Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh. (Express Photo by Prem Nath Pandey)
Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday expressed grief over the loss of lives in Tuticorin. The home minister, in a tweet, expressed pain over the deaths and said the MHA has taken cognisance of the matter. He said the ministry has also sought a report on the firing incident and the prevailing situation in the Tamil Nadu district, some 600 kilometres from Chennai. Twelve people have were killed in the clashes that broke between police and locals who are protesting against the expansion of Vedanta’s Sterlite Copper’s industrial unit in the area.
Rajnath also said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is deeply anguished over the state of affairs in Tamil Nadu.
I am deeply pained at the loss of precious lives during the agitation at Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu. The MHA has taken cognisance of the situation and sought a report on the incident and the prevailing situation from the state government.
— Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) May 24, 2018
Singh, in another tweet, appealed to the people in Tuticorin to maintain “peace and tranquillity” in the region.
My thoughts are with bereaved families. I also pray for the speedy recovery of the injured. I appeal to the people in Tuticorin to remain calm and maintain peace and tranquility in the region.
— Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) May 24, 2018
The Madurai bench of the Madras High Court, in an interim order, stayed the expansion of Vedanta’s Sterlite Copper’s industrial unit on Tuesday.
Residents have been protesting for the immediate closure of the unit since February this year. They allege that the pollution generated by the unit has contaminated the water bodies in the region, claiming that they are facing severe health problems. Environmental activists have also expressed concern since copper smelting leads to various kinds of pollution and they must be located far away from the residential areas.
On Wednesday evening, tension gripped Tuticorin when video clips purportedly of police beating a protester emerged, who died later in the afternoon, and personnel taking aim and firing the previous day at hundreds protesting against the local expansion plans of Sterlite Copper owned by the Vedanta group.
Today, the DMK and other opposition parties in Tamil Nadu called for a dawn-to-dusk bandh on Friday, condemning the police action against protesters in Tamil Nadu’s Tuticorin. DMK working President MK Stalin, who was holding a protest outside Tamil Nadu secretariat, was also detained by the police on Thursday. Several others were detained too.