Nitish Kumar "supports" anti-Narmada dam protesters ahead of crucial Aug 31 NCA meet to decide on dam's gates

By A Representative
In a surprise move, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar has thrown his weight behind the powerful anti-dam organization, Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA), fighting for the rehabilitation of more than 15,000 Narmada dam oustees, which it says have been “left out” from any package to resettle the dam-affected families.
The news comes amidst the announcement of a crucial meeting on August 31 of the Narmada Control Authority's (NCA's) environmental sub-group, consisting of representatives of Government of India and of three “beneficiary” states, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, for a final nod to close down the 30-odd gates installed on the dam.
NCA nod on dam closure would mean that the rehabilitation of the dam oustees has been “completed” and they would not face any hardship as a result of the submergence of the dam's upstream areas if the water levels rise, reaching up to 138.64 metres from the present 121.92 metres.
Kumar, sources say, would reach Badwani in Madhya Pradesh on September 16 to lend his support to the dam-affected persons, protesting under NBA banner. Sitting next on the banks of Narmada river at Rajghat, they are protesting against what they consider as “fake rehabilitation” by the Madhya Pradesh government.
Relations between NBA leader Medha Patkar and Kumar's party, Janata Dal (United), are known to be cordial for long. JD(U)'s former national president Sharad Yadav and its senior leader KC Tyagi, a member of Parliament, have the past lent their support to the anti-dam movement in Delhi and elsewhere.

Dr Afroz Ahmed talking with Medha Patkar in Badwani

However, crucially, this is for the first time that a chief minister of a state is reaching out to the protesting oustees to support their cause. Known to be a long-time opponent of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Kumar is considered a Modi opponent. He refused to heed Modi advice to states to drop consent and social impact assessment clauses of Land Acquisition Act, 2013.
Meanwhile, NCA officials have begun to reach out to NBA activists in Badwani as the protest against the dam, begun a month ago, is refusing to die down. A senior NCA member, Dr Afroz Ahmed, met oustee representatives in Badwani on August 27, in order to discuss issues impacting the dam affected persons.
Sources said, Dr Ahmed wanted the oustees' views on catchment area treatment, alternative afforestation, impact of the dam on low lying areas, sand mining along Narmada river, possible rise of submergence level as the dam's 30-odd gates are closed, and possible impact of a severe earthquake on the dam.
A senior NBA activist, Rahul Yadav, said, Dr Ahmed “agreed” to raise the issues raised by oustees' representatives during the crucial meeting on NCA environmental sub-group scheduled for August 31. “We warned him, there is genuine fear among the oustees that if the dam's gates are allowed to be closed down, people would intensify their struggle””, he added.
Apart from Patkar, among the oustees who talked with Dr Ahmed were Kailash Yadav of Karsavad village, Jamsingh Bhilala of Amlali village, Mahesh Sharma of Chikhalda village, Devsingh Tomar of Ekkalbara village, Kamla Yadav of Chhota Vadada village, Kailash Avasiya of Bhilkheda village, and Umesh Patidar of Gopalpur village”, reports Yadav.
"They told him that the state government is not offering agricultural land to the affected oustees and that the rehabilitation sites are not up to the mark. They also said, the calculation of the impact of Narmada dam flooding once gates are closed on the submergence areas is not correct and that fisherfolk have been left out of any rehabilitation package”, Yadav said.

Comments

Plastic burning in homes threatens food, water and air across Global South: Study

By Jag Jivan In a groundbreaking study spanning 26 countries across the Global South , researchers have uncovered the widespread and concerning practice of households burning plastic waste as a fuel for cooking, heating, and other domestic needs. The research, published in Nature Communications , reveals that this hazardous method of managing both waste and energy poverty is driven by systemic failures in municipal services and the unaffordability of clean alternatives, posing severe risks to human health and the environment.

