K L Mohana Varma inaugurates the hunger strike( Also seen L/R: Sreekumari Ramachandran, R K Damodaran, E N Nandakumar, Dr Sebastian Paul, N R Menon and P Ramachandran )
Most of the political parties have started to forget the Brahamapuram Wasteland, fire, pollution, etc., as soon as the fire is declared extinguished. Nobody is keen to draw the attention of the ordinary people to the grave realities which are in store for the people in Kochi and surrounding districts. Of course, they are, whether ruling or Opposition alliances, very much engaged in blame game now.
But, here is a programme with difference. Senior RSS activist and Janakeeya Samiti (People’s Council) chairman E N Nandakumar led a team of Kochi’s “Who is who” in a hunger strike in the heart of the town. Hundreds of people thronged the venue, Vanchi Square, near High Court and Marine Drive. Nandakumar is the chairman of the Kochi International Book Festival and Executive Member of the National Book Trust (NBT), New Delhi too.
“We and our successors have to live here” was the hashtag of the programme, which the social media took over to propagate. K L Mohana Varma, the famous writer and winner of various awards, inaugurated the programme. During the 24 hours of the hunger strike, numerous important persons addressed the gathering. Dr M C Dileepkumar, former Vice Chancellor of the Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, Kaladi, made it clear in his speech that it was the ‘waste mafia’ who set fire to the plastic waste in Brahamapuram.
He said that Kochi Corporation’s misrule pushed he, innocent people, to disaster. Water polluted with plastic waste have polluted the nearby Kadambrayar river. It is reaching the Periayar river, the major source of Kochiites’ drinking water. He added that the Kochi Corporation rule is in a mess. No commitment to the people at all. Officials of the Kerala Pollution Control Board and the officials of Kochi Corporation talk baseless things, as if they are taught by somebody to do so.
Famous lyricist R K Damodaran, leftist thinker and former MP and MLA Dr (Adv) Sebastian Paul, N R Menon (State president of RSS-inspired SAKSHAMA, Ernakulam Karayogam general secretary P. Ramachandran, Thrissur Kalapeetam Principal Dr J P Sharma, Environmentalists Dr C M Joy, K S Jayaprakash and Eloor Gopinath, BJP State secretary Adv T P Sindhumol, BJP leader S Saji, Gandhian Rajeev Keshava Pillai, Adv Michael (Gandhi Peace Foundation), Adv M C Rajendrakumar (Abhibhashaka Parishad, Kerala Chapter of Akhil Bharatiya Adhivakta Parishad), Hindu Aikya Vedi leader Capt. Sundaram, famous thinker Adv T G Mohandas, famous actor Sajan Palluruthy, Environment Protection Council State president T S Narayanan, writer Sreekumari Ramachandran, Sreekumar of Amrthabharati Vidya Peetam, Poorva Sainik Parishad leader S Sanjayan, Malayalam Kavya Sahiti coordinator and acknowledged poet Kavalam Anil, well known social activist Joseph Christopher and Henry Austin (Congress Councillor in Kochi Corporation) were some among the prominent citizens who participated in the hunger strike as well as the public meetings.
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