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dam-l (Fwd) LS: NBA Press Release and article on the "Rally for the
------- Forwarded Message Follows -------
Date sent: Tue, 3 Aug 1999 16:16:12 +1000
From: nba@lwbdq.lwbbs.net (Nba) (by way of swong@irn.org (Susanne Wong))
Subject: LS: NBA Press Release and article on the "Rally for the Valley"
To: irn-narmada@igc.org
This email contains the following
1) NBA Press Release on the "Rally for the Valley," 8/3/99
2) Prize-Winning Indian Author Censored on Narmada Dam, Environmental
News
Service, 7/30/99
**********************
NBA Press Note: 3 August, 1999
ARUNDHATI ROY'S "RALLY FOR THE VALLEY" REACHES JALSINDHI
The "Rally for the Valley" organised by noted writer and booker prize
winner Arundhati Roy in support of Narmada Bachao Andolan's ongoing
Satyagraha, against unjust displacement and submergence, at Jalsindhi
(Madhya Pradesh) and Domkhedi (Maharashtra) reached the satyagraha
site
yesterday late evening. Starting yesterday early morning from Bhavaria (an
SSP affected village in M.P. where they spent the night) by buses, trucks
and jeeps, numbering not less than 500 people including some local
affected people, all the rallyists passed through Alirajpur, Kakrana,
Bhakatgarh and Mathwad (all in Madhya Pradesh) before reaching Jalsindhi.
Arundati Roy and many others preferred foot walk to understand the
seriousness of the issue in depth and extent their support to the
tribals who always travel by foot, about 4-5 hours from Mathwad and part
of the rally including some old people travelled by boat to Jalsindhi. All
the rallyists were warmly welcomed by the villagers and satyagrahis
including Medha Patkar at Jalsindhi, who were eagerly waiting for the
arrival of the rally. There will be public meetings, etc. at both
Jalsindhi and Domkhedi till today afternoon before returning to Indore.
It may be noted that for the past two days Gujarat government had made a
big hue and cry by camping about 200 police personnel including the Baroda
Rural S.P. and District Collector at various places between Kawant and
Hafeshwar. There were also about 70-80 pro-dam vested interests taking out
a rally at Kadipani yesterday (2.8.99) evening, shouting slogans against
NBA.
The Narmada Bachao Andolan strongly condemn the highhanded and paranoid
behaviour of the Gujarat government since there was no plan for the rally
to come through Kawant and Hafeshwar. The NBA and the organisers of the
rally had announced time and again that their route to Jalsindhi will be
through Kakrana in M.P. and not through Hafeshwar. The Gujarat government
and the pro-dam vested interests, as usual, have been raising the
non-issue and have been trying to whip up frenzy in Gujarat for no reason.
That has always been the modus operendi of the vested interests and
fascist forces in Gujarat.
M.K.Sukumar.
for Narmada Bachao Andolan.
********************
Prize-Winning Indian Author Censored on Narmada Dam
By Frederick Noronha
BOMBAY, India, July 30, 1999 (ENS) - An international body working to
protect journalists has voiced its "deep concern" over what it termed "the
latest efforts to suppress discussion of the environmental and social
costs of Sardar Sarovar dam construction. This dam is part of a
controversial multi-dam irrigation and hydroelectric project along the
Narmada River in the state of Gujarat.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), based in New York City, wrote
to Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on July 28, saying prominent
Indian novelist and Booker Prize winner Arundhati Roy is facing the threat
of contempt of court proceedings for publishing an essay on the Narmada
Valley Project.
Arundhati Roy won the 1997 Booker prize for her debut novel, "The God of
Small Things."
In the much noticed article, Roy argued against "big dam projects
generally, and criticized the court for its apparent indifference to
reports that the Sardar Sarovar project would displace half a million
people by flooding their villages.
Roy's essay originally ran as an article in the Indian weekly
newsmagazines "Outlook" and "Frontline," and then was excerpted in
London's "The Guardian" newspaper. It has now been published as a short
book "The Greater Common Good."
India's Chief Justice A.S. Anand, Justice S.P. Barucha, and Justice B.N.
Kirpal scheduled the hearing on action against the writer, in response to
a petition filed by the Gujarat state government. Gujarat claims there
should be a ban on the "publication of various matters in different
newspapers, journals, and other media touching upon the matter under
consideration of the court."
