Anti-nuclear campaigner Udayakumar asked to surrender passport

There seems to be no let-up in the Centre’s attempts to rein in SP Udayakumar, who is heading the anti-nuclear protest from Idinthakarai against the Indo-Russian Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant in Tamil Nadu. After home ministry officials carried out a day-long inspection of accounts of his Nagercoil-based education trust on 28 March, the Ministry of External Affairs too has swung into action. [caption id=“attachment_263744” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Udayakumar was on a hunger strike agains the nuclear plant which was subsequently called off. Firstpost”]  [/caption] A letter from the Madurai Passport office, dated March 30, has ordered Udayakumar to surrender his passport and provide details about the criminal case against him. The letter states that it has been brought to their notice that “98 criminal cases are pending against you in Koodankulam and Pazhavoor police station.” Failing surrender of his passport within 15 days, Udayakumar has been informed, that his passport will be impounded. “Udayakumar is not surrendering his passport. He has approached a lawyer now,” said Pusparayan, among those who have been at the forefront of the anti-nuclear struggle along with Udayakumar. According to Pushparayan, while the letter says ‘98’, more than 190 FIRs have been filed against the Udayakumar since September last year. In other developments, senior advocate Prashant Bhushan visited Kudankulam on Saturday and met the anti-nuclear protesters in Idinthakarai. Backing the protest, Bhushan in a press statement demanded the setting up of a “credible independent expert committee to examine all the safety issues which have been raised, in a transparent manner with public hearings and not resume work on the plant till all safety issues have been credibly addressed.”