Anti-Sterlite activists on Friday demanded that the Tamil Nadu government convene the Assembly to discuss the contents of the Justice (retired) Aruna Jegadeesan Commission, which according to reports, has pinned the blame on the police for the May 22, 2018, firing on protesters in Thoothukudi that killed 13 civilians.

Justice Jegadeesan submitted an interim report in May 2021 immediately after the DMK assumed office in the state and followed it up with a detailed 3,000-page final report on its inquiry into the police firing on people who were protesting against expansion plans of Sterlite Copper, a Vedanta-owned company, in the port city of Thoothukudi, 620 km from here.

Henri Tiphagne of People’s Watch said the Commission’s findings have once again established that the CBI clearly “messed up” indicting only one DSP for the violence and killings and the NHRC “shamefully closed its case.”

“We demand that Chief Minister M K Stalin urgently convene the TN Legislative Assembly as it has been three months since the report was submitted to the government. The government should release the report to the public to live up to the DMK’s election promise of action against police officers and administrators responsible for the violence,” he said.