Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra oustees protest Narmada dam at Indore, prepare to leave for Delhi

By A Representative
Representatives of the Sardar Sarovar dam affected from three states – Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra – thronged the streets of Indore in Madhya Pradesh as part of their six-days yatra to “challenge” the “unlawful” decision of the BJP-led government in Delhi to raise the height of the Sardar Sarovar Dam by 17 meters. Saying that the Government of India decision “would lead to a watery grave of 45,000 families”, the anti-dam organisation Narmada Bachao Andolan's (NBA's) statement said, adding, “The oustees questioned the false claims of rehabilitation.”
Pointing towards the Rs 1000-crore corruption scam which is being investigated by a Judicial commission in Madhya Pradesh, the statement said, “Hilly Adivasis from Maharashtra demanded rehabilitation with land. Oustees from Gujarat challenged the lack of rehabilitation in the state and false claims of rehabilitation and resettlement (R&R), deprivation of land to hundreds of them. A strong demand was made to recognize the ownership rights of the oustees under the new Land Acquisition Act.”
The NBA said, “In the past six months thousands of oustees have been carrying out massive protests in Badwani, Dhar, Indore, Bhopal and Delhi demanding the government to recall its illegal decision and review the actual status of rehabilitation of the thousands of adivasis, farmers, fish-workers, potters, labourers etc also the actual costs and benefits of the Sardar Sarovar Project. Medha Patkar, walking along with the protesters, demanded immediate halt to the construction work at Sardar Sarovar and claimed that the decision is largely motivated by corporate thirst for Narmada waters and command area land, rather than the interests of farmers.”
Among those who participated in the rally included many senior social activists and progressive social organizations from Indore – senior Gandhian and advocate Anil Trivedi, Sarvoday Press Service's Chinmay Mishra, Ashok Dubey, Roopankan, Ajay Lagoo, Pramod Bagdi, Jayaprakash bhai and others. “They stood in solidarity at the Regal Chouraha, where a homage was paid to Gandhi Statue, and the Prime Minister was reminded of the Gandhian approach to respect the lives and livelihoods of the villages, which is the heart of India”, the NBA said.
“Many elderly farmers, women and children walked the streets of Indore shouting slogans, distributing leaflets and exhorting the residents of Indore to standby the struggle in the Narmada valley since the issues of land and water management in Nimad and Malwa region are interconnected. Representatives of the Indira Sagar and Omkareshwar canal-affected farmers also participated demanding review of the canals and halt to Omkareshwar-Kshipra Link Project which is planned more in the interest of corporates rather than the rural masses”, the statement said.
The Yatra began at Badwani on November 28 paying homage to the freedom strugglers at Shaheed Stambh followed by a meeting at Anjad. The Yatra shall proceed to Ujjain and Ratlam tomorrow where also public rallies and meetings shall be held to raise awareness and gather solidarity on the issue. The Yatra will reach Delhi on the December 1, where Yatris would be joined by hundreds of oustees from the Narmada valley for a massive rally at Jantar Mantar on December 2.

Comments

Gujarat Information Commission issues warning against misinterpretation of RTI orders

By A Representative The Gujarat Information Commission (GIC) has issued a press note clarifying that its orders limiting the number of Right to Information (RTI) applications for certain individuals apply only to those specific applicants. The GIC has warned that it will take disciplinary action against any public officials who misinterpret these orders to deny information to other citizens. The press note, signed by GIC Secretary Jaideep Dwivedi, states that the Right to Information Act, 2005, is a powerful tool for promoting transparency and accountability in public administration. However, the commission has observed that some applicants are misusing the act by filing an excessive number of applications, which disproportionately consumes the time and resources of Public Information Officers (PIOs), First Appellate Authorities (FAAs), and the commission itself. This misuse can cause delays for genuine applicants seeking justice. In response to this issue, and in acc...

