Delhi CM, 18 MPs ask Medha Patkar to end 10 day protest fast for Narmada oustees, want PM Modi intervention

By Our Representative
As the indefinite fast of Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) leader Medha Patkar and 11 of her colleagues to protest the Madhya Pradesh government's "refusal" to rehabilitate Narmada dam oustees entered the 10th day, a government doctors' team which examined them said, they should be immediately shifted to hospital.
On fast at Chikhalda village in Kukshi tehsil, the doctors said, the fasting activists' blood pressure had turned "very low" and there was and ketone in the blood. The doctors examined the activists in the presence of local government officials and Kukshi MLA Surendra Singh Baghel.
Refusing to budge, Patkar and others said that the authorities "should not worry only for 12 people but also for the lakhs of people of Narmada Valley still waiting for complete and just rehabilitation." They insisted that the gates of the Narmada dam, which is in Gujarat, should be opened till the state government allowed "complete and just rehabilitation" of all the oustees.
Patkar's refusal to end fast came amidst Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani showing no readiness for compromise, saying, with the 30 gates closed, the dam's reservoir would be filled to the brink, 138.64 metres. Considered a political requirement, any decision to retract from here would mean a major loss to the BJP in Gujarat, which is going on polls in December.

Rajneesh Vaishya from Narmada Valley Development Authority has given the figure of 7,010 families yet to be rehabilitated

In Delhi, several senior politicians, including 18 MPs, appealed to Patkar and 11 others to end their fast, even as asking Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene immediately. Sharad Yadav of the Janata Dal United, Sitaram Yechury of the CPM and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal issued separate statements in support of NBA on similar lines.
Protest in support of Patkar continued in Delhi's Jantar Mantar, with Yogendra Yadav, Alok Agrawal, Sandeep Pandey and Dr Sunilam ending their token fast. Those present in solidarity included RTI activist and Magsaysay awardee Aruna Roy, senior activist Shabnam Hashmi, CPM farmers' leader Hannan Mollah, environmentalist Soumya Dutta, Supreme Court advocate Sanjay Parikh, sociologist Prof Nandini Sundar, and Jignesh Mevani of the Rashtriya Dalit Adhikaar Manch.

Protest in Delhi

Meanwhile, efforts continued on the part of the Madhya Pradesh government to suggest that no one needs to be rehabilitated. Dhar district collector Shriman Shukla, who was on a visit to Nisarpur, claimed that the rehabilitation of eight villages has been completed. The villages he named were Jal Kheda and Patavar from Manawar tehsil; Mimbola, Gulati and Balwara from Dharampuri tehsil; and Sisgaon, Dehar and Dasaanda from Kukshi.
However, quoting ground reports, NBA sources said, there are still 10 houses in Jhala Kheda yet to be rehabilitated, whereas the rehabilitation site of Dasanda village has not been made yet. Asked a local activist, "Where has the rehabilitation happened without any rehabilitation site? Few families were rehabilitated in Gujarat long back. Seven houses of Deher village are still left to be rehabilitated. Why is the government always putting false claims of complete rehabilitation?"
Jyotiraditya Scindia, Congress MP from Guna, raised the issue in Lok Sabha and asked why was the Madhya Pradesh government illegally drowning lakhs of people in Narmada Valley and forcefully evicting them without complete and just rehabilitation and why was the government selectively picking excerpts from the Supreme Court judgment and not following the spirit of the whole judgment to solve the oustees' problem.
To this, Narendra Singh Tomar, Panchayat Raj Minister, replied that the Madhya Pradesh government was following the Supreme Court orders which said that the submergence area should be evicted by July 31 and all the compliances had been done as per the orders.
Contesting the minister's statement, in a communique, NBA said, "Rajneesh Vaishya from Narmada Valley Development Authority has given the figure of 7,010 families yet to be rehabilitated. Different statements about rehabilitation has proved the realities on the ground are different from what the authorities sitting in Delhi claim. The government is playing the numbers game."

