Where does accountability lie? asks DMK’s Stalin after 9 dead in anti-Sterlite protesters in Tuticorin

DMK’s MK Stalin accused the police of atrocities and asked whether there was any other way to tackle the protesters calling for the shutdown of the Sterlite Copper plant in Thoothukudi.

DMK’s working president MK Stalin on Wednesday questioned the police action on protesters in Tamil Nadu’s Thoothukudi, where at least nine people were killed on Tuesday during a violent demonstration against the new copper smelting plant by Sterlite Industries.

Stalin, in a series of tweets, accused the police of atrocities and asked whether there was any other way to tackle the protesters calling for the shutdown of the Sterlite Copper plant, one of India’s biggest, which they say has caused health problems and depleted water levels in the area.

“Who ordered the police firing on protestors? Why were automatic weapons used to disperse the crowd and under what law is this permitted? Why were rubber/ plastic bullets or other means NOT used to avoid fatal injuries? Why was no warning given before firing? #SterliteProtest,” the DMK leader asked.

Why was there not adequate police presence to maintain law and order during #SterliteProtest? Is it accurate to say that there was a total failure of State intelligence which led to these unfortunate deaths? Did IG-Intelligence brief police and @CMOTamilNadu on the situation?

“Where does the final accountability lie for the brutal murder of at least 11 Tamils? Will @CMOTamilNadu take action against DGP for failing to maintain law and order? Will Chief Secretary explain her role in this entire episode? Will there be justice for #SterliteProtest?” he tweeted.

Where does the final accountability lie for the brutal murder of at least 11 Tamils? Will @CMOTamilNadu take action against DGP for failing to maintain law and order? Will Chief Secretary explain her role in this entire episode? Will there be justice for #SterliteProtest ?

— M.K.Stalin (@mkstalin) May 23, 2018

Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday also condemned the use of force against the protesters and called it “a brutal example of state-sponsored terrorism”.

“The gunning down by the police of 9 people in the #SterliteProtest in Tamil Nadu, is a brutal example of state sponsored terrorism. These citizens were murdered for protesting against injustice. My thoughts & prayers are with the families of these martyrs and the injured,” he tweeted.

Who ordered the police firing on protestors? Why were automatic weapons used to disperse the crowd and under what law is this permitted? Why were rubber/ plastic bullets or other means NOT used to avoid fatal injuries? Why was no warning given before firing? #SterliteProtest

— M.K.Stalin (@mkstalin) May 23, 2018

Tamil Nadu chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami defended the state’s police in a statement soon after the incident, saying officials had been forced to act after the protests turned violent. He also ordered a judicial inquiry into the police firing.

“The police had to take action under unavoidable circumstances to protect public life and property as the protesters resorted to repeated violence ... Police had to control the violence,” he said.

News agency ANI reported on Wednesday that the Union home ministry has sought a report from the Tamil Nadu government over the Thoothukudi incident.

Environmentalists and locals have protested several times in the past against the Sterlite Copper plant and its proposed expansion in Tuticorin, alleging that it was polluting groundwater in their area.