Skip to main content

Medha Patkar "arrested" after Madhya Pradesh cops force their way into pandal, lathi charge Narmada oustees

 

Patkar surrounded by supporters just ahead of arrest
Narmada Bachao Andolan leader Medha Patkar, who was fasting for the 12 days to protest against the “failure” of the Government of India to rehabilitate thousands of Narmada dam oustees, apprehending massive submergence in Madhya Pradesh, has been "arrested".
Fasting in village Chikhalda on the banks of Narmada river with 11 of her supporters, Patkar was “removed” in a violent police swoop, which lasted for an hour, said eye-witnesses.
The pandal in which she and her supporters were on indefinite hunger strike was brought down. The police resorted to lathi charge to remove Patkar’s supporters before taking her away. An NBA activist, Shankarlal, was reportedly admitted in ICU after police lathi-charge. Many others sustained injury.
Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan denied that Patkar was arrested. He tweeted that he is a "sensitive person", and, considering Patkar's deteriorating health, she has only been admitted in a hospital on advice from doctors. "We wish her long and healthy life", he added.
In a statement ahead of her arrest at 6 pm, Patkar regretted that the only answer to their protest with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Madhya Pradesh chief minister was to put them pick them up and put them in detention.
Patkar being taken away  
“We wanted dialogue. However, they had no reply to the arguments we had put forward to contradict their web of statistical lies. Hence, they are using force”, said. She described the use force against her non-violent movement as running counter to Gandhiji’s and Dr Ambedkar’s vision.
Patkar’s arrest took place amidst news that 21 Goldman Environmental prize – popularly Green Nobel prize – winners and 50 international organizations are learnt to have extended their support to the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA), asking Modi to intervene and stop “forced eviction” of 40,000 oustees of the Narmada dam.
The support follows world renowned linguist and social scientist Noam Chomsky, along with 800 people from 30 countries, asking Modi to enter into negotiations with Patkar.
An NBA release said, the Goldman prize winners have written “a collective letter”, urging Modi to “ensure the fundamental rights of life and livelihood of the people in a democratic country.”
Pandal pulled down after arresting Parkar
Key organizations that have sought Modi’s intervention include Asian Peasant Coalition, Association for India’s Development, Earth International, World Rainforest Movement, the Asian Human Rights Commission, Rivers without Boundaries International Coalition, Landless Workers Movement - Brazil, International Working Group for Indigenous Affairs - Copenhagen, among others.
Meanwhile, addressing media in Delhi, India’s land rights movement, Bhumi Adhikar Andolan (BAA) leaders – CPI-M farmers’ leader Hannan Mollah, environmentalist Soumya Dutta, and National Federation of Indian Women general secretary Annie Raja – claimed that 191 villages and a small town, Dharampuri, would face submergence by mid-October once waters fill up to the full reservoir level, 138.68 metres, of the Narmada dam in Gujarat. 
Even the state government has estimated that 18,000 families still need to be rehabilitated, the BAA leaders said, adding, hundreds of temples, mosques, adivasi religious places, schools, health centres, thousands of shops, small business places, well developed fruits and vegetable farms still being actively used, all will be drowned.
The injured activist being taken to hospital
The leaders said, in its last order dated February 8, 2017, the Supreme Court had ordered the governments to compensate Rs.60 lakh (estimated price of 5 acres of agricultural land there) to all those losing over 25% of the land and who have not taken any compensation yet.
The order had further said, those who took the earlier meagre compensation of 5.58 lakh, but were cheated by the collusion of officers and land-agents, were to be awarded 15 lakhs each family. Even this has still not been done, they pointed out, adding, meanwhile, the state government has amassed large police force, conducting intimidating drills in villages, threatening villagers to vacate or face consequences.

