Braving the searing sun, the agitating lot of endosulfan victims took out a rally from the Secretariat to the Cliff House, the official residence of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, on Sunday.
The protest march proved to be decisive with the government later taking a favourable stance towards their demands.
The agitators, along with their ailing children, were blocked by a sizeable posse of police at the Devaswom Board junction en route to the Cliff House.
Dignified lives
Addressing the gatherers, former Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president V.M. Sudheeran said that the endosulfan victims would not have been forced to struggle all their way to the State capital if the successive governments had taken a compassionate view of their plight.
He pointed out that he has firmly stood by the protesters right from the rule of V.S. Achuthanandan-led government without any political interests.“That they were now forced to knock on the Chief Minister’s doors for their right to lead dignified lives is nothing but a pitiable state of affairs in democracy. They have not come with any political agenda, but seeking the government’s mercy with the hope that democracy will never fail them,” he said.
Mr. Sudheeran added that the government must never persist with technicalities while dealing with the particular issue.
“Governments must not act on the whims of those bureaucrats, who deem it unnecessary in understanding the situation on the ground and cling on to technical aspects. It is illogical to fix geographical boundaries while identifying victims. The government cannot discount the fact possibility that the pesticide which was aerially sprayed could have spread beyond the identified region through air and water, he said.
No choice
Endosulfan Peeditha Janakeeya Munnani president Muneesa Ambalathara said that the protesters had no choice, but to carry their children wherever they went. “We would never have knowingly subjected our children to any hardships if we had any other choice. We did not intend for them to become any display objects as some have blamed us,” she said.
Senior journalist Geetha Nazeer, Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) State general secretary Sonia George and social activist M. Shajar Khan were among those who spoke on the occasion.
