brutal attack on the protesters is condemnable," the Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, told reporters here.

 He claimed that the people were indiscriminately attacked and the police opened fire at them. On his party's stand he said the DMK has been consistently opposing the plant and today his party member and former State Minister Geetha Jeevan who participated in the protest has been arrested.

 Meanwhile, Geetha Jeevan, who represents the Thoothukudi Assembly constituency, said the government should take proper steps on the Sterlite plant's issue. She insisted that violence cannot be accepted under the guise of protesting against the plant.

 On Tuesday marking the 100th day of protest, held near the old bus stand in Thoothukudi, seeking the closure of the Sterlite unit and protesting against its proposed expansion, had turned and TV visuals showed the protesters and police engage in an intense battle leaving about 65 persons including 20 police men injured in pelting incident and at least ten dead in police firing, media reports claimed.

Opposition parties denounce police firing on anti-Sterlite protesters

The opposition parties in Tamil Nadu denounced the police action on the anti-Sterlite protesters in Thoothukudi in the State on Tuesday morning and have demanded the immediate closure of the copper smelter plant. Owing to the seriousness of the situation, DMK working president M. K. Stalin cancelled his visit to Bengaluru for the swearing-in of Karnataka CM designate H. D. Kumaraswamy and would instead head straight to the port town.

"The DMK has already sent a committee to Thoothukudi to enquire into the violent incidents leading to police firing and submit a detailed report. Now the State Chief Secretary has informed that the government has sent two IAS officials to the strife-torn town," Mr. Stalin said after calling on the CS Girija Vaidyanathan. He also admitted that he had cancelled his visit to Bengaluru and would rush to Thoothukudi on Wednesday to take stock of the situation.

 Condemning the "inhumane" firing on protestors, Mr. Stalin, in a statement here, demanded an inquiry by a sitting high court judge, besides compensation of Rs. 1 crore for the families of each of those killed. "The government committed a Himalayan blunder by handling the protest with "guns and teargas shells," he said. Atleast a Minister accompanied by the district collector should have spoken to the agitators, he said and sought the removal of state police chief T. K. Rajendiran.

Likening the incident to the Jallianwala Bagh massacre during the British rule, MDMK founder Vaiko, who led several anti-Sterlite protests, denounced police action, saying it is "codemnable."

 CPI (M)'s state unit demanded the chief minister's resignation while PMK, DMDK, Congress and other parties assailed the government over the issue.