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Massive rally condemns Narmada verdict

Narmada Bachao Andolan chief Medha Patkar and some others announced a protest fast in Bhopal, from October 25, against the 'anti-people' judgement in the Narmada dam case, on Monday.

The andolan claimed, in a press release, that over 3500 men, women and children from West Nimad, in Madhya Pradesh, who will be affected by the Sardar Sarovar Project, thronged the streets of the district headquarters of Badwani to condemn and challenge the Supreme Court verdict, allowing dam construction to proceed.

Black flags, symbolising shock and anger on one hand, and blue ones of the andolan, symbolising sheer determination on the other, were waved at the rally.

Novelist Arundhati Roy, senior advocate and human rights campaigner Nirmal Kumar Sooryavanshi, Sarvodaya leader Mahendrabhai Jain, sculptor Dasaniji, freedom fighters, academicians, social activists, educationists and others from Dhule, Malegaon, Pune, Indor, Delhi, Kozhikode, Baroda, representatives from the Maheshwar dam-affected and Adivasi Mukti Sangathan, Madhya Pradesh, and others participated in the rally and public meeting.

This was the first public response of people from the valley to the judgement.

Expressing shock and anger at the ''betrayal of justice by the apex court'', the people locked the local rehabilitation office of the NVDA. When there is no land, no master plan for rehabilitation even after 20 years, on what basis did the court order chalking out of a plan for rehabilitation and land acquisition in four weeks, they asked.

They also submitted memoranda of protest to Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijay Singh and Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, through the district collector.

Many shops in Badwani was 'decorated' with black flags, 'mourning' the death of democracy.

Patkar, while announcing the fast, said, "Like convicting the innocents, the judgement has been proved to be the most inhuman crime. The fast is against the conspiracy of the state and all its arms to destroy the age-old Narmada Valley, its culture, tradition and even life."

She added that people were now compelled to be on the path of struggle forever. ''They will rise as one, with hundreds of people's movements from within the country and across the boundaries to take justice, which is rightfully theirs,'' she said.

Roy said, "The 'majority judgement' will go down in history as an event in which the highest court of the country actually condones and encourages the violation of human rights of Indian citizens."

Sooryavanshi said, "We cannot agree with the displacement of tribals. The judgement is in violation of fundamental rights."

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