'We were not protesting for a wage hike or provident fund. We were protesting for the safety of the larger population. There is no personal gain.'
At Idinthakarai -- the epicenter of protests against the nuclear plant -- Rediff.com's A Ganesh Nadar encounters a hostile crowd that is angry with the heavy police presence outside their village.
Mahatma Gandhi said that an eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind. A Ganesh Nadar/Rediff.com travelled to Idinthakarai, the epicentre of protests against the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant, where two factions of people chose to settle scores by hurling country bombs at each other.
Why were bombs being made in a small village near the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant, and is the blast in anyway linked to the agitation? A Ganesh Nadar travels to Idinthakarai to find out.
S P Udayakumar, who is fasting along with his associate M Pushparaya, gives us a first-person account from Idinthakarai, Ground Zero of the protests against the nuclear power plant in Tamil Nadu.
Meera, wife of S P Udayakumar who led anti-nuclear protests in Kudankulam, talks about her hopes and fears
Villagers protest against the Koodankulam nuclear power project.
It has been three weeks since villagers in Tamil Nadu's Idinthakarai have been on relay fast protesting the construction of the Koodankulam nuclear plant. A Ganesh Nadar reports from ground zero
The week-long protest against Koodankulam nuclear power plant was suspended for two days on Sunday in view of the civic polls in Tamil Nadu even as the stir has left over 100 staff members stranded inside the main project complex.
A pandal, just outside the local church, that once had thousands of protesters flocking there and shouting slogans, is strangely silent.
A bomb explosion at the Idinthakarai coastal village in Tirunelveli district in Tamil Nadu has killed six people, including three children, who were all aged below five. The blast site is close to Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant.
A day after an explosion at a village near Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant, Tirunelvei claimed six lives, police formed a team to probe it and stepped up security even as two live bombs were recovered from the area.
Three persons from Australia were on Thursday prevented from entering Idinthakarai, the epicentre of protests by People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy leading the stir against Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant in Tirunelveli district, the police said.
'Not a single person I spoke to there believes that the Kundalkulam plant is safe.'
A German woman journalist and her colleague have been detained for trying to proceed to Idinthakarai, the hub of protests against Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant, and record the views of the locals, police said.
Reviving their anti-nuclear stir, leaders of People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy on Friday began an indefinite fast at Idinthakarai to press for implementation of some of their demands including scrapping plans to set up units 3 and 4 of Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant.
Suspense prevailed over the surrender of anti-nuclear movement leader S P Udayakumar as his whereabouts were unknown on Tuesday night after his dramatic appearance and announcement that he would turn up before police.
Leaders of various parties and outfits, including Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader Vaiko, were on Friday arrested in Tirunelveli when they attempted to proceed to Idinthakarai, the epicentre of protests against the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant, to express their solidarity with the locals demanding the scrapping of the Indo-Russian project.
Police and paramilitary personnel maintained strict vigil as tension prevailed at Idinthakarai, the epicentre of the stir against Kudankulam nuclear power plant, with anti-nuclear agitators continuing their indefinite fast today protesting the state Cabinet's decision to go ahead with the project.
Anti-nuclear movement leader S P Udayakumar on Tuesday gave up his plan to surrender to the police after making a dramatic appearance to do so and was whisked away by his supporters.
For his pains, he has over 350 criminal cases filed against him that include charges of sedition and waging a war against the nation. At the moment, he has an unbailable warrant out in his name.
Rediff.com's A Ganesh Nadar visits Idinthakarai, the site of hunger strikes opposing the controversial Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant at Tirunelveli district in Tamil Nadu, and tells us how the high-voltage agitation met a rather tame end.
Continuing his fast against the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant, convener of People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy S P Udayakumar on Monday said the protesters were "ready" for talks.
Anti- Koodankulam nuclear power project leaders held a massive protest meeting opposite the Palayamcottai bus stand in Tirunelveli. Thousands turned up to show their solidarity with this small band of determined activists. Ganesh Nadar reports.
Dr Kalam assures the protestors and the country that the technology used in the Koodankulam nuclear project is the best in the world, and tries to allay the fears of the villagers over its safety arrangements, reports A Ganesh Nadar.
Villagers of Idinthakarai in Tamil Nadu are on a relay fast since the last one week protesting the construction of the nuclear power project in neighbouring Koodankulam. Rediff.com's A Ganesh Nadar spoke to the man heading the protest, S P Udaykumar.
In a candid chat with A Ganesh Nadar, S P Udaykuamr's wife Meera speaks about Idinthakarai's struggle, the sacrifices made by her and her two sons and more.
'All this for only one reason -- that I oppose the government's nuclear power policy.' 'They will not break my resolve.' 'I will stand by my principle, which is to point out that nuclear energy is not safe.'
'I don't think we will need to support or get support from the Congress. I hope there is no such political exigency. The Congress will be gone from the political scene. There is no lesser evil. The BJP and Congress are the two sides of the same evil coin,' anti-Koodankulam nuclear plant activist and new AAP member S P Udaykumar tells Rediff.com's A Ganesh Nadar.
Tamil Nadu, the land of regional parties where the two Dravidian outfits have ruled the roost for long, is witnessing a few fledgling parties testing their electoral luck for the first time in the April 24 Lok Sabha elections, including Aam Aadmi Party and Indiya Jananayaka Katchi.
The first two units of the Kudankulam nuclear plant will discharge 6.3 billion litres of waste water every day right onto the beach. This discharge will trigger a slow-motion disaster that will poison beaches, devastate near-shore fisheries and choke the livelihood of fisherfolk in the vicinity, says Nityanand Jayaraman.
The Tamil Nadu police is on the lookout for three persons who were running a competitive examination centre in Karivalamvanthanallur, a mid-size town near Sankarankoil, Tirunelveli district, from where the cops have seized pro-Maoist literature, including CDs. The absconding management of the centre, locally known as the 'IAS academy' also doubled as a recruitment agents.
At 47 protests a day, the state has become the most restive in the country and investors are becoming increasingly wary
While nuclear engineers cheer KNPP's first full operation, on nine other sites which house atomic reactors, scientists spend sleepless nights.
India's nuclear establishment is continuing its march of folly at the expense of safety in the false belief that atomic power is the energy of the future. It's not. Nuclear power is in relentless global decline, says Praful Bidwai.
Anti-nuclear activist S P Udayakumar, who has been called a threat to the economic security of India by the Intelligence Bureau, speaks to A Ganesh Nadar.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances