Daily Times

Sir: Thank you all for supporting Tuticorin. The Tamil Nadu government in India finally ordered the closure of Sterlite. Almost all the media outlets around the world, from india, to Europe and America, covered the Anti-Sterlite protests quite comprehensively. Sterlite is a big copper plant located in the city of Tuticorin and the locals have long been fighting against the pollution caused by this factory and for their livelihood.

A native of Tuticorin, I am deeply concerned about this unfortunate incident that took place in my city. As a school student in the late 1990s, I had often visited the Tuticorin Collectorate premises, where most of the violence and police firing had broken out, resulting in the death of over 13 innocent people. In fact these premises are among the most beautiful areas in Tuticorin, and frequent visitors feel a sense of tranquility whenever they visit. However this all changed when the people of Tuticorin started protesting against the factory’s controversial practices that caused damage to the marine life and the surrounding environment.

The pain of these protesters and the families of the victims of the indiscriminate police firing cannot be expressed in words. The government should have protected the Tuticorin anti-pollution protesters and helped them protect the precious ecosystem in the region. It is high time we unite as one to protect our planet from such pollution and decadence.

The firing on the protesters resulted in several deaths and now politicians and celebrities have been seen visiting the injured. Some of them have provided much need financial support to the victims of police brutality. However, not much has been done to allay the fears of many of the injured protesters who still think that the police might arrest them at any moment for their involvement in this incident.

As a native of Tuticorin, these types of episodes make me sad about the state of my city and I urge the government to help diffuse the situation we find ourselves in. I also ask them to thoroughly investigate this incident in order to determine the guilty parties involved and punish them for their crimes. Only then can the victims of this tragedy feel some sense of justice.

P SENTHIL SARAVANA DURAI

Mumbai, India

Published in Daily Times, June 9^th 2018.