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dam-l LS: Medha uses sound of silence to lash out against court order,ToI
Times of India, Mumbai, 10 July, 1999.
Medha uses sound of silence to lash out against court order
By Anil Singh
MUMBAI: While author-turned- environmentalist Arundhati Roy is on a
lecture tour to champion the cause of the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA),
the woman who has done all the talking for Narmada over the past 10
years, Medha Patkar, is on a moun vrat (vow of silence) at Domkhedi
village in Gujarat.
Ms Patkar and nine NBA activists are on an eight-day fast since July 4.
During this period, she will remain silent. Though the stated aim of the
fast is to protest against the betrayal, falsehood and injustice meted
out by the government, the real rub is the supreme court judgment on the
issue.
NBA activists are sore over the February judgment of the supreme court
allowing the height of the gigantic Sardar Sarovar dam to be raised from
81.5 metres to 85 metres, with three metres of humps.
The NBA feels let down because it had kept a low profile during the four
years that the case was pending in the supreme court. Though work on the
irrigation canals and other projects was on for these four years, the
NBA was silent about the developments lest the court interpret any move
as pressure tactics.
``The supreme court was perhaps caught in the trap of going by narrow,
technical considerations,'' leading NBA activist Shripad Dharmadhikari
said. He felt it was difficult to judge the issue from maps and
statistics alone and wished that the judges had visited the site.
NBA activists allege that the supreme court was given false assurances
by the Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh governments about the
rehabilitation of the dam oustees. ``We have government officials saying
on videotape that they lied to the court,'' claimed Mr Dharmadhikari.
According to the NBA, the increase in the height of the dam from 81.5
metres to 85 metres will result in the submergence of an additional
2,500 tribal families from 50 villages in Gujarat.
In an appeal to the nation before beginning the eight-day fast on July
4, the nine activists made it clear that the satyagrah launched on June
20 will be a decisive battle. ``The battle is on behalf of the exploited
and downtrodden people who have been sacrificed in the name of
development for the benefit of a few, and that too, for a few years,''
the appeal said.
Significantly, the appeal said that ``the people will be confronting the
submergence imposed upon them through the interim order of the supreme
court, while still expecting justice from it... We do not see it as yet
another pressure tactic but an assertion by the people''.
The announcement was preceded by a rally of about 1,500 people, who took
oath on the banks of Narmada to fight against the intimidation and
submergence.
Representatives of several people's organisations such as the Dankuni
Mines Virodhi Sangharsha Samiti, Shramik Parishad, anti-resorts
committees and other organisations associated with the National Alliance
of People's Movements, Pennurimai Lyakkam (Tamil Nadu), Students'
Christian Movement (Kerala), Rashtriya Yuva Sangathan (Delhi) and
Samanvay (Ahmedabad) attended the July 4 satyagraha meeting.
On July 11, there will be a meeting of the representatives of the
Narmada valley villages, and on July 12, thousands of people in
different parts of the country will undertake a token fast to express
solidarity with the NBA and the issues it has raised. The NBA will also
make an important announcement about the next step in the satyagraha.