Quarry owner S. Selvakumar, and his accomplices, Sakthivel, Ranjith Kumar and others who conspired and killed Jaganathan — an environmentalist fighting against illegal quarrying — should be brought to justice
Article 51-A (g) of the Constitution of India, which deals with Fundamental Duties of the citizens of India, states, “It shall be the duty of every citizen of India to protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers and wild life, and to have compassion for living creatures.” Yet, the reality is that environmental activists who work with a sense of duty to protect natural resources from destruction, have no protection for their own lives and property from those involved in the destructive work of looting resources. Directive Principle of State Policy, Article 48(A), states, “The State shall endeavour to protect and improve the environment and to safeguard the forests and wild life of the country.” Yet, in reality the State has failed in the matters of protection and maintenance of environment and natural resources.
In 2019, for taking legal action against illegal encroachment of a pond in Kulithalai, Mutalaipatti, in Karur district, social activist Veeramalai and his son were murdered by mercenaries deployed by the encroachers. In Chennimalai, Erode district, Tamilchelvan, the person leading the movement against illegal quarrying, was attacked by a gang of five people with an iron rod at his computer center opposite to Chennimalai bus stand.
Now, on September 10, Jaganathan, an environmental activist and farmer who was working against illegal quarrying of blue metal stones, was murdered. Jaganathan was living with his wife Revathi and two children at Marikauntanpalayam, Manmangalam taluk, Karur district. Apart from agriculture, he was extremely passionate about conservation of nature and protection of community assets. Stone quarries are active in the area where he lived. 300 quarries are operating in Karur district alone. Out of this, 110 are licensed and 190 are unlicensed.
Annai Blue Metals owned by Selvakumar is a stone quarry which has been operating illegally in Karur, without obtaining required permission. The license of Annai Blue Metals had expired in February 2015. Yet, the quarry has been in operation for last seven year without permission. With this illegal operation, Selvakumar has looted the natural resources beyond the limit set by the Government, and caused great damage to the people, agriculture, environment, and other creatures living in the region.
Jaganathan, who could not bear to see the damage caused by the stone quarry, had been fighting against it in a charitable way and in accordance with the law. Enraged by Jaganathan’s actions, three years ago, the owner of Annai Blue Metals quarry, Selvakumar, along with his minions, had attacked Jaganathan with a sickle, and fled. Having already tried to kill him once and failed, now on September 10, Selvakumar, truck driver Sakthivel, Ranjith Kumar and their associates killed Jaganathan said to have trampled him under a truck.
Swaraj India demands strict action against the murderers, and a compensation of one crore rupees to Jaganathan’s family, and a government job to one of Jaganathan’s two children. Swaraj India also demands action against the quarry owner who was running an illegal quarrying operation, and the officials who failed to stop the illegal quarrying, and are partners in crime. The Government should also take action against stone quarry owners who are destroying nature and agriculture, and ensure safety of social and environmental activists.