Nimghavan, one of the villages facing submergence. (Photo courtesy Friends
of the River Narmada)
In February, the court lifted a four-year stay on further construction of
the Sardar Sarovar dam. The dam wall has gone up from 80.3 meters to 88
meters since the Supreme Court lifted its stay. The rising waters behind
the Sardar Sarovar Dam will submerge a few thousand houses and farms in
about 50 to 60 villages. The displacement of mostly indigenous people by
this submergence will not only be destructive but also unjust, dam
protesters say. Submerged beneath the rising waters will be land, water
and forest resources of the Narmada Valley.
Roy scathingly critiqued the Supreme Court's February decision in her
essay. The judges said the essay seemed to be "an attempt to undermine the
dignity of the court and influence the course of justice." The court's
next hearing on the matter is scheduled for August 5.
The Committee to Protect Journalists said, "As an organization of
journalists dedicated to the defense of press freedom around the world,
CPJ is dismayed that the powers held by India's Supreme Court and by
Gujarat's political leadership are being used to stamp out dissent on a
matter of vital public interest."
The Committee also said that in the western Indian federal state of
Gujarat, "CPJ's sources" reported that virtually all bookstores have
pulled copies of Roy's book for fear of violent reprisal.
At the center of the controversy, the Sardar Sarovar dam. (Photo courtesy
Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Ltd.)
Last week, activists from the two most powerful political parties in
India, the Congress Party and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP),
held demonstrations condemning Roy for her anti-Narmada Dam views.
On June 22, members of the youth wing of the Congress Party burned several
copies of The Greater Common Good, and Youth Congress president,
Himattsinh Patel, threatened that "If within the next 24 hours, all
[Roy's] irresponsible, anti-development books are not withdrawn from the
shelves, the bookstores will have to face the wrath of angry Youth
Congressmen."
The BJP's youth wing held a similar demonstration on Saturday, July 24. In
this climate of extreme intolerance, the renowned Gujarati writer Ashwini
Bhatt was unable to find a publisher willing to release a Gujarati edition
of Roy's essay, and is now planning to publish the book himself.
Indigenous people cooking in one of the dam protest camps (Photo courtesy
Friends of the River Narmada)
Two leading activists with the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA), the Save the
Narmada Movement, are also threatened with contempt charges. NBA is a
high-profile organisation spearheading protests against the multi-dam
project across the Narmada river.
In April, Roy donated 1.5 million rupees, equivalent to her Booker Prize
money, to the Narmada Bachao Andolan campaign. The NBA announced that "The
Andolan will be using the money not only for the regular activities of the
Andolan, but also a part for the various "re-construction" activities that
it has initiated in the Valley like health, water management, education."
On Thursday, a contingent of people from all over the world, Citizens of
the Earth, left Delhi for the Narmada Valley, to convey a message of
support to the people in the valley.
Around 250 artists, writers and journalists, led by Roy, will hold a
week-long Rally for Valley against the Sardar Sarovar Project. The group
leaves for the Valley from Indore on Saturday. In a statement faxed to the
Prime Minister Vajpayee, the CPJ urged him, "to use the power of your
office to condemn the actions taken by the Youth Congress as well as by
members of your own political party to threaten and intimidate bookstore
owners and publishers in Gujarat, effectively censoring debate regarding
the Sardar Sarovar dam."
Roy wins the Booker Prize.
"We further request that you instruct the Gujarat state government to
ensure that those who choose to display and distribute "The Greater Common
Good" will be protected from violent reprisal," said the CPJ. The group,
"also hopes that the Supreme Court will uphold Article 19 of India's
constitution, which guarantees that 'All citizens shall have the
right...to freedom of speech and expression,' and abandon its pursuit of
contempt of court charges against Arundhati Roy."
Arundhati Roy's debut novel, "The God of Small Things" was launched
on
April 4, 1997 in Delhi and won the Booker prize in London, on October 14,
1997. The book has since topped the best-seller lists around the
world.
Roy's essay as published in "Outlook" is available online at:
http://www.outlookindia.com/previous/052499/frcontent.htm
It is also available online at the Friends of the River Narmada
website: http://www.narmada.org/gcg.html