Skip to main content

Anti-Narmada dam activist Lakhan Musafir mysteriously under detention for 3 days, whereabouts "not known"

By Our Representative
Dubbed “anti-Gujarat” by deputy chief minister Nitin Patel, the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA)-organized Rally for the Valley ended on June 7 amidst news that a top Gujarat activist, attached with the Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti, Vadodara, Lakhan Musafir, over remains under detention for the last three days.
An NBA sympathiser campaigner fighting for the rehabilitation of Narmada dam oustees, according to sources, the police did not produce him before the magistrate even though it is required to do it within 24 hours of detention to prove the reason behind detention.
“He has been kept him at an unknown place”, claimed a source close to NBA, whose top leader Medha Patkar and other participants in the Valley to the Rally, including Green Nobel winner Prafulla Samantara, were detained on June 7 afternoon after it entered Gujarat from Madhya Pradesh, but released later in the evening.
Musafir is learnt to have been detained after he was suddenly asked by the cops of Narmada district to accompany them during a dinner at someone’s residence on June 6 evening, saying their officer wanted to talk to him. He was brought to Jitnagar, Rajpipala, in the district. On Thursday, according to unconfirmed sources, he was sent to Rajpipla sub-jail.
Seeking “immediate release Lakhan Musafir, illegally detained by Gujarat police”, NBA in a detailed statement has said, following the arrest of Patkar and other activists, the Gujarat police “turned violent and detained all the protestors, dragged women protesters, beaten up two children Kaamil and Hasim of Salsabeel Green School studying in 9th and 8th standard.”
Pointing out that “Kaamil left injured with a possible fracture in his shoulder”, NBA said, “Police also tried to run over their vehicle on two of the protesters, Aswathy and Rohit, young activists with NBA. They suffered injury on their legs. Rohit’s left leg was fracture, and Aswathy’s left leg suffered bruises on her calf muscle.”
A large number of students from all over India, including from the Jawaharlal Nehru University, Hyderabad Central University, Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi University, and school children accompanying their parents, were part of the Rally for the Valley, which began on June 5.NBA has filed a detailed complaint with Nanpur police station against the “brutal and unconstitutional attacks” carried out by the Gujarat Police.

Gujarat farmers refused permission for rally off Gandhinagar
Meanwhile, a senior farmers’ leader, Sagar Rabari of the Khedut Samaj Gujarat, has called the detention of Musafir and attack on NBA activists “absolute illegal and anti-constitution”, adding these reminds one of “brutal fake encounter stories of recent past, even as indicating how brazen the Gujarat police is, and up to what extent police can it go to obey oral orders to please their master.”
Rabari said, not giving permission to hold protests has become a norm, adding, the latest in the series when the farmers of 68 villages, who were supposed to take out a vehicles rally to hand over a memorandum to Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani were denied permission. “Heavy police force was deployed at the venue to terrorize the villagers not to come out of their villages”, he added. 

Comments

Anonymous said…
Habeas Corpus in Gujarat HC?

TRENDING

Insider plot to kill Deendayal Upadhyay? What RSS pracharak Balraj Madhok said

By Shamsul Islam*  Balraj Madhok's died on May 2, 2016 ending an era of old guards of Hindutva politics. A senior RSS pracharak till his death was paid handsome tributes by the RSS leaders including PM Modi, himself a senior pracharak, for being a "stalwart leader of Jan Sangh. Balraj Madhok ji's ideological commitment was strong and clarity of thought immense. He was selflessly devoted to the nation and society. I had the good fortune of interacting with Balraj Madhok ji on many occasions". The RSS also issued a formal condolence message signed by the Supremo Mohan Bhagwat on behalf of all swayamsevaks, referring to his contribution of commitment to nation and society. He was a leading RSS pracharak on whom his organization relied for initiating prominent Hindutva projects. But today nobody in the RSS-BJP top hierarchy remembers/talks about Madhok as he was an insider chronicler of the immense degeneration which was spreading as an epidemic in the high echelons of th

Central pollution watchdog sees red in Union ministry labelling waste to energy green

By Chythenyen Devika Kulasekaran*  “Destructors”, “incinerators” and “waste-to-energy (WTE) incineration” all mean the same thing – indiscriminate burning of garbage! Having a history of about one and a half centuries, WTE incinerators have seen several reboots over the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. 

First-of-its-kind? 'Eco-friendly, low cost' sewage treatment system installed in Gujarat

Counterview Desk Following the installation of the Unconventional Decentralized Multi-Stage Reactor (UDMSR) for sewage treatment, a note on what is claimed to be the  first-of-its-kind technology said, the treated sewage from this system “can be directly utilized for agricultural purposes”, even as proving to be a “saviour in the times of water crisis.”

A Hindu alternative to Valentine's Day? 'Shiv-Parvati was first love marriage in Universe'

By Rajiv Shah*   The other day, I was searching on Google a quote on Maha Shivratri which I wanted to send to someone, a confirmed Shiv Bhakt, quite close to me -- with an underlying message to act positively instead of being negative. On top of the search, I chanced upon an article in, imagine!, a Nashik Corporation site which offered me something very unusual. 

Indo-Bangla border: Farmers facing 'illegal obstacles' in harvesting, transporting yields

  Counterview Desk  In a representation to the chairperson, National Human Rights Commission, human rights defender Kirity Roy, who is secretary, Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM), has said that Border Security Force (BSF) personnel are creating "illegal obstacles" for farmers seeking to harvest their ripened yields and transport them to the market in village Jhaukuthi of Cooch Behar district.

Wasteland, a colonial legacy, being used to 'give away' vast tracts to Ratnagiri refinery

By Fouziya Tehzeeb* William D’Souza, a 55-year old farmer from Kuthethur, Mangalore, was busy mixing cattle feed when we arrived at his doorsteps. Around 25 km from the bustling city of Mangalore, Kuthethur is a lush green village with thick vegetation. On the way to William’s house the idyllic view gets blocked by the flares and smoke arising from the Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL).

'Flawed' argument: Gandhi had minimal role, naval mutinies alone led to Independence

Counterview Desk Reacting to a Counterview  story , "Rewiring history? Bose, not Gandhi, was real Father of Nation: British PM Attlee 'cited'" (January 26, 2016), an avid reader has forwarded  reaction  in the form of a  link , which carries the article "Did Atlee say Gandhi had minimal role in Independence? #FactCheck", published in the site satyagrahis.in. The satyagraha.in article seeks to debunk the view, reported in the Counterview story, taken by retired army officer GD Bakshi in his book, “Bose: An Indian Samurai”, which claims that Gandhiji had a minimal role to play in India's freedom struggle, and that it was Netaji who played the crucial role. We reproduce the satyagraha.in article here. Text: Nowadays it is said by many MK Gandhi critics that Clement Atlee made a statement in which he said Gandhi has ‘minimal’ role in India's independence and gave credit to naval mutinies and with this statement, they concluded the whole freedom struggle.

CAA disregards India's inclusive plural ethos, 'betrays' ideals of freedom struggle: PUCL

Counterview Desk    "Outraged" at the move of the Central government to implement the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 (CAA 2019) weeks before the election, the top rights group, People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), has demanded that the law be repealed. 

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

Nalanda mahavihara By Our Representative 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".

Sections of BSF, BGB personnel 'directly or indirectly' involved in cross border smuggling

By Kirity Roy*  The Border Security Force (BSF) of India and the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) of Bangladesh met for 54th Director General level meeting at Dhaka, Bangladesh, on 5th to 9th March, 2024 to discuss on minimizing killings at border area, illegal intrusion, trafficking of drugs and other narcotics, smuggling of arms and ammunitions and other crimes at bordering areas. Further, the summit had an agenda to discuss on overall development in 150 yards area at both sides of the border and design an activity plan for the same.