JOIN USEndosulfan activist Shridhar Gowda has said that he will file a complaint in Sri Kshetra Kanattur against Belthangady MLA Vasant Bangera for calling him a ‘fake endosulfan victim’ in the legislative assembly.
Gowda told reporters at Patrika Bhavan in Mangaluru on Tuesday that the MLA has hurt his feelings by calling him a fake victim even after the government doctor certified him as a victim of endosulfan. “The MLA may not be aware of the serious consequences that I have been going through due to the effects of endosulfan. I have become partially blind due to endosulfan.”
Gowda said that Vasant Bangera is directly responsible for endosulfan being sprayed in Belthangadi in 1983. “He was the sitting MLA then. Bangera has not responded to the aspirations of endosulfan victims. On the contrary, he has been making efforts to suppress the fights carried out by the victims to avail their rights. The MLA has been claiming that the certificates issued by government doctors on the disabilities caused to endosulfan victims are fake which is shocking,” he said.
Former Health Minister U T Khader too has looked down upon the victims by passing vague remarks on the protests held by them, he said. “The MLAs, instead of apprising the Chief Minister about the real situation of endosulfan victims so that they get higher compensation and facilities, have been criticising the victims, which is wrong. Our protests are not politically motivated,” Gowda said.
BJP Yuva Morcha district president Harish Poonja was present during the press meet.