VSK TN
As on date, Urban Naxals, anti growth agent provocateurs and church – instigated goons may be having the last laugh on seeing the tweet by Thuthukudi DMK MP Kanimozhi, which reads: “My veera vanakkam to the poralis.” Who are those poralis? On 24 May 2018, the riots against Thoothukudi Sterlite Copper company peaked. The state saw a violent anti-sterlite mob rushing towards the collectorate. TN police had to open fire to protect the hundreds of employees of district collectorate. That resulted in the death of 13 persons in the mob, some of them belonging to extreme left outfits..
Kanimozhi tweets that the Sterlite episode is a witness that Government must bend in the face of people’s protest. Brother M.K. Stalin was found lamenting in a tweet that the AIADMK government failed to look for alternate sources of employment for Sterlite employees, contractors and labourers. History reminds us that Sterlite was welcomed with red carpet in Tamilnadu by the then DMK Government in 1994. Today’s DMK leader makes an unabashed U-turn. History taught us not to forget the killings of Tirunelveli district Manjolai estate workers by the then DMK government in an effort to curb the riots of workers in 1999.
Post Sterlite closure, India turned as an importer for copper,first time in 19 years. Not only copper, Sterlite closure also had a contagion effect on availability of Sulphuric acid across the state.Not counting the direct and indirect tax loss,employment loss, labour loss the ripple effect of Sterlite closure affected one and many in Thoothukudi. At the same time Pakistan’s copper export to China saw a rise of 400% in just 2 years after the Copper Smelter plant closure .Sterlite threw a bombshell stating threre is China’s hand in closure of their plant. Despite all these brickbats Vedanta Group still did their part in this COVID times. Distributing face masks with the help of local women SHG groups to donating 5 Crores to CM Fund, the Corporate turned a giver in this troubled times.
With Industries being very sparse in South Tamilnadu Districts, it is high time Government corrects this mistake and restore the state’s economy. Not to forget that the 8 Lane super highway projects across the state are also stalled due to protests similar to Thoothukudi. While the whole world is working out to pull up their sleeves to bring back economy and Companies are looking to leave China, it is high time this pathetic state of affairs in Tamilnadu is completely reversed.