[Imc-india] Urgent: Narmada Bachao Andolan

Thu Mar 30 23:31:50 PST 2006

So what if Medha gets some subsistence to live while she fights an injustice? 
There are people in Western NGOs who talk about development who are earning 
more than the President of India. If thousands of people have no way of defend 
themselves or to find alternative means as a result of this dam, then I cannot 
see what progress is being made - at least, not for the common people.

India has plenty of sunshine. Why is no-one installing solar energy in 
villages on a wide scale for rural electrification? Why? Because it doesn't 
make a profit - sunshine is free. So, Sukumo, tell that to friends in the 
business community. Ask them why thousands have to sacrifice their living for 
a development that profits big business bosses when there is a clean and cheap 
way of producing energy that could benefit the rural poor.

Dan

Quoting shivani chaudhry <radfem at rediffmail.com>:

>   
> Sukumo,
> 
> Your message is shocking. I don't know who you are and I don't know how or
> why you're on the IMC list, which in my mind is a progressive list.
> 
> You sound like you live in a neoliberal bubble fed on information from Page
> 3s.
> 
> How dare you say such things about someone you know nothing about? 
> 
> If there is one person in this country who has devoted her entire life for
> the cause of the people, it is Medha Patkar. I have been associated with the
> NBA for many years, and know Medha very well. 
> 
> If you're in Delhi, go to Jantar Mantar and meet and listen to the villagers
> from the Valley. And you will hear how in the name of electricity, people
> have lost their lives. How in the name of progress, millions have been
> displaced and evicted. How in the name development, people's rights to water,
> food, housing, and livelihood have been snatched away. 
> 
> Before you make any such scathing accusations, I suggest you take a trip to
> the Narmada Valley, visit the submergence areas, and talk to people whose
> homes, villages and lives are NO more. Because of a dam that has washed away
> everything. Because of a dam that has not delivered any of the promised
> benefits.
> 
> Medha is not against development. We are against the sham of development that
> kills and destroys. But we are for sustainable, just and equitable
> development. 
> 
> Try going on a hunger strike for just 2 days so you can understand how
> difficult it is. Try sleeping on a pavement for 1 night to understand what it
> might be that drives someone to do that for 15 days.
> 
> Go and meet Medha Patkar some day. And you will see the bare bare minimum she
> lives with. Spend a few days with her. And you might understand what struggle
> is. What satyagraha is. What sacrifice is. And what development is.
> 
> And don't slur anyone's reputation or character when you have NO basis for
> doing so.
> 
> shivani
> ______________________________________________________
> 
> On Fri, 31 Mar 2006 sukumo wrote :
> >Shivani
> >Medha wants publicity. At the cost of development. The project still has a
> long way to go and Medha can be sure of retaining her 'job' for at least a
> decade. Don't worry. Medha is being paid well for her hunger strike and other
> services.
> >
> 
> >   ----- Original Message -----
> >   From: shivani chaudhry
> >   To: imc-india at lists.indymedia.org
> >   Sent: Thursday, March 30, 2006 12:41 PM
> >   Subject: [Imc-india] Urgent: Narmada Bachao Andolan
> >
> >
> >
> >   Dear friends,
> >
> >   You might be aware of the grave situation regarding the Sardar Sarovar
> dam in the Narmada Valley.  But you might not.
> >
> >   This is because The Hindu is the only mainstream newspaper covering the
> issue regularly. The rest have been more or less silent on the issue.
> >   Television media has been even worse. The so-called independent
> progressive media channels seem more concerned with Lakme Fashion Week than
> with people's lives and struggles.
> >
> >   Freedom of the press - the freedom to choose what they want to report.
> Truly an irony and tragedy.
> >
> >   Today is the 14th day of the NBA activist's dharna in Delhi. They have
> been living on the street for 14 days, without adequate food, water, and
> shelter. They have also been arrested twice, forcibly moved from Shram Shakti
> Bhavan to Jantar Mantar, and subjected to police violence.
> >
> >   Yet, no one is listening.
> >
> >   As a last resort - Medha Patkar, Jamsing Nargave and Bhagwatibai Jatpuria
> - announced an indefinite hunger strike from last night.
> >
> >   PLEASE pass this on... The NBA and the people of the Narmada Valley need
> your support... in whatever way you can...
> >
> >   Financial contributions, however small, would help to help cover costs of
> the dharna. Please let me know immediately if you would like to make a
> contribution. Anything, anything at all, is greatly appreciated.
> >
> >   We need to make a loud noise for justice, NOW!!!
> >
> >   Thank you for your support.
> >
> >   In solidarity,
> >   shivani
> >
> >
> >   ------------------------------------------------------
> >
> >   NBA URGENT PRESS RELEASE
> >
> >   29th March, 2006
> >
> >   We will not accept the government's silence!
> >   We will put our lives on the line to stop the destruction of the Valley!
> >   3 people begin indefinite hunger fast!
> >
> >   Since the 17th of March, the adivasis, farmers, of the Narmada Valley
> have
> >   been sitting on a peaceful dharna in Delhi. On 8th March, 2006, the
> Narmada
> >   Control Authority gave clearance for the height of the Sardar Sarovar Dam
> >   to be raised from 110.64m up to 121.92m. This clearance, given on the
> >   basis of untrue reports and false claims of the government, will cause
> the
> >   destruction of the homes, fields and lives of about 220 villages in
> >   Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat. This decision is not just a
> >   blatant violation of the orders of the Supreme Court, but most of all, it
> >   has made a mockery of the human rights of lakhs of people still living in
> >   the submergence villages. As per the law, the governments were required
> to
