June 21, 2013<\/i><\/p>\n
The People\u2019s Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE) organizes a black flag demonstration here at Idinthakarai on June 23, 2013 at 12:00 noon to oppose the visit of the American Secretary of State, Mr. John Kerry to India and to demand abrogation of the illegitimate India-US nuclear deal that was passed in the Indian Parliament by bribing MPs and carrying out gross behind-the-scene manipulations by corrupt and discredited politicians, bureaucrats and nuclear barons.<\/p>\n
One of the top issues on Kerry\u2019s agenda is to close the India-US nuclear deal on America\u2019s own selfish imperial terms and conditions. They want nuclear business, profit and power to dominate the Indian market but will not offer any liability. It is pertinent to note that the 98-year-old Warren Anderson is still living hale and hearty in the United States but the Bhopal victims in India are still running from pillar to post seeking compensation, medical assistance and help to clean up the deadly waste from the Union Carbide site in Bhopal.<\/p>\n
The American \u201cMerchants of Venice\u201d are seeking to set up nuclear power parks in India not to make India energy independent or to facilitate development here. They demand their \u2018pound of flesh\u2019 in the Indian nuclear business. And they will pay no liability, take no responsibility and ascribe all accountability to their subservient Japanese partners who hold many American nuclear licenses. If there is any accident at Kovvada in Andhra Pradesh or at Mithi Virdi in Gujarat, the nuclear Andersons will leave for their country in special planes but we, black and backward Indians, will be stuck here.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s (A)tom and Kerry Show that we are watching. As the global nuclear industry plays (A)tom, American government plays \u201cKerry\u201d helping each other for their mutual benefits. In this particular \u201cAll Profitability and No Liability\u201d episode, the global nuclear cat and the American imperial mouse display genuine friendship and concern for each other’s well-being. Koodankulam is a case in point. The Clinton-Gore administration objected to the Koodankulam nuclear power project (KKNPP) on several grounds but the American government now maintains a stoic silence because they are getting their share of the nuclear pie after all.<\/p>\n
This gross \u201cnuclear globalization\u201d or \u201cglobalized nuclearization\u201d follows the same logic (or lack thereof) of American hypocrisy, money-mindedness and imperialistic deception. Everyone in the world can build nuclear power plants except Iran and North Korea because they do not follow the Pentagon diktats. If Pyongyang and Tehran would buy a few nuclear power plants from the United States, they may suddenly become noble and acceptable. The United States has shut down San Onofre nuclear power plants because of unsafe components and safety concerns. Now, an environmental and nuclear safety manager at Hanford Nuclear Reservation has said that little is known about what was put in the waste storage tanks and how it has changed since the 1940s. Still, the American administration has no qualms about selling discredited nuclear power plants to India or has any compunction in refusing to offer any liability. The bottomline of this cruel-hearted business is this: \u201cIt\u2019s all money, stupid!\u201d<\/p>\n
This (A)tom and Kerry Show is also infamous for its mind-numbing violence, militarism and war fighting all over the world. As the cat uses everything from axes, hammers, firearms and explosives, traps and poison to kill the mouse, the latter retaliates by slicing the cat in half, plugging his\u00a0tail<\/a>\u00a0into an\u00a0electric socket<\/a>, pounding him with a club, or tying him to a firework and setting it off and so forth. Despite all this mind-numbing violence and mayhem, there is hardly any blood or gore in any scene.<\/p>\n Similarly, the violent, parasitic and blood-sucking \u201cstrategic partnership\u201d of the United States takes place under diplomatic garbs with winks and nods at the cost of the poor people all over the world. Well, the American logic is simple and direct: \u201cAll lives are equal but American life is more equal!\u201d Their globalization scheme is also a one-way traffic. They can \u2018penetrate\u2019 into any foreign market and violate all the existing norms and rules for their profit but no outsider can go to the United States even on a temporary job visa for a few months. Their national capital is more important than global labor.<\/p>\n The people of the United States can be our friends but any \u201cstrategic partnership\u201d or nuclear business with American imperialism will be suicidal for India. The American meddling in our affairs and nuclear patronage may give rise to regional nuclear arms race among India, Pakistan and China and destabilize all our peace and development.<\/p>\n To record our protest against the visit of Mr. John Kerry, and to oppose India\u2019s nuclear power plant business with any country in the world, the People\u2019s Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE) organizes a Roundtable Discussion along with Poovulagin Nanbargal (Friends of the Earth), Doctors for Safer Environment (DOSE), and Chennai Solidarity Group for Koodankulam Struggle at 11 AM on June 22, 2013, Saturday, at the Madras Institute of Development Studies (MIDS) in Chennai on \u201cJohn Kerry, Nuclear Liability and the dangers of foreign reactors \u2013 Lessons from Koodankulam.\u201d<\/p>\n