Medha Patkar, others detained in Allahabad, as farmers' opposition to land acquisition for power plants spreads

By A Representative
The Uttar Pradesh government on Saturday morning swooped on several activists, trade union and left leaders, including senior activist Medha Patkar of the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA), after it refused permission to take out a farmers' protest rally off Allahabad in protest against the allged refusal of the UP government to provide a viable compensatory package to those being displaced because of the power plants being constructed to meet the state's power needs.
Others taken into custody included Amarnath Bhai of Sarv Seva Sangh; Ramjee Rai, Editor, "Janmat"; Anshu Malviya, Utpala Shukla, Prema and Anuradha of Shahri Gareeb Sangharsh Morcha; Harishchandra of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU); ; OD Singh and KK Pale of Daman Virodhi Manch; Avinash of LIC Employees' Union; Krishna Swaroop Anandi of the Azadi bachao Andolan; and Rajesh Sachan of Indian People’s Front.
In a statement, National Alliance of People's Movements (NAPM), the apex body of tens of people's organizations, said, the activists were even "refused to let them come out of the Allahabad University guest house"; they were "categorically told not proceed to the meeting venue in Kachri village, citing imposition of Sec 144 and fear of violence."
Giving a background, the NAPM said, "For years farmers and farm workers have been protesting against three thermal power plants being constructed within a distance of 20 kms near Allahabad. These plants of 1320 MW each Karchana and Bara (Jaypee) and Bara (NTPC and UP Power Corporation) will together impact more than 20 villages and nearly 5000 families."
Pointing out that "all three projects since beginning have been mired in protests and court cases due to irregularities in land acquisition processes", the NAPM said, the government has "tried to avoid the due process of land acquisition, either by old land acquisition act or the new land act."
"In 2012, deciding a case filed by the project affected families (PAFs) of Karchana Power Plant, the High Court ordered the government to return the forcibly acquired land, give back land, if farmers return the compensation amount, and follow the due procedures for any further land acquisition", NAPM said.
"Farmers have been demanding the implementation of this High Court order; however, the district administration has refused that in complete violation of the order. In fact the authorities have been forcibly seeking consent from the farmers and refusing to implement the Land Acquisition Act, 2013, which would mean seeking of farmers consent for the project, given that two of these are private power projects to be implement by Jaypee group", the NAPM said.
"In fact, within a distance of 60 kms near Allahabad and around six power plants cumulatively amounting for 7000+ MW are to be constructed, all geared towards meeting the demands of the Dedicated Freight Corridor. However, no comprehensive social or environmental impact assessment has been done till date", the NAPM added.
The NAPM said, "Tehsil karchana has been converted in to a police camp for some time now. People have been terrorised and brutalised since September 9 when project affected families of the Karchana power plant were beaten up by police and 42 people, including 13 children put behind bars."
Worse, said the NAPM, "they have been denied bail are being punished for extending support to the resistance by Meja PAFs to forcible acquisition of their land on September 9. Dr Raj Bahadur Patel, leader of Punarvas Kisan Kalyan Evam Sahayata Samiti has been declared absconding and a gangster and any one providing information will be awarded with Rs 12,000."
It further said, "Many of the farmers have been implicated in false charges and their family members are being targeted and harassed since then.Not only this, the district administration in complete violation of all laws have acquired more than 3500+ acres of land, as opposed to the 1100 acres which was needed for the Meja power plant. This includes the Gram Sabha land, forest land, and even Bhoodan land, on which nearly 1000+ labourers were working in the stone quarries."
Demanding that UP Chief Minister Akhilesh yadav should "urgently intervene" and release all the detained activists in Allahabad and also release the protesting farmers who are languishing in jail for more than ten days on "false" charges, the NAPM said, :Action also must be taken against the police officials who used high handed methods and have arrested 12 juveniles and are being kept in prison. Government also must implement the High Court Order and stop all forcible land acquisition in the area immediately."