> >   ensure that every single affected family was resettled at least 6 months
> >   before submergence, offering cultivable land for land and resettling them
> >   in resettlement sites provided with all civic amenities. However, in
> clear
> >   and inhuman violence of this it has not resettled at least 35,000
> families.
> >   It is to challenge this injustice and illegality that we have, for the
> >   last 12 days, been on this dharna, speaking out against this continuing
> >   injustice and challenging the Centre to use its powers and not to give in
> >   to the dirty politics and pressure of the Gujarat BJP government. We have
> >   met all concerned, from the Union Minister of Water Resources and Union
> >   Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment to the Prime Minister and
> >   President.
> >
> >   In all these meetings we have repeatedly exposed and proved the
> >   illegalities in the processes and the falsity of resettlement claims of
> >   the governments and the authorities. We also have proven that the
> >   authorities like the NCA and its sub-groups are just not capable of
> >   ensuring just resettlement and are mere pawns before the politics that
> >   determine when the construction of the dam can progress. Rehabilitation
> >   has been reduced to a paper exercise in the process. This decision, made
> >   possible by the political nexus between Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh
> >   governments, will not only murder the lives and futures of affected
> people
> >   but will also submerge a culture, a heritage, a civilization that is
> >   centuries old.
> >
> >   The cruelty with which the natural resources including land, water,
> >   minerals, of adivasis and farmers are being snatched away by governments,
> >   using brutal force in most instances, in violation of Constitutionally
> >   guaranteed rights needs to be stopped immediately. Those who will dare to
> >   measure these practices and policies, against human values are not to be
> >   found amongst the power wielders. This is the experience of the Narmada
> >   Valley, of every river valley, of all determined struggles of those
> >   displaced. Who does one explain to that the meaning of development is not
> >   social uprootment, destruction of nature and economic ruination. Or that
> >   true development the consent and participation of those to be displaced
> is
> >   paramount. Or even at the very least displacement must promise a just and
> >   better life through resettlement? Even one when ventures to say this, who
> >   is listening?
> >
> >   In the last 20 years, we have seen a great game unfolding in the Narmada
> >   Valley, which involves a mockery of figures. With this project of 50,000
> >   crore rupees, the generations-old villages are being taken away from us
> by
> >   using water as a weapon. We cannot bear this. With our struggle and
> >   reconstruction for 20 years, we take up the challenge yet again. This is
> >   the final frontier of every struggle and the voice of displacement
> >   everywhere, from the death of farmers in villages to large-scale
> >   uprootment of bastis. In our eyes, this development that is based on
> >   capital investments from large Multi National Corporations, is leading to
> >   the massacre of our workers. Even the public sector is going in the same
> >   perverted direction. The principles of the capital market and political
> >   contractors are pushing this process forward. Sardar Sarovar Project best
> >   epitomizes this.
> >
> >   Those in power probably imagine that the resilient sathyagrahis of the
> >   Narmada valley, the adivasis and farmers, will be destroyed by
> mercilessly
> >   submerging. They also imagine that the throttling of the courage and
> >   resilience of those struggling in the Narmada Valley will open the path
> >   for an reckless and inhuman development.
> >
> >   ... And this struggle is not just for the Narmada. It is for every
> valley,
> >   every village, every community under threat. And is the voice against the
> >   snatching away of sustenance and livelihood.
> >
> >   - Our pledge is that, while stopping the Sardar Sarovar project, any form
> >   of forced displacement without consent and participation is unacceptable.
> >   - We are pained and ashamed by the use of force and arms to displace
> people
> >   - We want that the planning of development projects must be in the public
> >   interest and within the democratic framework and through scientific
> >   processes
> >   - we believe that where a dispute has been raised by people, it should be
> >   resolved through dialogue and consent, and not through monetary
> >   inducements and threats of violence
> >   - The development planning must start in the gram sabha at the village
> >   level, and the basti sabhas at the city level
> >   - The Government of India should change the colonial Land Acquisition
> Acts
> >   and changes in the National Resettlement Policy must be introduced
> >   - We announce that peoples movements from every corner of this Country,
> >   raising such questions to come here, join this struggle and seek answers
> >   to the fundamental questions we all pose together
> >
> >   Therefore, from today, three representatives from the Narmada Valley,
> >   Jamsing Nargave from village Amlali in Badwani district (Madhya Pradesh),
> >   Bhagwatibai Jatpuria from village Nissarpur in Dhar district (Madhya
> >   Pradesh) and Medha Patkar begin an indefinite hunger strike at Jantar
> >   Mantar.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >   ******************
> >   "If you tremble indignation at every injustice, then you are a comrade of
> mine."  - Che Guevara
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
> >
> >
> >   _______________________________________________
> >   Imc-india mailing list
> >   Imc-india at lists.indymedia.org
> >   http://lists.indymedia.org/mailman/listinfo/imc-india
> 
> 
> ******************
> "If you tremble indignation at every injustice, then you are a comrade of
> mine."  - Che Guevara

-- 

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