DiaNuke.org – 2013-05-30 01:25:42
International Nonviolent Protests of Proposed Japan-India Nuclear Deal Grow Despite Government’s Violent Opposition
DiaNuke.org
The Coalition Against Nukes (CAN) and its international membership has stepped forward to support the protest currently being raised against Japan’s attempt to export nuclear technology to India. Specifically, an international petition to raise influential voices against this wrong-headed move has quickly gained more than fifteen hundred signatures as it continues to grow daily.
Protest demonstrations are planned in Tokyo and across India. The India-Japan nuclear agreement is currently under negotiation, with Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh is visiting Tokyo on May 27 in an attempt to further the deal.
Increasingly, this struggle has been seen by many as a “Nuclear Gandhi” movement, involving non-violent resistance, hunger strikes, and oppression of a protesting population by a dominant, non-responsive government. More than 10,000 Indian citizens have been arrested for sedition for their peaceful protests.
A committed group of activists, experts and citizens in Japan, India and other countries launched this petition as a means of making their concerns known. The appeal has been endorsed by eminent citizens, including academicians, artists, scientists, filmmakers and other public figures from India, Japan, US, France, Germany, Australia and a dozen other countries.
Since Japanese nuclear technology is used in large nuclear reactors made in the United States and France, it is difficult for India to import nuclear reactors from these countries unless it strikes a nuclear deal with Japan. To remove the obstacles to their export of nuclear technology to India, Washington and Paris have been unofficially urging Tokyo to conclude a nuclear deal with New Delhi.
The petition calls for termination of India-Japan nuclear negotiations, as its implementation would lead to expansion of nuclear installations in India. This in turn would mean more displacement of homes and families, loss of livelihoods and radiation risks for the Indian farmers and fishermen who have been leading massive resistance to proposed plants in Koodankulam and Chutka, among others.
These protests intensified after the Fukushima nuclear disaster began on March 11, 2011, and the Indian government has responded with increasingly violent repression of the non-violent protestors.
The appeal also criticizes the absurdity of Japan’s policy of exporting nuclear technology to India and other countries when their problems from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster continue to mount with no end in sight. This advancement of Japan’s nuclear agenda is seen as a way for the country to compensate for the huge, ongoing financial losses incurred in the wake of the Fukushima disaster.
The Coalition Against Nuke (CAN) urges the global community to support these voices of sanity and demand termination of the India-Japan nuclear agreement. We also demand a moratorium on Japan’s nuclear export policy until and unless they can solve their own nuclear problems at Fukushima.
ACTION: Sign the petition here.
NOTE: A featured interview with Indian anti-nuclear activist Kumar Sudaram was podcast on Nuclear Hotseat, the weekly international news magazine, on Wednesday, May 28, 2013. You can access the recording (#102) at: www.NuclearHotseat.com/blog or download from iTunes.
Stop India-Japan Nuclear Agreement: An International Appeal
DiaNuke.org
Please sign and circulate this appeal to your friends. This appeal will be released during the Indian Prime Minister’s visit to Tokyo on May 29th. THANKS!
Endorsements can also be sent to editor@dianuke.org directly.
Stop India-Japan Nuclear Agreement, Stop Nuclear Export Policy
We, the undersigned, are concerned citizens of the world and we write this in support of the people in India and Japan.
We stand in complete opposition to the India-Japan nuclear cooperation agreement that is currently under intense negotiation. The governments of both countries must refrain from promoting nuclear commerce, jeopardizing the health and safety of their people and environments.
The Fukushima accident in Japan should provide an eye-opener to the Indian government and it must realize that cooperation in/supply of nuclear technology comes with insurmountable safety risks. Nuclear accidents result in totally unacceptable damages to people and the environment.
Even more than two years after the accident in Fukushima the reactors are far from being under control and massive radioactive releases have contaminated the ground, air and water, contaminations that coming generations will have to endure even after it has taken its toll on the current generation. The criminal nexus of the nuclear Industry and policy makers now stands exposed.
India must behave responsibly and should rethink its use of nuclear energy. Nuclear energy currently provides less than 3% of its total electricity and can be easily replaced, freeing the country to embrace renewable and sustainable alternatives.
Japan must refrain from exporting nuclear technology to other countries, especially non-signatories of the NPT and CTBT. The current policy option of exporting nuclear energy to countries like India, Vietnam, Jordan etc… are totally unjust while Japan is reeling under the huge financial losses posed by the Fukushima accident and its citizens are observing massive protests to demand a nuclear-free future and the victims of the triple meltdowns remain uncompensated.
For the children, women and coming generations of India and Japan, and of the planet as a whole, we demand a moratorium on Japan’s nuclear export policy and the termination of India-Japan civil nuclear negotiations with immediate effect.
CONTACT:
US:
Michael Leonardi, Coalition Against Nukes, 567-202-5327; mikeleonardi@hotmail.com
India:
Kumar Sundaram, 91-9819556134 or SKYPE: pksundaram; message on Facebook
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