SALEM & COIMBATORE: The alleged attack on conservationist and social activist Piyush Manush has left several activists fuming across Tamil Nadu. Voices of indignation and condemnation poured in as activists demanded immediate action against the Salem Prison Superintendent who attacked Piyush in the jail. “The prison superintendent should be dismissed forthwith from service. Attack on social activists who fight for public cause is condemnable. The government is resorting to intimidation to silence environmental and social activists who protest the uncurbed plundering of natural resources,” said K. Mugilan, coordinator of the Tamil Nadu Environmental Protection Council, K.Mugilan.
The Periyar Dravidar Viduthulai Kazhagam leader T.S.Kolathur Mani alleged that Piyush had been attacked at the instigation of “some elements.” Stating that Piyush had only taken up environmental and social causes and not resorted to any anti-national act, Kolathur Mani urged the National Human Rights Commission to probe into this flagrant violation of human rights in the prison cell.
The Coimbatore-based environmental activist, Mac Mohan regretted that assaults on activists were on the rise over the last five years. “Politicians and police are not concerned about Nature conservation. We have staged protests against cutting of over 900 trees from the arterial roads. We are only trying to avert another natural calamity like the Chennai floods. But unfortunately, activists have become soft targets of the police,” he said.
