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NBA protests violence

NEW DELHI: Hundreds of people affected by the Sardar Sarovar dam took a motorcycle rally through the streets of Badwani in Madhya Pradesh on Saturday and raised the slogan “Narmada se Nandigram ki ladai ek hain [The struggle, from Narmada to Nandigram, is the same] ” in support of the fast by social activist Medha Patkar in West Bengal.

The supporters of the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) protested not only the attack on Ms. Patkar but also the “neo-liberal, anti-farmer, land-grabbing” policies of the government that would leave thousands of farmers landless and displaced.

(Ms. Patkar’s convoy was attacked en route to Nandigram on Thursday.)

A memorandum to this effect addressed to the Governor of West Bengal, was submitted to the authorities in Badwani.

Condemning the attack, NBA activist Ashish Mandloi said the people of Nandigram were not alone in their struggle. The people of the Narmada valley were with them. “The new economic policies of the government cater to multi-national corporations at the expense of the people of Nandigram. This is epitomised by the chemical hub proposed for DOW Chemicals, formerly Union Carbide, notorious for the Bhopal gas tragedy and its complete disregard for the health and welfare of the community there.”

He condemned the manner in which the CPI(M) government and its cadre in West Bengal had created a “war-like situation” in Nandigram. He also said that the attack on Ms. Patkar and others was to quell resistance, but this would not work and the voices would only get louder and stronger.

“Medha Patkar, along with other activists of Narmada Bachao Andolan, have been working peacefully with the CPI(M) in other States on various issues, and have regularly been visiting Nandigram since the struggle for land began there. The response of the CPI(M) government is undemocratic, at the very least. The attack on Medha Patkar is a message to the rest of the world that any outside interference in the struggle at Nandigram will not be tolerated by those in power,” he said.

Among those who signed the memorandum were Umesh Patidar, Kailash Awasya, Kamala Yadav, Sukram Tadvi and Clifton D’ Rozario.

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