On Sunday morning, several celebrities from the Tamil film industry assembled at Chennai’s Valluvar Kottam for the formation of the Cauvery Management Board and protest against the expansion of the Sterlite Copper plant in Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu.
Held between 9 AM and 1 PM, actors including upcoming politicians Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan attended the protest with Nadigar Sangam’s President, Nasser, and General Secretary, Vishal Krishna, spearheading the protest.
With banners displaying the words ‘Save Thoothukudi’ at the venue, the emphasis of the protest was to direct the central government towards these pressing issues.
See photos here: Rajinikanth, Kamal Haasan, Vijay at the Nadigar Sangam Cauvery Management Board Protest
Rajinikanth, before reaching the venue, addressed media persons outside his Poes Garden house. With the Indian Premier League (IPL) scheduled to have matches in Chennai, Rajinikanth took umbrage with the fact that the city shouldn’t be in a celebratory mood now.
“Playing IPL matches here when whole of Tamil Nadu is agitating for Cauvery (management board) will be an embarrassment,” he said. “If the IPL games in the city cannot be banned, CSK players must at least wear black badges during the matches as a form of protest,” he added.
While most celebrities refrained from making statements at the protest, Kamal Haasan, who recently launched his political party Makkal Needhi Maiam, had been vocal about the Cauvery Management Board and the Sterlite plant in Thoothukudi on social media. A few days back, he had said that there was an obvious divide between the government and the people.
We asked for water from Karnataka and we get a vice-chancellor from Karnataka instead. The gulf between people and the government cannot be more obvious. Are they taunting us so we react adversely? I wonder what their game plan is
— Kamal Haasan (@ikamalhaasan) April 6, 2018
Mr.Nagesh One of my Gurus. Mrs. S Mr. Rajkumar anna Mrs. Sarojadevi and my friends Mr. Rajnikanth and Mr. Ambresh are my own.That was a humorous quip at the central and state governments Not a swipe at the Chancellor . Nevertheless TN needs water.
— Kamal Haasan (@ikamalhaasan) April 6, 2018
All these agitations come after the Centre failed to meet the Supreme Court set March 30 deadline for the formation of the Cauvery Management Board.
Recently a protest was held in Thoothukudi against the expansion of the Sterlite Copper Plant. The formation of the plant is said to be detrimental to the people’s health there, putting them exposed to cancerous elements as well as causing serious damage to the environment.
