May 22, 2018 marked a dark day in the history of Tamil Nadu. 13 civilians were shot dead by the police and over a hundred people were injured during the protest against the Sterlite copper plant in Thoothukudi. As men, women and children fell to the ground on the 100th day of the agitations near the district Collector’s office, police descended in droves across town, along with backup battalions from nearby districts; they were leading a crackdown on 'anti-social elements'. The fallout from the violence that ensued and accusations that anti-social elements had instigated stone-pelting saw many social and environmental activists being detained and arrested. With over 200 police cases pending before the courts, activists who have been leading the struggle against the plant have had a harrowing year. They allege that the efforts to intimidate and harass them have been stepped up since that fateful day last year.
‘More than just a personal fight’
Mahesh, an anti-Sterlite activist who was born and raised in villages around the plant, says that he decided to take up the fight against the copper smelter after having grown up without drinkable groundwater. “Sterlite has been functioning for around 22 years and our groundwater is completely contaminated. As soon as we woke up in the morning, we could smell the gases in the air. The people of that generation (the ‘90s) didn’t understand (the impact of the plant). For them, it was about a factory being set up and the jobs it brings. It was only when the expansion plans came up, that we started the protest. For 100 days, we protested without incident.” he alleges. He, along with many other anti-Sterlite activists, were inspired by the January 2017 pro-jallikattu protests in Chennai’s Marina Beach.
Along with his brother and advocate Rajesh, Mahesh was jailed following the protests. “There has been a lot of oppression by the police after May 22 last year. All the villagers (in villages surrounding the plant) were intimidated like in Kumarettiapuram and Silverpuram. Many of the villagers were arrested and intimidated. Numerous cases have been filed against each person,” he alleges, adding that just when he was about to get bail last year, the police slapped the controversial Goondas Act on him. “I was supposed to get bail and come out so they put Goondas Act on me. Because they thought I will speak up once I come out. After coming out, we saw that people’s feelings about the plant remain the same but the firing has created an impact, it has instilled fear in them.” he alleges.
‘Concerted effort to divide the anti-Sterlite movement’
Rajesh, who has been providing legal support to activists and protesters who have had cases slapped against them this past year says that there is a concerted effort on the part of the authorities to divide the anti-Sterlite movement. This would essentially weaken the opposition and prevent the kind of solidarity that made last year’s protests possible.
The brothers make the allegation that in the wake of the shooting, many people who had previously protested against the plant were ‘bought out’ for their silence. “They are dividing us by caste and religion. People who are pro-Sterlite are co-opting others on caste lines. They are creating a caste belt within both (Hindu castes and Christian castes). When we went to give petitions (representations before the National Green Tribunal that was probing the state government’s closure of the plant), they brought double the numbers for the pro-Sterlite arguments,” alleges Rajesh, adding that personally witnessing police violence on May 22 and 23 last year has made people in the district scared against speaking up.
“In addition to this, there is police intimidation. There are policemen surrounding the whole village in every village. Even if relatives come from outside, it is difficult for them to go in,” alleges Rajesh challenging the government to a fact-finding now that the plant has been closed for a year. “There is a palpable change in the environment in the area. There is an improvement. We are asking the government to check arsenic levels individually in these villages after the plant’s closure,” he says.
Personal smear campaign
Professor Fatima Babu, a long-time environmental activist and member of the anti- Sterlite Struggle Committee, has been a forerunner in the struggle against the Vedanta-owned factory for over two decades. On the day of the violence, she was at the SAV School Grounds designated by the district administration, while anti-Sterlite groups who had not agreed to the meeting venue led a march to the Collector’s office. That fact that Professor Fathima ‘did not take a bullet’ on the day became grounds to attack her soon after the firing combined with a vicious smear campaign against her. “The strategy of authorities, Sterlite and politicians— including the AIADMK, the DMK, the BJP and the Congress— has been to remove me. When it comes to Sterlite, all parties are united. They tried to bring a rural and urban divide between the anti-Sterlite groups, projecting me as elitist. Then they tried to divide us by leadership. It didn’t work,” she says. It was months after the shootings that she believes a concerted campaign against her began to take shape. A salacious video purportedly featuring her and another anti-Sterlite activist in close quarters surfaced and widely circulated across social media.
“We were a tightly-organised group. But we were broken into smithereens. This is because of the extremely covert and clever moves of the police, administration and politicians. They had decided from what I heard that they wanted me out. Who is the one who is causing all this for them? Fathima Babu. That's the attitude they have. That’s what they tell anybody who is visiting,” she alleges. Undeterred by this, Fathima continued her fight, attending multiple hearings in the NGT probe as well as actively working towards the memorial meeting for those who died in the shootings last year.
Fatima alleges, “I'm too strong a person here so they couldn't do anything to me. Because they couldn't do anything to me, they took other people in the movement and they created a video. Sterlite has paid them to protest against me. But they have police backing so they are safe. All this will not stop us.” Her fight, she says, will continue.