The Koodankulam Struggle and the 'Foreign Hand'

The Koodankulam Struggle and the 'Foreign Hand'

The Government of India is bent on maligning the struggle against the Koodankulam nuclear power plant in Tamil Nadu because it cannot comprehend that ordinary citizens can understand issues and wage a spirited struggle to protect their lives and livelihoods. One of the leaders of the movement writes about their struggle and addresses the allegation that the protests are being funded by foreign organisations.

Who is S.P.Udhayakumar ?
Personal Information
He was born at Nagercoil in 1959. He went to school and college in Nagercoil, did his first Masters in English literature in Kerala University (1979-81), the second in Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana (1989-90), and Ph.D. in Political Science at University of Hawaii (1990-96). He taught English in Ethiopian high schools for six years (1981-87) and studied and worked in the United States for 12 years. He teaches many courses in several universities around the world.In 1993 he and his wife Meera purchased 15 acres of land near the southern tip of India and founded SACCER in 1994. Udayakumar worked for the Institute on Race and Poverty at the University of Minnesota for three years, returning to India full time in 2001. He then led the anti-nuclear protests the Kudankulam nuclear plant in the neighboring district of Tirunelveli.
People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy
S.P. Udayakumar is leader of the People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy. In March 2012, Udayakumar said: "We have been carrying out hunger strikes, rallies, public meetings, seminars, conferences, and other demonstrations such as shaving our heads, cooking on the street, burning the models of the nuclear plants. This struggle has been going on for the past 197 days and the morale of the people is still very very high".
Controversy about Foreign Funding
The union minister in charge of PM's Office Mr V.Narayanaswamy revealed on January 25, 2012 that a special Home Ministry team has found that some organisations involved in the protests against the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant had received funds to the tune of over Rs. 55 crore from “foreign sources.On 29 March 2012, a team of Central Government officials conducted a search at the office of South Asian Community Centre for Education and Research (SACCER), an NGO run by S P Udayakumar, the leader of the agitation, following allegations that the protesters had received funds from abroad to organise the agitations. The team also searched Udayakumar’s residence nearby and sought clarifications from his wife Meera regarding the activities of the trust. The officials also questioned their connection with Sonnteg Reiner Hermann, a German national who was deported recently due to suspicion that he had a role to play in the agitations.
Special News:
A special Home Ministry team has found that some organisations involved in the protests against the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant had received funds to the tune of over Rs. 55 crore from “foreign sources,” Union Minister V. Narayanasamy said today.
“The special team from the Union Home Ministry visited the areas around Kudankulam and checked the accounts of some organisations, which were involved in the Kudankulam protests. It found that money to the tune of Rs. 54 crore for two oganisations and Rs 1.5 crore for another organisation have been received,” he told PTI.
“Some of the NGOs received the money from foreign sources,” the Minister of State in the PMO, said without elaborating.
Asked whether the money was used to further the anti-nuclear stir, he said, “The team has submitted the report to the Home Minister. Only after studying it, can we come to a conclusion“.
Protests by locals raising concerns over the safety of the plant have delayed the commissioning work of unit 1 of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant, which was scheduled for December last.
The Centre’s efforts to allay fears through an expert group have failed even after three rounds of talks with the protesters.