'MGNREGA crisis deepening': NSM demands fair wages and end to digital exclusions

By A Representative The NREGA Sangharsh Morcha (NSM), a coalition of independent unions of MGNREGA workers, has warned that the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) is facing a “severe crisis” due to persistent neglect and restrictive measures imposed by the Union Government.

A comrade in culture and controversy: Yao Wenyuan’s revolutionary legacy

By Harsh Thakor* This year marks two important anniversaries in Chinese revolutionary history—the 20th death anniversary of Yao Wenyuan, and the 50th anniversary of his seminal essay "On the Social Basis of the Lin Biao Anti-Party Clique". These milestones invite reflection on the man whose pen ignited the first sparks of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution and whose sharp ideological interventions left an indelible imprint on the political and cultural landscape of socialist China.

Gandhiji quoted as saying his anti-untouchability view has little space for inter-dining with "lower" castes

By A Representative A senior activist close to Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) leader Medha Patkar has defended top Booker prize winning novelist Arundhati Roy’s controversial utterance on Gandhiji that “his doctrine of nonviolence was based on an acceptance of the most brutal social hierarchy the world has ever known, the caste system.” Surprised at the police seeking video footage and transcript of Roy’s Mahatma Ayyankali memorial lecture at the Kerala University on July 17, Nandini K Oza in a recent blog quotes from available sources to “prove” that Gandhiji indeed believed in “removal of untouchability within the caste system.”

Targeted eviction of Bengali-speaking Muslims across Assam districts alleged

By A Representative A delegation led by prominent academic and civil rights leader Sandeep Pandey visited three districts in Assam—Goalpara, Dhubri, and Lakhimpur—between 2 and 4 September 2025 to meet families affected by recent demolitions and evictions. The delegation reported widespread displacement of Bengali-speaking Muslim communities, many of whom possess valid citizenship documents including Aadhaar, voter ID, ration cards, PAN cards, and NRC certification.

Subject to geological upheaval, the time to listen to the Himalayas has already passed

By Rajkumar Sinha* The people of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, who have somehow survived the onslaught of reckless development so far, are crying out in despair that within the next ten to fifteen years their very existence will vanish. If one carefully follows the news coming from these two Himalayan states these days, this painful cry does not appear exaggerated. How did these prosperous and peaceful states reach such a tragic condition? What feats of our policymakers and politicians pushed these states to the brink of destruction?

India's health workers have no legal right for their protection, regrets NGO network

Counterview Desk In a letter to Union labour and employment minister Santosh Gangwar, the civil rights group Occupational and Environmental Health Network of India (OEHNI), writing against the backdrop of strike by Bhabha hospital heath care workers, has insisted that they should be given “clear legal right for their protection”.

Rally in Patna: Non-farmer bodies to highlight plight of agriculture in Eastern India ahead of march to Parliament

P Sainath By A Representative Ahead of the march to Parliament on November 29-30, 2018, organized by over 210 farmer and agricultural worker organisations of the country demanding a 21-day special session of Parliament to deliberate on remedial measures for safeguarding the interest of farm, farmers and agricultural workers, a mass rally been organized for November 23, Gandhi Sangrahalaya (Gandhi Museum), Gandhi Maidan, Patna. Say the organizers, the Eastern region merits special attention, because, while crisis of farmers and agricultural workers in Western, Southern and Northern India has received some attention in the media and central legislature, the plight of those in the Eastern region of the country (Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Orissa, Chhattisgarh and Eastern UP) has remained on the margins. To be addressed by P Sainath, founder of People’s Archive of Rural India (PARI), a statement issued ahead of the rally says, the Eastern India was the most prosperous regi...

'Centre criminally negligent': SKM demands national disaster declaration in flood-hit states

By A Representative The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) has urged the Centre to immediately declare the recent floods and landslides in Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Uttarakhand, and Haryana as a national disaster, warning that the delay in doing so has deepened the suffering of the affected population.

Counterview

Search This Blog