Economic superpower’s social failure? Inequality, malnutrition and crisis of India's democracy

By Vikas Meshram India may be celebrated as one of the world’s fastest-growing economies, but a closer look at who benefits from that growth tells a starkly different story. The recently released World Inequality Report 2026 lays bare a country sharply divided by wealth, privilege and power. According to the report, nearly 65 percent of India’s total wealth is owned by the richest 10 percent of its population, while the bottom half of the country controls barely 6.4 percent. The top one percent—around 14 million people—holds more than 40 percent, the highest concentration since 1961. Meanwhile, the female labour force participation rate is a dismal 15.7 percent.

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.

From colonial mercantilism to Hindutva: New book on the making of power in Gujarat

By Rajiv Shah Professor Ghanshyam Shah ’s latest book, “ Caste-Class Hegemony and State Power: A Study of Gujarat Politics ”, published by Routledge , is penned by one of Gujarat ’s most respected chroniclers, drawing on decades of fieldwork in the state. It seeks to dissect how caste and class factors overlap to perpetuate the hegemony of upper strata in an ostensibly democratic polity. The book probes the dominance of two main political parties in Gujarat—the Indian National Congress and the BJP—arguing that both have sustained capitalist growth while reinforcing Brahmanic hierarchies.

The greatest threat to our food system: The aggressive push for GM crops

By Bharat Dogra Thanks to the courageous resistance of several leading scientists who continue to speak the truth despite increasing pressures from the powerful GM crop and GM food lobby , the many-sided and in some contexts irreversible environmental and health impacts of GM foods and crops, as well as the highly disruptive effects of this technology on farmers, are widely known today.

History, culture and literature of Fatehpur, UP, from where Maulana Hasrat Mohani hailed

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* Maulana Hasrat Mohani was a member of the Constituent Assembly and an extremely important leader of our freedom movement. Born in Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh, Hasrat Mohani's relationship with nearby district of Fatehpur is interesting and not explored much by biographers and historians. Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri has written a book on Maulana Hasrat Mohani and Fatehpur. The book is in Urdu. He has just come out with another important book, 'Hindi kee Pratham Rachna: Chandayan' authored by Mulla Daud Dalmai.' During my recent visit to Fatehpur town, I had an opportunity to meet Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri and recorded a conversation with him on issues of history, culture and literature of Fatehpur. Sharing this conversation here with you. Kindly click this link. --- *Human rights defender. Facebook https://www.facebook.com/vbrawat , X @freetohumanity, Skype @vbrawat

UP tribal woman human rights defender Sokalo released on bail

By A Representative After almost five months in jail, Adivasi human rights defender and forest worker Sokalo Gond has been finally released on bail.Despite being granted bail on October 4, technical and procedural issues kept Sokalo behind bars until November 1. The Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP) and the All India Union of Forest Working People (AIUFWP), which are backing Sokalo, called it a "major victory." Sokalo's release follows the earlier releases of Kismatiya and Sukhdev Gond in September. "All three forest workers and human rights defenders were illegally incarcerated under false charges, in what is the State's way of punishing those who are active in their fight for the proper implementation of the Forest Rights Act (2006)", said a CJP statement.

Would breaking idols, burning books annihilate caste? Recalling a 1972 Dalit protest

By Rajiv Shah A few days ago, I received an email alert from a veteran human rights leader who has fought many battles in Gujarat for the Dalit cause — both through ground-level campaigns and courtroom struggles. The alert, sent in Gujarati by Valjibhai Patel, who heads the Council for Social Justice, stated: “In 1935, Babasaheb Ambedkar burnt the Manusmriti . In 1972, we broke the idol of Krishna , whom we regarded as the creator of the varna (caste) system.”

May the Earth Be Auspicious: Vedic ecology and contemporary crisis in Ashok Vajpeyi’s poetry

By Ravi Ranjan* Ashok Vajpeyi, born in 1941, occupies a singular position in contemporary Hindi poetry as a poet whose work quietly but decisively reorients modern literary consciousness toward ethical, ecological, and civilizational questions. Across more than six decades of writing, Vajpeyi has forged a poetic idiom marked by restraint, philosophical attentiveness, and moral seriousness, resisting both rhetorical excess and ideological simplification.

Search This Blog