Opinion - Letters to the Editor   

Unfortunate

The forcible removal of fasting leader Medha Patkar to hospital and the midnight arrest of 300 tribals and villagers protesting the raising of the height of the Sardar Sarovar dam reflect the Government's unfortunate stand. Only those who are on a weak moral wicket take such desperate action. The move also turns the spotlight on the Government's scant regard for democracy. How different is the UPA Government's policy from that of the British?

S. Srinivas,
Visakhapatnam, A.P.

* * *

It was sheer panic reaction. Had the Government been genuinely concerned about Ms. Patkar's health, it would not have allowed the situation to develop into one of such serious concern. It forced her into an indefinite fast by its non-response to the dam height issue. The Narmada Control Authority allowed an increase in the height, without ensuring the rehabilitation of the affected families. The Government ignored Ms. Patkar's repeated pleas for over two weeks to stop further construction. This left her with no option but to go on fast.

Chandralekha Roy,
New Delhi

* * *

Ms. Patkar is one of those very few Indians who has no agenda of her own. More than any other country, India desperately needs such sincere concerned citizens. It is sincerely hoped that the pain suffered by persons like her will not go in vain.

Vikas Lakshmanan,
Telecherry, Kerala

* * *

The judiciary's indifference to the flouting of its own order on the rehabilitation of the Narmada oustees is in tune with the increasingly anti-people and pro-elite policies of our courts. This attitude has been reflected in several recent judgments on labour issues and displacement of various sections of the poor from urban slums to beautify cities or sell coveted land to private developers. That elected governments are no different is evident in all issues of displacement and rehabilitation.

Sujata Madhok,
New Delhi

* * *

If the Prime Minister cannot enforce a Supreme Court order on rehabilitation, he has no business to continue in power. It is such behaviour by the powers-that-be that is responsible for driving people to extremism.

Samir Kelekar,
Bangalore

* * *

It seems the Government has lost all its human and democratic credentials in dealing with the problems of the people. Time and again it appeals to the masses not to resort to violence but when people like Ms. Patkar adopt Gandhian ways of protest, it remains callous to their demands. If the ruling classes feel they can tackle the people's issues by sloganeering and rhetoric, a day may come when the masses feel naxalism is more effective. The media, which romanticise trivial matters, have also failed to rise to the expectations of the struggling masses.

N. Divakar,
Mysore

* * *

Here is a woman who has given up everything, including food, to ensure that peoples' rights that have been trampled upon and ignored by successive governments are restored, but is forcibly taken to hospital. And we have another woman, who in the supreme spirit of "sacrifice" gave up her offices of influence and profit because the Opposition said so, not because she thought it was wrong. The meaning and spirit of the word sacrifice are no longer what my forefathers taught me.

R.K. Moorthy,
Bangalore

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