Madhya Pradesh Narmada dam oustees shave their head to tell Modi: Your governance is "dead"

Protest in Bhopal

By A Representative
In a unique protest against Prime Minister Narendra Modi's birthday bash, scheduled for September 17 at the Narmada dam, 30 of the dam's oustees shaved their heads in order to tell the governments of India and Madhya Pradesh that, as far as the project affected families (PAFs) are concerned, the governance is "dead". The birthday bash will see Modi dedicating the "completed" Narmada dam to the nation.
Part of what they called"chunauti dharna" or challenge protest, which lasted for two hours at Neelam Park, Bhopal, speakers on the occasion said, Modi would celebrate his birthday in the presence of the chief ministers of BJP-ruled states of Maharashtra, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, at a time when people living in the Narmada Valley -- adivasis, farmers, dalits, workers, fisher people, artisans, women, children and others -- would be fatally affected.
The people of valley and their supporters would challenge the unjustified submergence being brought to them without proper rehabilitation, they said, adding, the celebration was being organized by Modi for political gains.

Protest in Delhi

People had come from all over the valley, and, following the dharna, it was decided to hold mass protest at Barda (near Anjad, District Badwani), where many religious places are in the submergence area, something not acknowledged in government reports.
Led by the anti-dam Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) the Chetavani rally saw an intensive dialogue with a senior Narmada official, Rajneesh Vaish, principal secretary, Narmada Valley Development Authority. Vaish told the protesters that all the oustees' issues have "already been debated and decided upon by various courts."
When NBA leader Medha Patkar said that the rehabilitation sites were far from complete, Vaish claimed, water supply had already been provided to all the sites. However, oustees from Nisarpur and Awalda told him true. An oustee, Rameshwar Bhilala, said, the Barwani district collector was not providing true picture of the sites.

Protest in Mumbai

Vaish claimed, Madhya Pradesh would receive receive irrigation and drinking water from the Sardar Sarovar reservoir and there was no legal barrier for this, adding, he would ensure that the demand of getting reservoir waters to every resettlement sites were met. He admitted, some of the outstanding works would soon be completed, and tenders were in the process of being issued.
Meanwhile, reports from Nisarpur village said, the Shivling of Shiva Temple at the banks Narmada tributary, Uri-Baghni, was forcibly uprooted amidst opposition of the people. People of the village were being shifted to rehabilitation sites which were not yet equipped with adequate water, proper house plots, roads and basic amenities.
In a parallel development, a group of prominent citizens protested in front of the Ministry of Water Resources and submitted memorandum to the Secretary in New Delhi. Those were in the delegation included Hannan Mollah (former Member of Parliament, CPM); Richa Singh (National Alliance of People's Movements), Krishna Prasad (All-India Kisan Sabha), Vimal Bhai (Matu Jansangathan), and others.

Madhya Pradesh protesters dialogue in Bhopal

In their representation, they said, the Government of India's response to the oustees' problems was "apathetic, shameless and completely undemocratic." They added, "In Gujarat, canals are incomplete, and the government has reduced the planned irrigation command area from 18 lakh hectares to mere 12 lakh hectares last year."
"Even then they are only able to irrigate mere 3 lakh hectares", they said, adding, "Meanwhile, The length of Narmada canal was reduced consistently and silently. From earlier planned 90,389 km, it has been reduced to approximately 71000 km, of which still they need to construct 42,000 km of canal network."
They wondered, "By closing gates of the Sardar Sarovar dam, and submerging people of the Narmada valley, whom are they providing water without canals? Modi's Narmada mahotsav has been planned only to highlight the government's lies. It is merely a campaign for votebank politics."
In a simultaneous development, Maharashtra tribals protested in Mumbai, asking chief minister Devendra Fadnavis not to participate in Modi's birthday bash at the Narmada dam on September 17, submitting a memorandum, which said the state's oustees' rehabilitation issues had still not been settled.

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.

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.

From protest to proof: Why civil society must rethink environmental resistance

By Shankar Sharma* As concerned environmentalists and informed citizens, many of us share deep unease about the way environmental governance in our country is being managed—or mismanaged. Our complaints range across sectors and regions, and most of them are legitimate. Yet a hard question confronts us: are complaints, by themselves, effective? Experience suggests they are not.

Dalit woman student’s death sparks allegations of institutional neglect in Himachal college

By A Representative A Dalit rights organisation has alleged severe caste- and gender-based institutional violence leading to the death of a 19-year-old Dalit woman student at Government Degree College, Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh, and has demanded arrests, resignations, and an independent inquiry into the case.

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.

Kolkata event marks 100 years since first Communist conference in India

By Harsh Thakor* A public assembly was held in Kolkata on December 24, 2025, to mark the centenary of the First Communist Conference in India , originally convened in Kanpur from December 26 to 28, 1925. The programme was organised by CPI (ML) New Democracy at Subodh Mallik Square on Lenin Sarani. According to the organisers, around 2,000 people attended the assembly.

Urgent need to study cause of large number of natural deaths in Gulf countries

By Venkatesh Nayak* According to data tabled in Parliament in April 2018, there are 87.76 lakh (8.77 million) Indians in six Gulf countries, namely Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). While replying to an Unstarred Question (#6091) raised in the Lok Sabha, the Union Minister of State for External Affairs said, during the first half of this financial year alone (between April-September 2018), blue-collared Indian workers in these countries had remitted USD 33.47 Billion back home. Not much is known about the human cost of such earnings which swell up the country’s forex reserves quietly. My recent RTI intervention and research of proceedings in Parliament has revealed that between 2012 and mid-2018 more than 24,570 Indian Workers died in these Gulf countries. This works out to an average of more than 10 deaths per day. For every US$ 1 Billion they remitted to India during the same period there were at least 117 deaths of Indian Workers in Gulf ...

The architect of Congolese liberation: The life and legacy of Patrice Lumumba

By Harsh Thakor* Patrice Émery Lumumba remains a central figure in the history of African decolonization, serving as the first Prime Minister of the independent Republic of the Congo. Born on July 2, 1925, Lumumba emerged as a radical anti-colonial leader who sought to unify a nation fractured by decades of Belgian rule. His tenure, however, lasted less than seven months before his dismissal and subsequent assassination on January 17, 1961.

Venezuela and the crisis of global order: Erosion of rules-based international order

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* The American attack on Venezuela violates every principle of international law that the collective West claims to uphold. The response from the European Union—“we are monitoring the situation”—exposes the hollowness of these claims. WhatsApp gossipers may celebrate this as an act of “bravery,” but what kind of bravery is it to intimidate a neighbour that is neither large in size nor strong in military power?

Search This Blog