Chennai: Chief Minister M.K.Stalin said that whoever is guilty of the Tuticorin firing incident will be put in the cage and punished. The report of the Justice Aruna Jagatheesan Commission of Inquiry set up to inquire into the Thoothukudi firing incident yesterday was filed in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly. Chief Minister M. K. Stalin proposed a government resolution in the Legislative Assembly to discuss the action taken by the government on the recommendations contained in the inquiry commission report.
Various members spoke in the debate on it. Responding to this debate, Chief Minister M. K. Stalin said: A judicial inquiry was conducted through the Inquiry Commission into the Thoothukudi firing, and its report was given to me. Yesterday, the report was placed in the Legislative Assembly, and I proposed a government resolution to hold a debate on it. The firing that took place in Thoothukudi during the last AIADMK regime is the biggest black mark in the history of Tamil Nadu. No one can deny or hide it. Even thinking about that tragic and cruel incident today, my body trembles. I, who was then the Leader of the Opposition, immediately went to Thoothukudi. The sound of gunshots and the screams of people dying still haunts me.
The protest against the Sterlite plant is the most continuous peaceful protest in Thoothukudi for many years. In order to further emphasize this, the people of that area held a grand procession on 22-5-2018 during the last AIADMK regime. They had organized this procession to petition the District Collector. The AIADMK government of the day did not handle this problem properly. He did not call the people who could come in procession. The government was not ready to receive petitions from them and ask for their opinions. Not only this, they planned to disperse the people by abusing their authority. The Justice Aruna Jagatheesan Commission has confirmed that the shooting was planned and given a report. In that incident, 13 people including 11 men and 2 women were shot dead in broad daylight. 40 people sustained serious injuries. 64 people sustained minor injuries.
This incident is an example of the autocratic thinking of the then Chief Minister Palaniswami of the previous AIADMK regime. That is, so many lives were lost in Thoothukudi because of the arrogance of the AIADMK regime.
Both the reports filed yesterday are reports submitted by the commissions they set up. We came and did not set up any commission for this. This is revealed on page 252 of Justice Aruna Jagadeesan’s commission report. The then Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami has also given an interview to journalists about the Thoothukudi shooting incident, saying, ‘Like others, I came to know about the incident through the news in the media’.
But the strongest evidence before this Commission is that the then Chief Secretary Girija Vaidyanathan, the then DGP Rajendran and the then Intelligence Department IG Sathyamurthy, who were examined as witnesses, said that they were informing the then Chief Minister Edappadi Palani minute by minute about the happenings in Thoothukudi and the situation there. This is very clearly stated in the report of the Commission. The commission set up during the AIADMK regime has confirmed this. Palaniswami, who was the Chief Minister of the day, was the one who sat in his room listening to live commentary on the brutal murderous attack and then came out and said ‘I don’t know anything’. His betrayals and blunders are well known to those who know his political career. We don’t need to say anything new.
The people of Tamil Nadu gave AIADMK the beginning of the punishment for this through the electoral defeat. The DMK government has taken several steps based on the views expressed in the interim report of Justice Aruna Jagatheesan. 38 cases registered against non-rioters were withdrawn. A financial assistance of Rs 1 lakh was given to 93 persons who were arrested and detained by the police during the protest, considering the emotional distress suffered by those persons and their family members. Based on the views of the legislators who spoke here, an additional Rs 5 lakh will be given to the families of the 13 people who died in the firing, in addition to the funds already provided. The Commission of Inquiry submitted its final report to the Government on 18-5-2022. The Government carefully considered the views expressed in the Commission’s report and the recommendations. We are still considering it. The reasons for the riots, the manner in which the riots were handled, the post-riot action taken and the Commission’s findings and recommendations were examined by the government.
We discussed this inquiry report in the Cabinet meeting on 29-8-2022. It is on that basis that we filed that report even in this House. We have already started the process of taking departmental action against some of the officials involved in the incident mentioned in the Commission’s report. I would now like to give details of that to this House. Departmental action is being taken against the then Collector of Thoothukudi district through the Public Department. Likewise, departmental disciplinary action has been initiated against three Revenue Department officials belonging to the Revenue and Disaster Management Department.
Disciplinary action has been initiated against the then South Zone Police Chief, Tirunelveli Deputy Commissioner of Police, Tuticorin District Superintendent of Police, a Deputy Inspector General of Police, three Inspectors, a Sub-Inspector and 7 Constables. 4 constables, including an inspector, who were directly involved in the incident, have been dismissed. I would also like to inform this House that all these disciplinary proceedings will be expeditiously investigated and concluded. No one should forget the Thoothukudi massacre during the last AIADMK regime as an example of how a government should not be ruthless. I would like to inform you that whoever is guilty will be put in the cage and will be punished. Thus he spoke.