Comments

Importance of Bangladesh for India amidst 'growing might' of China in South Asia

By Samara Ashrat* The basic key factor behind the geopolitical importance of Bangladesh is its geographical location. The country shares land borders with Myanmar and India. Due to its geographical position, Bangladesh is a natural link between South Asia and Southeast Asia. The country is also a vital geopolitical ally to India, in that it has the potential to facilitate greater integration between Northeast India and Mainland India. Not only that, due to its open access to the Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh has become significant to both China and the US.

Unlike other revolutionaries, Hindutva icon wrote 5 mercy petitions to British masters

By Shamsul Islam* The Hindutva icon VD Savarkar of the RSS-BJP rulers of India submitted not one, two,or three but five mercy petitions to the British masters! Savarkarites argue: “There are no evidences to prove that Savarkar collaborated with the British for his release from jail. In fact, his appeal for release was a ruse. He was well aware of the political developments outside and wanted to be part of it. So he kept requesting for his release. But the British authorities did not trust him a bit” (YD Phadke, ‘A complex Hero’, "The Indian Expres"s, August 31, 2004)

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.

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".

'BBC film shows only tip of iceberg': Sanjiv Bhatt's daughter speaks at top US press club

By Our Representative The United States' premier journalists' organisation, the National Press Club (NPC), has come down heavily on Prime Minister Narendra Modi for recent "attacks on journalists in India." Speaking at the screening of an episode of the BBC documentary “India: The Modi Question,” banned in India, in the club premises, NPC President Eileen O’Reilly said, “Since Modi came to power we have watched with frustration and disappointment as his regime has suppressed the rights of its citizens to a free and independent news media."

Chinese pressure? Left stateless, Rohingya crisis result of Myanmar citizenship law

By Dr Shakuntala Bhabani* A 22-member team of Myanmar immigration officials visited Rohingya refugee camps in Cox's Bazar to verify more than 400 Rohingya refugees as part of a pilot repatriation project. Does it hold out any hope for the forcibly displaced people to return to their ancestral homes in the Rakhine state of Myanmar? Only time will tell.

China ties up with India, Bangladesh to repatriate Rohingyas; Myanmar unwilling

By Harunur Rasid* We now have a new hope, thanks to news reports that were published in the Bangladeshi dailies recently. Myanmar has suddenly taken initiatives to repatriate Rohingyas. As part of this initiative, diplomats from eight countries posted in Yangon were flown to Rakhine last week. Among them were diplomats from Bangladesh, India and China.

40,000 Odisha adolescent girls ask CM: Why is scheme to fight malnutrition on paper?

By Our Representative In unique a postcard campaign to combat malnutrition, aimed at providing dietary diversity, considered crucial during adolescence, especially among girls, signed by about 40,000 adolescent girls from over 10,000 villages, have reminded Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik that his government's Scheme for Adolescent Girls (SAG), which converged with Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman ( POSHAN ) 2.0 in 2021, is not being implemented in the State.

Natural farming: Hamirpur leads the way to 'huge improvement' in nutrition, livelihood

By Bharat Dogra* Santosh is a dedicated farmer who along with his wife Chunni Devi worked very hard in recent months to convert a small patch of unproductive land into a lush green, multi-layer vegetable garden. This has ensured year-round supply of organically grown vegetables to his family as well as fetched several thousand rupees in cash sales.

Over-stressed? As Naveen Patnaik turns frail, Odisha 'moves closer' to leadership crisis

By Sudhansu R Das Not a single leader in Odisha is visible in the horizon who can replace Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. He has ruled Odisha for nearly two and half decades. His father, Biju Patnaik, had built Odisha; he was a daring pilot who saved the life of Indonesia’s Prime Minister Sjahrir and President Sukarno when the Dutch army blocked their exit.

Counterview

Search This Blog