Human rights activist and Magsaysay award winner Sandeep Pandey will inaugurate a unique get together of activists from all parts of Kerala to be held in Kozhikode on Tuesday.
Anti-nuclear activist from Tamil Nadu S.P. Udayakumar will deliver the keynote address in the one-day convention to be held at Gandhi Griham in the city from 10 a.m. onwards.
The get together will feature social activists, environmental activists, and human rights activists, including those who fight for endosulfan victims in Kasaragod and representatives of protesters at Vizhinjam. They will come together with the intention of creating a common platform for their activities in the State— a federation to support each other for relevant causes and to which every big and small organisation in Kerala could get an affiliation.
The convention will feature talks and discussions on a variety of topics by experienced activists. Former MP Thampan Thomas will start the session with a talk on ‘Constitution and vigilance on human rights’ followed by a talk on ‘Climate crisis’ by scientist M.G. Manoj.
Talks on ‘Gadgil report and Western Ghats’ by Vinod Payyada, ‘Mining and legal action’ by T.V. Rajan, ‘Paddy and Wetland Act- need for civic interventions’ by Prajith, ‘Development, Social Justice and Environment’ by Vijayaraghavan Cheliya, ‘Politics of right on resources’ by K. Sahadevan and ‘Corporatisation, subservient politics, and civic defence’ by E.P. Anil will also be held.
Activists, currently working in various sectors, will share their protest experiences. T.V. Rajendran will speak on the endosulfan tragedy, P.T. John on farmers’ protest, Haridas M. on fight against quarries at the National Green Tribunal, T.T. Ismail on lessons from the anti-K-Rail protest, N. Badusha on the change in forest policy and buffer zones, C. Rajagopal on converting rivers into canals, P.K. Rajalakshmi on rejuvenation of river Mahe, and John Joseph on Vizhinjam project.
