Kudankulam protests funded by Foreign agencies says PM..

All is not well at Kudankulam and some sinister designs are keeping the agitations alive…..  Why is the Govt. not taking any stringent action in putting down such protest when the Prime Minister himself recorded that protests against the Nuclear plant are funded from out of the country !   How and why these protesters be allowed to hold their sway and how can they challenge and stop even Scientists from entering the Plant is a mystery !!

Half a century ago, this place – Kudankulam lying in Tirunelveli district was an obscure place, not known to the rest of India.  It gained prominence after the Nuclear Power station - Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KKNPP)  coming up over there. 

A Plant of such strategic importance and magnitude did not spring up overnight.    It was signed by the then PM Rajiv Gandhi  and  Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev   on  November 20, 1988  after being conceived in mid 1980s.  A small port became operational in Kudankulam by Jan 2004, able to receive barges  carrying over sized light water reactor equipment from ships anchored at a distance.

When the Plant was nearing its final stages, concerted protests came to light claiming that  it is not safe; a group hitherto unknown calling itself - voluntary People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy sprung into action stalled the movement of staff and scientists.  They protests stating that the plant is unsafe and its head Udayakumar had the audacity to question the veracity and knowledge of beloved Dr APJ Abdul Kalam –  the Q whether Dr APJ is a Nuclear Scientist does not deserve to be answered for the simple fact that Kalam certainly knows better than you, me and the protesters and certainly has more concern for the Nation than all of us.   

On Monday (27^th Feb 12), two of the country's top nuclear power experts  stated that the anti-Kudankulam nuclear power plant agitation was aimed at scuttling India's three-stage nuclear power programme.  Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited's Chairman and Managing Director S.K. Jain and Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) Chairman Srikumar Banerjee said that even after all the queries on safety, quality, health and other aspects were answered by experts, people were asking questions about reprocessing of fuel which had nothing to do with the Kudankulam plant.  They were talking to journalists on the sidelines of an international conference on ‘Characterisation and Quality Control of Nuclear Fuels (CQCNF-2012)'

Only recently, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in an interview to the American journal 'Science'  blamed US-based NGOs for whipping up a campaign against the Russian-aided Kudunkulam atomic power station in Tamil Nadu, causing a major setback to the project.  Some newspapers including Times of India and Dinamalar have been reporting the real picture and have been publishing reports of foreign agents being behind the protests. This news item in TOI adds more concern to the on-going agitation.  TOI reports that a 50 year old German National was arrested by Tamilnadu Police by ‘Q’ branch sleuths, who monitor the activities of non-governmental organizations in the state.  It is reported that Sonnteg Reiner Hermann of Germany was arrested in Nagercoil.  How a foreigner was allowed to organize protests against our Govt will remain a mystery but why did the people included him or were behind him in such protests ?  Was it simply for monetary gains or was it part of a bigger sinister plan ?    Police sources  are reported as stating that  Hermann came to Nagercoil  on a tourist visa and was staying at Ganga Lodge in Vadaseri. Police searched his room and found evidence that he had been mobilizing funds for anti-nuclear activists, an officer said.  There are reports that he would deported immediately but why not take action against him and imprison him for his anti- India activity ?  

There are further news quoting Minister of state in the Prime Minister’s Office V Narayanasamy  that Centre had cancelled licences of three NGOs in south Tamil Nadu for violation of Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA)

All is not well and there is immediate need for stern action  by the Government

With regards – S. Sampathkumar.