New Delhi: A sub-court in Tamil Nadu on Friday, July 21 awarded seven years of imprisonment to 18 people, including four women, in a case related to a protest against the Kudankulam nuclear power project. A penalty of Rs 500 was also imposed on them.The case was registered against 22 persons, most of whom were fishermen. They allegedly attacked two other fishermen who refused to take part in the protest against the nuclear power plant.While 18 persons were convicted, three persons – S.P. Udayakumar, Pushparayan and M.P. Jesuraj – who were coordinators of the protest, were acquitted.“Thousands conducted protests for over several years in Idinthakarai against KKNPP [Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant]. More than 300 police cases were registered against the protesters. While most of them were withdrawn, 63 are pending before the court. In 2013, the protesting fishermen decided to give away a share of their catch to manage the expenses of the protest, but S. Elango and R. Brighten allegedly refused to budge. After being attacked by the convicts, the duo filed separate complaints with the police who registered a case against 22 persons,” sources told the New Indian Express.Idinthakarai is a village close to the Kudankulam nuclear power plant which became the protest’s ground zero. Here, Udaykumar and others organised a hunger strike in shifts, observed for over 500 days.In 2021, Udaykumar urged the state government to withdraw all the cases registered against the people who protested against the nuclear project.Saying that the cases are affecting the livelihood of the villagers, he said, “The state government should either withdraw the cases or should at least expedite the legal proceedings. Still, the names of many people feature in the ‘wanted list’. The youngsters, searching for jobs, are the most affected.”He had said, “As stated by Minister for Electricity V. Senthil Balaji, the state government should hear the public opinion on the construction of Unit 5 and 6 in Kudankulam and take steps to stop the construction works. The people of Kudankulam are against the expansion of the power plant.”