Sterlite issue: Activist Nityanand Jayaraman to be questioned in US journalist case

CHENNAI: Noted Environmentalist Nityanand Jayaraman has been summoned by Deputy Superintendent of Police in Thoothkudi for an enquiry regarding the alleged verification of information furnished by US journalist Scialla Mark Stephen who was working on a documentary on the health impact of the Sterlite copper smelter plant that resulted in the killing of 13 anti-Sterlite protests by cops.

While US freelance journalist Scialla, who arrived in the country on a tourist visa on December 27, flew back, after being issued a leave India notice, police summoned Nityanand Jayaram on January 2.

The summon to the environmental activist comes in the wake of the Tamil Nadu government approaching the Supreme Court against the National Green Tribunal order that has set aside the  May 2018 Government Order closing Vedanta-owned Sterlite copper unit and directed the state pollution control board to renew an operating licence of the 4-lakh-a-tonne factory within three weeks.

“The course of events over the last few months in Thoothukudi has been very disturbing where the local administration has sought to criminalise any form of expression of opinion critical of Vedanta even while condoning public campaigns by Vedanta's agents, at the cost of vitiating communal harmony,” he alleged.

While it is the prerogative of the police to enquire into any matter they see as relevant to the maintenance of law and order, it can be worrisome if such powers are used in a selective manner -- in this case, with a view solely to deterring an articulation of opinions critical of Vedanta, he said.

“It is time to stop this cloak-and-dagger game. Vedanta is an environmental offender. That is the finding of the government of Tamil Nadu. The May 22 killings in Thoothukudi were a result of a total failure of civil administration. It appears that civil administration has not yet been restored in this city. Nothing will help the return to normalcy than a return of a civilian administration, and a restoration of civil liberties and the constitutional rights of Thoothukudi residents,” he added.