Tremors a blessing in disguise for Kudankulam agitators?

When the state machinery and others were out to assuage the fears of people on the earthquake and a possible Tsunami yesterday, the People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE) in Kudankulam saw an opportunity to do exactly the opposite: rake up the fear of people. The organisation, that has been spearheading the agitation against the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP) demanded an “immediate halt of work at the Project in the wake of the massive earthquake off the coast of Indonesia, significant tremors all over Tamil Nadu and the potential danger of tsunami along the coast of Tamil Nadu.” “India’s eastern coast is facing the second massive earthquake and possible tsunami within a decade in our recent history. This shows how vulnerable and volatile our east coast is to set up dangerous nuclear power plants at Kudankulam, Kalpakkam and Kovvada,” it further said. In retrospect, it was certainly nothing less than hyperbole. Earthquake and tsunami experts didn’t say this. A few days earlier, PMANE found common cause with an unusual ally - the Sri Lankan government. Probably too eager not to miss any opportunity to further its cause, PMANE leader SP Udayakumar justified the island nation’s fear over the power plant. He was either ignorant of the political context for Sri Lanka’s fear tantrum or was too selfish to promote his cause. The PMANE later nuanced its stand indicating the plant’s danger to the Tamils of Sri Lanka. Two days ago, Swami Agnivesh flew in from Delhi and addressed the protestors at Idinthakkari, the site where the anti-Kudankulam protestors congregate. He spoke about possible earthquakes, tsunami, the Titanic disaster, Russian reactors, Chernobyl and so on. He was preceded by Prashant Bhushan and several other familiar national activists over the last few weeks. [caption id=“attachment_273522” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Swami Agnivesh flew in from Delhi and addressed the protestors at Idinthakkari. Firstpost”]  [/caption] Former Kerala chief minister and veteran CPM leader VS Achuthanadan also signed in and was scheduled to speak at the protest site today. But with the state unit of the CPM taking a firm pro-plant stand, which in other circumstances Achuthanadan wouldn’t have cared for, came in the way. He was asked not to go to Kudankulam and promptly cancelled his trip. But, hasn’t the PMANE withdrawn the agitation end of March? Or was it a compromise just to stay out of trouble and avoid arrests? PMANE of course had said that it would continue the struggle in a peaceful and Gandhian way. Does it mean high profile speech-making, press statements? Is that what Mahatma Gandhi, who they swear by, did? PMANE is either totally out of sync with reality or fooling itself by these symbolic gestures when the state and central governments are pushing for an early commissioning of the plant. Hundreds of engineers and staff are working round the clock within the massive premises of the plant to get it running in two to three months. Chief Minister Jayalalithaa very badly needs all the 1000 mega watts of power that it will produce. From absolute belligerence and aggression in the initial months that abruptly stopped a commission-ready KKNPP in its tracks, to a months-long siege by local community that seemed to burgeon into a messy law-and-order situation, to an abject surrender has been the summary of the Kudankulam struggle. The story was practically over when the protestors helplessly watched NPCIL (Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited) officials and others, aided by state police and central para military forces, made their way into the plant and resumed work. Since then, many of the protestors who stayed put around the Parish church went back to their routine lives including fishing. With absolutely no result to show, what is the purpose of such a struggle? Is it turning out to be a farce? Is it a tactic to keep the pressure on the authorities so that all the cases on the protestors are “unconditionally withdrawn”?