A German national was deported from India Tuesday on grounds of raising funds for protests against the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project, prompting an anti-nuclear activist to say the move was anti-tourist.
A police officer told IANS that Sonnteg Reiner Hermann's visa was cancelled and he was put on a flight to Germany Tuesday morning and deported. He was brought to Chennai Monday night.
"It is an unfortunate news. He is a genuine tourist and has been visiting various countries. It is a bad development for the country's tourism," activist R.S. Lal Mohan said.
In a joint operation by central intelligence agencies and Tamil Nadu police, Hermann who was staying at Nagercoil in Tamil Nadu on a tourist visa was Monday questioned about his involvement in raising funds for anti-KNPP protests. Nagercoil is 645 km from here.
According to police, based on the information from central intelligence agencies, Hermann's room was checked and he was questioned.
Police said Hermann was in touch with Lal.
Confirming that he knows the German, Lal said: "I don't know whether he was involved in raising funds for anti-KNPP protestors. But being anti-nuclear does not mean one is anti-national."
The development comes days after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in an interview to the American Science magazine accused NGOs based in the US and Scandinavian countries of funding the protests.
The central government later said it has cancelled the licences of three NGOs without revealing their names.
India's nuclear power plant operator, NPCIL, is building two 1,000 MW atomic power reactors with Russian collaboration at Kudankulam in Tirunelveli district, around 650 km from Chennai.
However, villagers in Kudankulam, Idinthakarai and nearby areas, fearing their safety in case of any accident, are dead set against the project.
Their agitation, led by the People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE), has put a stop to the project work, delaying the commissioning of the first unit slated for December 2011.
"There is no basis whatsoever for this statement made against my client who is the coordinator of the protest," M Radhakrishnan, Udayakumar's advocate, said in the notice, adding his client was "deeply hurt" by the "false statement". The notice also alleged the statement was made with an intention to inform the public that the protests against KKNPP were going on with the assistance of funds from the United States and Scandinavian countries.
It said Singh's remarks amounted to an imputation which in the estimation of the public "lowers" the moral character and credit of Udayakumar and may fall within the realm of defamation. Udayakumar, coordinator of the People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy, hoped the Prime Minister would immediately make "appropriate amends" to his statements and not drive him to take recourse to law, the notice said.
A police officer told IANS that Sonnteg Reiner Hermann's visa was cancelled and he was put on a flight to Germany Tuesday morning and deported. He was brought to Chennai Monday night.
"It is an unfortunate news. He is a genuine tourist and has been visiting various countries. It is a bad development for the country's tourism," activist R.S. Lal Mohan said.
In a joint operation by central intelligence agencies and Tamil Nadu police, Hermann who was staying at Nagercoil in Tamil Nadu on a tourist visa was Monday questioned about his involvement in raising funds for anti-KNPP protests. Nagercoil is 645 km from here.
According to police, based on the information from central intelligence agencies, Hermann's room was checked and he was questioned.
Police said Hermann was in touch with Lal.
Confirming that he knows the German, Lal said: "I don't know whether he was involved in raising funds for anti-KNPP protestors. But being anti-nuclear does not mean one is anti-national."
The development comes days after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in an interview to the American Science magazine accused NGOs based in the US and Scandinavian countries of funding the protests.
The central government later said it has cancelled the licences of three NGOs without revealing their names.
India's nuclear power plant operator, NPCIL, is building two 1,000 MW atomic power reactors with Russian collaboration at Kudankulam in Tirunelveli district, around 650 km from Chennai.
However, villagers in Kudankulam, Idinthakarai and nearby areas, fearing their safety in case of any accident, are dead set against the project.
Their agitation, led by the People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE), has put a stop to the project work, delaying the commissioning of the first unit slated for December 2011.
Kudankulam protester Udayakumar sends legal notice to Manmohan Singh over 'foreign fund remark'
CHENNAI: Anti-nuclear activist SP Udayakumar, spearheading the stir against Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant today sent a legal notice to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for his comments on the funding of the protests against the project. Singh had in an interview to a magazine hinted that protests around Koodankulam were often funded by some NGOs based in the United States and Scandinavian countries."There is no basis whatsoever for this statement made against my client who is the coordinator of the protest," M Radhakrishnan, Udayakumar's advocate, said in the notice, adding his client was "deeply hurt" by the "false statement". The notice also alleged the statement was made with an intention to inform the public that the protests against KKNPP were going on with the assistance of funds from the United States and Scandinavian countries.
It said Singh's remarks amounted to an imputation which in the estimation of the public "lowers" the moral character and credit of Udayakumar and may fall within the realm of defamation. Udayakumar, coordinator of the People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy, hoped the Prime Minister would immediately make "appropriate amends" to his statements and not drive him to take recourse to law, the notice said.
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