Comments

TRENDING

World Hijab Day? Ex-Muslim women observe Feb 1 as No Hijab Day, insist: 'Put it on a Man'

I didn't know that there could ever be a thing as World Hijab Day until I received an email alert from Maryam Namazie of the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain (CEMB), stating that several ex-Muslim women's groups had observed the same day—February 1—as No Hijab Day! According to Namazie, the day "was created on February 1 as a direct response to World Hijab Day" to "illuminate the coercive and oppressive realities of the hijab as a pillar of sex apartheid and a war on women."

Google powered AI refuses to correct grammar of a 'balanced' piece on Trump sending chained immigrants to India!

This is a continuation of my blog on how, while the start-up-developed AI app DeepSeek is being criticized for consistently rejecting content related to China or Maoism, there appears to be no mention in Western media about why another app, developed by the powerful Google, Gemini, remains silent on Indian political issues.  

Gujarat a police state? How top High Court advocate stunned a senior-most journalist

Rajdeep Sardesai, Anand Yagnik This is a continuation of my earlier blog on well-known journalist Rajdeep Sardesai's lecture in memory of the late Achyut Yagnik at the Ahmedabad Management Association (AMA). I was a little surprised when I received the intimation about the venue for the lecture.

5% poor in India? Union govt claim debunked, '26.4% of population below poverty line'

A recent paper, referring to the Household Consumption Expenditure Survey (HCES) 2022-23 of the Government of India (GoI), has debunked the official claim that poverty has substantially declined. Titled "Poverty in India: The Rangarajan Method and the 2022–23 Household Consumption Expenditure Survey", the paper —authored by scholars CA Sethu, LT Abhinav Surya, and CA Ruthu—states that "more than a quarter of India’s population falls below the poverty line."

Why predictions of an imminent collapse of the Russian economy may be wrong

A veteran Canadian journalist, settled in Russia, stated in a Facebook post that President Donald Trump "is apparently listening to experts who tell him that Russia's economy is on the verge of 'imploding,' and if he just squeezes a bit harder," his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin "will fall into line."

Talking of increased corporate control over news, Rajdeep Sardesai 'evades' alternative media

When I received an intimation that well-known journalist Rajdeep Sardesai was to speak at the Ahmedabad Management Association (AMA) on February 2, my instant reaction was: I know what he is going to say—his views are quite well known; he wouldn’t be saying anything new. Yet, I decided to go and listen to him to catch his mood at a time when the media, as he (and I) knew it, is changing fast due to the availability of new technological tools that were not accessible even a decade ago.

Why burn Manusmriti? Why not preserve it to demonstrate, display historicity of casteism?

In a significant Facebook post, Rana Singh, former associate professor of English at Patna University, has revealed something that few seem to know. Titled "The Shudras in Manusmriti", Singh says,  because Manusmriti is discussed so often, he thought of reading it himself. “This book likely dates back to the 2nd or 3rd century BCE, and the presence of contradictory statements suggests that it is not the work of a single author,” he says in his Facebook post in Hindi, written in 2022 and recently reshared.

I'm flattered: A New York media house claims I was a KGB agent! Wow, I didn't know that

I was astonished, let me say pleasantly surprised, on receiving a comment by Rich TVX News  on my blog   "Why predictions of an imminent collapse of the Russian economy may be wrong" (January 28).  I don't know who wrote the strange comment from this "media house", which is based in New York, and claims to "hold sway not only among the masses but also within global corridors of power, influencing esteemed politicians and shaping international diplomacy, especially evident during pivotal events like the ongoing crisis in Ukraine."

Gujarat's water anarchy? 16.7% of Narmada water going to industry, 33% of targeted area irrigated: Govt insider

The Narmada project is something that has always excited me, including how much water will be distributed and to which sector. A few days ago, when I was talking to a top Gujarat government insider, I was a little surprised when I was told that it is up to the “respective states to decide how much Narmada water they would distribute among various sectors” out of the total quota allocated to the four states—Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Rajasthan—as per the Narmada Water Disputes Tribunal award of 1979.