Alappuzha: With her right foot planted firmly on an uprooted yellow marker stone, Sindhu James embodies the triumph of overcoming two fierce battles back-to-back: the anti-SilverLine agitation and cancer.
Sindhu remains the only person from Alappuzha district to have been jailed in connection with the people’s protest against the SilverLine project. Even as severe pain made it difficult for her to place her foot on the ground, she continued to actively participate in the agitation. It was only after the protests had subsided that she realised the pain had, in fact, been caused by cancer affecting her right leg.
After undergoing treatment for nearly two years, she finally overcame the disease. Now, with the government having abandoned the SilverLine project, the moment has turned into a double delight for her.
A board outside her house still reads: “Supporters of K-Rail are not welcome here for awareness campaigns.” The proposed alignment of the project had once passed directly through her home. Yet Sindhu was not arrested when officials arrived to place survey stones on her own property. Instead, she was taken into custody on March 4, 2022, following a confrontation linked to the uprooting of a yellow marker stone installed at the house of another elderly woman in nearby Mulakkuzha.
Though nearly 60 people were arrested on different occasions in the Chengannur region during the anti-SilverLine protests, Sindhu was the only one remanded in custody. She spent three days in the women’s prison at Attakulangara before being granted bail.
Sindhu alleges that she alone was jailed because she had publicly accused the authorities of altering the project alignment to protect the residence of Minister Saji Cherian. She also believes that her decision to leave the CPM and join the Congress further intensified the hostility against her.
It was after her release from jail that officials arrived to place a yellow marker stone at her house. Sindhu later faced another case for allegedly resisting police personnel, whom she accused of assaulting family members and tearing the clothes of women during the confrontation.
Formerly a conductor with Kerala State Road Transport Corporation, Sindhu resigned from her job in 2018 following persistent pain in her leg. It was during medical examinations conducted in 2024 that she was diagnosed with cancer in her right foot.
