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Thousands march demanding "Endosulfan - Quit India"
Kasargod, Kerala - India: August 7, 2004

Braving heavy rains that is drenching the Kerala Coast, about 7000 protesters, including children and the common public marched to the Kasaragod District Collectorate shouting Endosulfan to QUIT INDIA.

The march was organised in connection with the QUIT INDIA celebrations, one of the major milestones in the country's freedom struggle. The march was organised to protest against the continuing neglect of the authorities towards the victims of the Endosulfan Tragedy. The leader of the Opposition in State Legislative Assembly and respected leader of the workers and masses Sri. V.S. Achuthanandan , lead the march. Sri P.Karunakaran Member of Parliament(MP) , Sri K.P.Kunhiraman (Member of Legislative Assembly -
MLA), Sri K.P. Sathish Chandran (MLA), Sri M . Kumaran (MLA), Sri C.T.Ahemd Ali (MLA ), Ms. E . Padmavathi (Kasaragod District Panchayath President), Sri T.P. Adbulla (Muncipal Chairman), Sri Kadannappali Ramachandran, Sri Kodoth Govindan Nair, Sri M.A. Rehman, Sri. K.M.Ahmed, Sri Balakrishnan Mangad, Sri Civic Chandran , Dr. Y.S. Mohankumar , Dr. D.Surendranath were the main speakers on the occasion.

The marchers forming a one-kilometer line were in high spirits in spite of the tragedy and the public meeting that ensued adopted a motion asking the government to ban endosulfan in India. Five years of spraying this chemical in the cashew plantations in Kasaragod had wrecked irreparable damages to the lives of people and the environment.

The motion further demanded compensation to the victims and the affected. The people also observed that the dubious Central Committee report which hides the truth be dismissed and a judicial enquiry be ordered to expose the dirty nexus of Dr. Dubey, the Chairman of the Committee with the Pesticide Industry. The people asked the Plantation Corporation to stop the vengeance on the local people. The March then presented the submission to the District Collector. A play "Kunje Mullapal Kudikkarauthe" (translated - Little child, Drink not your mothers milk) - a play directed by noted writer and poet Sri. Civic Chandran was acted out and presented by the theatre group Souparnika, Kannur.

This march followed yesterdays (August 6th) Hiroshima day Commemoration in schools and colleges in Kasaragod District, where thousands of children remembered the victims of the Nuclear Holocaust and the victims of the Endosulfan spray, and took an oath that they will keep all pesticides from affecting Mother Earth and their lives. The commemoration was inaugurated with the mothers of two children, who fell victim to the chemical, reading out the oath to the children. jayakumar thanalthanal@md4.vsnl.net.in