Sterlite violence: Kamal meets victims, bats for complete closure of factory

The president of Makkal Needhi Maiam said that from his conversations with those injured in the police firing, he perceived that the police action against the protesters was planned.

Kamal condemned the indiscriminate firing by the police on the people who had gathered demanding the closure of the Sterlite copper smelting plant. He urged both the people and police to maintain calm and mitigate the tense atmosphere prevailing in the region. He also demanded that those responsible for making the decision to open fire at people should step down from their post and added that such actions to quell protests and prevent unrest is not a good sign for the government. He said that he expects political ramifications for the government’s action.

Kamal appealed to the government to set aside its ego and enter into a dialogue to resolve disputes without bloodshed. He expressed hope that in other crucial issues such as the Cauvery dispute, the government would pursue more constructive means of dispute resolution. He called for a detailed enquiry into the police firing and death of protesters by a competent authority, while questioning whether the state government was on the side of the lakhs of people protesting against the plant or if it was complicit with corporates.

The 63-year-old also slammed the government’s decision to suspend internet services in Thoothukudi and neighbouring districts for five days, saying that such moves will result in an uprising, the likes of which the state may not have witnessed earlier.

Later, Kamal Haasan left Thoothukudi to Bengaluru to attend the swearing-in ceremony of newly elected Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy.