Skip to main content

Narmada oustees' Rally for Valley stopped, Gujarat cops detain Medha Patkar, Prafulla Samantara, Nita Mahadev

By Our Representative
Senior leaders of Rally for the Valley, organized by India’s well-known anti-dam organization, Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) led by top social activist Medha Patkar, were detained at Gujarat border’s Kavta checkpost near Kavta village in Chhotaudaipur district of Gujarat, as they tried to enter the state from Madhya Pradesh, on Wednesday afternoon.
Among those who were detained included top Patkar, Prafulla Samantara, winner of this year's prestigious environmental Nobel, Goldman Award, and top Gujarat Gandhian Nita Mahadev. They were stopped and detained by the police, which has refused to grant to Rally for the Valley a permission to enter Gujarat and take the rally to the state's villages. It rally was scheduled to pass through the Narmada district to reach Maharashtra.
Calling it an attack on the “constitutional rights of citizens of this country”, NBA in a statement said, the Rally for the Valley, which consists of hundreds of activists and Narmada dam oustees, was to pass through Gujarat and reach Jeevanshala, a school run by Narmada Navnirmaan Abhiyan of Chimalkhedi, Maharashtra.
“The police officials failed to produce any written order. Even the vehicles with Gujarat number plate and local buses were stopped from crossing the border”, NBA alleged in a statement, adding, this is nothing but “rampant suppressing people’s voices and their constitutional rights.”
Earlier, the police imposed Section 144 in the area where the NBA rally was to pass from Gujarat, prohibiting more than four persons to gather at one place. Apart from detaining Patkar and other activists, police also detained students, who had come from all over India to participate in the Rally of the Valley
In its last leg, the Rally for the Valley, which began on June 5, World Environment Day, did not face any such problem in Madhya Pradesh. On June 6, thousands of Narmada dam oustees gathered for a public meeting in the submergence zone village of Nisarpur, Madhyya Pradesh as part of the three-day campaign, which was kicked off in Indore.
Addressing the mass meeting, Mahadev, who heads Gujarat Lok Samiti, said, the Modi government has been “pressing for completion for the Narmada dam by closing its gates just to reap political benefit before the Gujarat assembly elections.”
Pointing out that it is impossible to rehabilitate thousands of the oustees before July 31, as desired by the Madhya Pradesh government, Mahadev the government has been seeking to use force to show that all the people had been adequately rehabilitated.
“Water that is currently being diverted from the dam to Gujarat is not reaching farmers but is being sold to corporations and cities”, she alleged, even as Gujarat’s revolutionary songwriter and singer Vinay Mahajan infused sang songs on the need to use non-violent ways in the face of brutal state terror.
Speaking at the public meeting, a class 6 child and a resident of the submergence zone village, Nisarpur, Ankita Soni Pankaj, asked the Prime Minister: “You live in bungalows, wear suits worth lakhs, travel abroad… What do you have for us?”
Those who spoke included Surendra Singh Baghel, MLA, Kukshi, Gajendra Singh, ex-MP, Congress, Patkar, Samantara, Jaswinder Singh Kaur of the All India Kisan Sabha, Dr Sunilam, Kisan Sangharsh Samiti’s Aradhana Bhargav, National Alliance of People’s Movement’s Madhuresh Kumar, and others.

Comments

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.