Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Wednesday announced an extra compensation of ₹5 lakh to kin of 13 victims of the Thoothukudi police firing in May 2018, and underlined that “those responsible for the incident would be brought to book”.
On Tuesday, while tabling the Justice Aruna Jagadeesan Commission’s report on the firing incident, the government had said it would “restrict” the compensation to what had already been given.
Speaking at the end of a debate on the report, Mr. Stalin said the police firing at the anti-Sterlite protestors was a “big black mark in Tamil Nadu’s history”.
Mr. Stalin said he decided to enhance the compensation following demands by fraternal parties. He charged that the AIADMK, which was in power at the time, was not ready to speak to protesters despite the protests going on for many years. “The government wasn’t ready to speak to people who took out the procession and receive their petitions.
They decided to disperse the crowd through force and even planned to fire at the crowd, as mentioned in the report. In all, 11 men and two women were killed in the firing, 40 persons suffered severe injuries, and 64 persons suffered minor injuries. The incident is an example of former Chief Minister Palaniswami’s authoritarianism,” said Mr. Stalin.
He pointed out that the report conclusively proved that the statement made by Mr. Palaniswami that he came to know about what had transpired in Thoothukudi only through the media was false. “Nobody would have forgotten that [statement]. The whole country was aghast at that comment by someone, who also held the Home portfolio.
He made a comment that went against the truth. This has been exposed by the Commission, set up while they were in power. The Commission report says then Chief Secretary Girija Vaidyanathan, T.N. Intelligence Chief, Sathyamoorthy IPS, and DGP T.K. Rajendran had submitted to the Commission (as witness) that they presented minute-by-minute updates on the situation in Thoothukudi to then Chief Minister Palaniswami. The Commission clearly states that the Chief Minister’s statement to the media was wrong,” he said.
Mr. Stalin recalled the State government had withdrawn 38 cases filed against those who didn’t participate in the riot and 93 persons, who were arrested by the police during the protests and their families have been given ₹1 lakh to compensate for the physical and mental stress endured in custody.
He further added that 21 persons, who were affected by the incident, had sought jobs based on their qualifications. The AIADMK government, however, gave jobs to them as eyewash. “In all, 18 persons have been given appropriate jobs according to their qualifications after the DMK came to power.”
Departmental action has been initiated against then Collector of Thoothukudi, three revenue officers, South Zone police chief, [jurisdictional] police Inspector, Sub inspector and few other police personnel. Besides, four police officers have been suspended and the inquiry in other cases will be completed soon.
Congress floor leader K. Selvaperunthagai, Manithaneya Makkal Katchi leader Prof. M.H. Jawahirullah, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi floor leader Sinthanai Selvan, MLAs ER Easwaran, Sadhan Thirumalaikumar and others demanded that Mr. Palaniswami should be held responsible for the incident.
Mr. Selvaperunthagai and Mr. Sinthanai Selvan charged that the incident was a ‘kootu sathi’ (co-conspiracy).
