Anti-dam protesters, demonstrating against land acquisition ordinance, attacked in Sonbhadra, UP

Protesters ahead of the attack

By A Representative
Even as news came in about police firing on “peaceful protest” of Adivasis and Dalits on Tuesday Morning, morning, followed by “brutal” lathi charge, at Sonbhadra in Uttar Pradesh, the National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM) characterized this as “brazen”, especially as it came on the day of the Ambedkar Jayanti. NAPM is the apex body of tens of people’s organizations operating across India, and is led by Narmada Bachao Andolan leader Medha Patkar. Several people were injured in the melee.
In a statement issued in the wake of the attack, NAPM said, “While the memory of bloodshed in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh is still fresh, this incident of brazen violence was unleashed by the police and the state machinery, leaving many, including women, gravely injured.” It added, “It is a painful irony that the villagers were celebrating ‘Save the Constitution Day’ on Babasaheb Ambedkar Jayanti when this ruthless assault of the very soul and spirit of Constitution took place.”
The protest saw participation of thousands of villagers, NAPM said, adding, it was “a continuation of the struggle against land acquisition and large-scale displacement by the controversial Kanhar Dam.” The dam is sought to be built “without conducting any fresh cost benefit analysis and social and environmental impact assessments, and violating the order of the National Green Tribunal dated December 24, 2014 which mandated Environment Clearance and Forest Clearance for it.”
Kanhar Irrigation Project was originally approved by the Central Water Commission in September 1976. The project is located downstream of the confluence of River Pagan with Kanhar near village Sugawan in Tehsil Dudhi of district Sonebhadra in UP. The project proposes a 3.003 km earthen dam having a maximum height of 39.90 metres from deepest bed level which, may be increased to 52.90 m if linked to Rihand reservoir.

NAPM claimed, “The project envisages submergence of 4131.5 Ha land of 111 villages, which includes parts of Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. The project was completely abandoned since 1989 and construction work started only on December 5, 2014. Information accessed under RTI shows that the project does not have a valid Environment Clearance and Forest Clearance.”
NAPM further said, “Kanhar dam will feed water to Rihand reservoir, the water from which is being used for electricity generation in Singrauli, which is witness to all kinds of violence against the tribal people. Some of them have already faced multiple displacements, police harassment and wrecked environmental disaster for years now.”
“As the resistance against land acquisition and struggle for land rights intensifies in every nook and corner of the country, this valiant battle lead by women in villages of Sonbhadra and the attempts to repress it by the state government brings out the double standards of the ruling Samajwadi Party (SP) in UP”, NAPM alleged.
“On one hand the SP has been opposing the Land Acquisition Ordinance brought out by the BJP-led government at centre, and on the other hand, it attacks peaceful protesters who are demanding land rights in its own state”, it added.
Demanding “immediate disciplinary and legal action against the officials involved in this heinous act and compensation, medical relief to all affected persons and their families”, NAPM wanted setting up of an “independent judicial probe must be initiated at the earliest to ensure the justice is rendered.”

Comments

Whither space for the marginalised in Kerala's privately-driven townships after landslides?

By Ipshita Basu, Sudheesh R.C. In the early hours of July 30 2024, a landslide in the Wayanad district of Kerala state, India, killed 400 people. The Punjirimattom, Mundakkai, Vellarimala and Chooralmala villages in the Western Ghats mountain range turned into a dystopian rubble of uprooted trees and debris.

Election bells ringing in Nepal: Can ousted premier Oli return to power?

By Nava Thakuria* Nepal is preparing for a national election necessitated by the collapse of KP Sharma Oli’s government at the height of a Gen Z rebellion (youth uprising) in September 2025. The polls are scheduled for 5 March. The Himalayan nation last conducted a general election in 2022, with the next polls originally due in 2027. However, following the dissolution of Nepal’s lower house of Parliament last year by President Ram Chandra Poudel, the electoral process began under the patronage of an interim government installed on 12 September under the leadership of retired Supreme Court judge Sushila Karki. The Hindu-majority nation of over 29 million people will witness more than 3,400 electoral candidates, including 390 women, representing 68 political parties as well as independents, vying for 165 seats in the 275-member House of Representatives.

Gig workers hold online strike on republic day; nationwide protests planned on February 3

By A Representative Gig and platform service workers across the country observed a nationwide online strike on Republic Day, responding to a call given by the Gig & Platform Service Workers Union (GIPSWU) to protest what it described as exploitation, insecurity and denial of basic worker rights in the platform economy. The union said women gig workers led the January 26 action by switching off their work apps as a mark of protest.

'Condonation of war crimes against women and children’: IPSN on Trump’s Gaza Board

By A Representative The India-Palestine Solidarity Network (IPSN) has strongly condemned the announcement of a proposed “Board of Peace” for Gaza and Palestine by former US President Donald J. Trump, calling it an initiative that “condones war crimes against children and women” and “rubs salt in Palestinian wounds.”

India’s road to sustainability: Why alternative fuels matter beyond electric vehicles

By Suyash Gupta* India’s worsening air quality makes the shift towards clean mobility urgent. However, while electric vehicles (EVs) are central to India’s strategy, they alone cannot address the country’s diverse pollution and energy challenges.

With infant mortality rate of 5, better than US, guarantee to live is 'alive' in Kerala

By Nabil Abdul Majeed, Nitheesh Narayanan In 1945, two years prior to India's independence, the current Chief Minister of Kerala, Pinarayi Vijayan, was born into a working-class family in northern Kerala. He was his mother’s fourteenth child; of the thirteen siblings born before him, only two survived. His mother was an agricultural labourer and his father a toddy tapper. They belonged to a downtrodden caste, deemed untouchable under the Indian caste system.

Jayanthi Natarajan "never stood by tribals' rights" in MNC Vedanta's move to mine Niyamigiri Hills in Odisha

By A Representative The Odisha Chapter of the Campaign for Survival and Dignity (CSD), which played a vital role in the struggle for the enactment of historic Forest Rights Act, 2006 has blamed former Union environment minister Jaynaynthi Natarjan for failing to play any vital role to defend the tribals' rights in the forest areas during her tenure under the former UPA government. Countering her recent statement that she rejected environmental clearance to Vendanta, the top UK-based NMC, despite tremendous pressure from her colleagues in Cabinet and huge criticism from industry, and the claim that her decision was “upheld by the Supreme Court”, the CSD said this is simply not true, and actually she "disrespected" FRA.

MGNREGA: How caste and power hollowed out India’s largest welfare law

By Sudhir Katiyar, Mallica Patel* The sudden dismantling of MGNREGA once again exposes the limits of progressive legislation in the absence of transformation of a casteist, semi-feudal rural society. Over two days in the winter session, the Modi government dismantled one of the most progressive legislations of the UPA regime—the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).

Fragmented opposition and identity politics shaping Tamil Nadu’s 2026 election battle

By Syed Ali Mujtaba* Tamil Nadu is set to go to the polls in April 2026, and the political battle lines are beginning to take shape. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the state on January 23, 2026, marked the formal launch of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s campaign against the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). Addressing multiple public meetings, the Prime Minister accused the DMK government of corruption, criminality, and dynastic politics, and called for Tamil Nadu to be “freed from DMK’s chains.” PM Modi alleged that the DMK had turned Tamil Nadu into a drug-ridden state and betrayed public trust by governing through what he described as “Corruption, Mafia and Crime,” derisively terming it “CMC rule.” He claimed that despite making numerous promises, the DMK had failed to deliver meaningful development. He also targeted what he described as the party’s dynastic character, arguing that the government functioned primarily for the benefit of a single family a...

Search This Blog