AHMEDABAD: The Chief Minister of Gujarat Bhupendra Patel today, in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, opened a hive of controversy by calling Medha Patkar, a social worker who opposed the Narmada canal project an urban Naxal. The Chief Minister of Gujarat was Addressing the gathering at Bhuj district in Gujarat on Sunday.
Medha Patkar is the founder member of the movement called Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) in three states, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Gujarat. NBA has been engaged in a struggle for justice for the people affected by the dam projects related to the Sardar Sarovar dam project, especially those whose homes will be submerged but have not yet been rehabilitated.
Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) is a movement protesting against the dam on river Narmada which began in 1985 consisting of Adivasis, farmers, fish workers, labourers, and others in the Narmada valley along with intellectuals including environmentalists, human rights activists, Scientists, academicians, artists who stand for just and sustainable development.
Attacking Patkar and her supporters, CM Patel said that “we should also remember who were the people who kept Kutch deprived of water from Narmada for five decades, kept thirsty, kept drought. We already know who the protesting urban Naxalites were. These people tried to keep Gujarat and Kutch deprived of
development, one name is Medha Patkar.”
“These are the same urban Naxalites who opposed the Narmada canal, opposed Gujarat, and opposed Kutch, these urban Naxalites tried to deprive Gujarat and Kutch of development, one of such urban Naxalites is Megha Patkar, these people misled the people of Gujarat and tried to bring Naxalism in Gujarat, but the people of Gujarat and the people of Kutch did not let their wish prevail, and will
not allow it in the future.” Said CM
Attacking on Congress for supporting Megha Patkar CM Bhupendra Patel Said “Everyone knows which party a person like Megha Patkar belongs to, who gave her the ticket to contest the MP election. They tried to mislead Gujarat's gullible people, but Gujarat's intelligent and devout did not accept such people's wishes.”
Some people must have been protesting about the Sardar Sarovar Dam and its canal for a long time now. Sardar Sarovar Dam in Gujarat is one of the biggest dams on Narmada, Some activists are questioning the social and environmental costs of the dam, according to them this dam has undemocratic planning and unjust distribution of benefits. The struggle is still in the Sardar Sarovar-affected areas and other large and medium dams on Narmada and its tributaries.
It has led to thousands of project-affected families receiving land-based rehabilitation and continues to fight against submergence and displacement without rehabilitation of more than 40,000 families residing in these submergence areas of Sardar Sarovar to date.
Many of its claims and critique on economic, social, and environmental aspects of the Sardar Sarovar and Narmada valley development project stand vindicated today. Patkar has also questioned the wisdom of the currently popular developmental strategy of linking rivers in India as a mean to address water shortage
issues.