Comments

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

Was Netaji forced to alter face, die in obscurity in USSR in 1975? Was he so meek?

By Rajiv Shah This should sound almost hilarious. Not only did Subhas Chandra Bose not die in a plane crash in Taipei, nor was he the mysterious Gumnami Baba who reportedly passed away on 16 September 1985 in Ayodhya, but we are now told that he actually died in 1975—date unknown—“in oblivion” somewhere in the former Soviet Union. Which city? Moscow? No one seems to know.

Love letters in a lifelong war: Babusha Kohli’s resistance in verse

By Ravi Ranjan* “War does not determine who is right—only who is left.” Bertrand Russell’s words echo hauntingly in our times, and few contemporary Hindi poets embody this truth as profoundly as Babusha Kohli. Emerging from Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, Kohli has carved a unique space in literature by weaving together tenderness, protest, and philosophy across poetry, prose, and cinema. Her work is not merely artistic expression—it is resistance, refuge, and a call for peace.

Authoritarian destruction of the public sphere in Ecuador: Trumpism in action?

By Pilar Troya Fernández The situation in Ecuador under Daniel Noboa's government is one of authoritarianism advancing on several fronts simultaneously to consolidate neoliberalism and total submission to the US international agenda. These are not isolated measures, but rather a coordinated strategy that combines job insecurity, the dismantling of the welfare state, unrestricted access to mining, the continuation of oil exploitation without environmental considerations, the centralization of power through the financial suffocation of local governments, and the systematic criminalization of all forms of opposition and popular organization.

The golden crop: How turmeric is transforming women's lives in tribal India

By Vikas Meshram* When the lush green fields of turmeric sway in the tribal belt of southern Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Gujarat, it is not merely a spice crop — it is the golden glow of self-reliance. In villages where even basic spices once had to be bought from the market, the very soil today is yielding a prosperity that has transformed the lives of thousands of families. At the heart of this transformation is the initiative of Vaagdhara, which has linked turmeric with livelihoods, nutrition, and village self-governance — gram swaraj.

Echoes of Vietnam and Chile: The devastating cost of the I-A Axis in Iran

By Ram Puniyani The recent joint military actions by Israel and the United States against Iran have been devastating. Like all wars, this conflict is brutal to its core, leaving a trail of human suffering in its wake. The stated pretext for this aggression—the brutality of the Ayatollah Khamenei regime and its nuclear ambitions—clashes sharply with the reality of the diplomatic landscape. Iran had expressed a willingness to remain at the negotiating table, signaling a readiness to concede points emerging from dialogue.

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Rajiv Shah Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

The price of silence: Why Modi won’t follow Shastri, appeal for sacrifice

By Arundhati Dhuru, Sandeep Pandey* In 1965, as India grappled with war and a crippling food crisis, Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri faced a United States that used wheat shipments under the PL-480 agreement as a lever to dictate Indian foreign policy. Shastri’s response remains legendary: he appealed to the nation to skip one meal a day. Millions of middle-class households complied, choosing temporary hunger over the sacrifice of national dignity. Today, India faces a modern equivalent in the energy sector, yet the leadership’s response stands in stark contrast to that era of self-reliance.

False claim? What Venezuela is witnessing is not surrender but a tactical retreat

By Manolo De Los Santos The early morning hours of January 3, 2026, marked an inflection point in Venezuela and Latin America’s centuries-long struggle for self-determination and independence. Operation Absolute Resolve, ordered by the Trump administration, constituted the most brutal and direct military assault on a sovereign state in the region in recent memory. In a shocking operation that left hundreds dead, President Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores were illegally kidnapped from Venezuelan soil and transported to the United States, where they now face fabricated charges in a New York federal detention facility. In the two months since this act of war, a torrent of speculation has emerged from so-called experts and pundits across the political spectrum. This has followed three main lines: One . The operation’s success indicated treason at the highest levels of the Bolivarian Revolution. Two . Acting President Delcy Rodríguez and the remaining leadership have abandone...

Search This Blog