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DAM-L LS: 200 Man Dam Protesters Released, 13 Activists Held (fwd)
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Date: Wed, 28 Mar 2001 10:59:51 -0800 (PST)
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Subject: LS: 200 Man Dam Protesters Released, 13 Activists Held
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PRESS RELEASE: 28th March 2001.
NARMADA BACHAO ANDOLAN
200 OF MAN PROJECT AFFECTED ADIVASIS WHO WERE ARRESTED ON 21st MARCH
RELEASED UNCONDITIONALLY
13 ACTIVISTS DETAINED ON FALSE CHARGES
DETAILED EXAMINATION OF THE REHABILITATION PROCESS TO BE DONE IN THE NEXT
TEN DAYS
Yesterday, after a long dialogue between the Narmada Bachao Andolan, which
continued till late in the evening, an understanding was reached that
within the next 10 days a comprehensive meeting will be held in Dhar, to
enable a detailed case-by-case examination to establish the rehabilitation
status of each affected person. After the meeting all those arrested on
21st March were released unconditionally. However, 13 activists including
Smt Chittaroopa Palit have been detained in jail due to false charges
against them.
On the 21st of this month, hundreds of adivasis affected by the Man Project
in Dhar district, stormed and occupied the dam site stopping any further
construction of the dam protesting violations of their legal rehabilitation
rights by the State. The affected families had declared that until the
State government completely rehabilitates all the affected families by
allotting them cultivable agricultural land as per the policy, work on the
dam would not be permitted. 213 of them were arrested from the dam site and
held in Dhar Jail. On 26th March, hundreds of Man project affected took to
the streets of Dhar today, protesting the arrest of their fellow
project-affected adivasis on the 21st of March. They demanded the immediate
unconditional release of those arrested, stopping the construction of the
dam immediately and the undertaking of rehabilitation processes as stated
in the Narmada Water Disputes Tribunal Award and the government orders. In
this context, yesterday, talks were held between Shri Alok Agarwal of the
Narmada Bachao Andolan and the Collector of district Dhar, Shri Rajesh
Rajora, District Superintendent of Police, Shri Varun for over 3 hours.
Various differences cropped up in the meeting and it was eventually decided
that within the coming ten days a meeting, between the State administration
and the Narmada Bachao Andolan, will be called and in this meeting there
would be a case-by-case examination of the project affected families to
ascertain the status of rehabilitation. Later on in the night 200 of those
arrested were released unconditionally. The remaining 13 were also cleared
of these charges but are still being kept in jail due to additional
charges, albeit false, that have been filed against them. The State is
particularly targeting Chittaroopa Palit, which is obvious since they are
raking very old cases from Alirajpur, Khargone and Mandleshwar. These 13
have been arrested inside jail, on these charges. Narmada Bachao Andolan
strongly condemns this shameful act of the State administration.
Narmada Bachao Andolan in replying to the accusations of Smt Jamuna Devi,
Deputy Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh and the local MLA Shri Karan Singh
Pawar, only wishes to say that the Andolan firmly believes that no project
can be built by displacing thousands of adivasis without rehabilitating
them in accordance with the governing rehabilitation policy. In other
words, the Andolan is not against this project but is against the
displacement of adivasis without rehabilitating them. This project cannot
be advanced till all the affected adivasis are completely rehabilitated
according to the rules and regulations of rehabilitation, that have been
framed to ensure that the adivasis at least regain their standard of living
after displacement. We warn the government not to forget that these rules
and regulations, the rehabilitation policy and the Narmada Award are
legally binding on the State and it is illegal for the State to violate
these rehabilitation provisions. We request Smt Jamuna Devi to take the
trouble of visiting the Bargi Dam on the Narmada, completed in 1990. 162
villages and the resident communities were sacrificed for this project.
Today, 11 years hence, out of the proposed command area of 4.5 lakh
hectares only 12,000 hectares of land is being irrigated. That is about 3%!
We request her to also spend some of her energy in ensuring that the canals
get built and that the remaining area is irrigated. Hopefully this will be
done, at least to ensure that the sacrifice of the 162 villages will not be
wasted.
Narmada Bachao Andolan believes that in the event of adivasis getting
displaced without any rehabilitation being done, there is no alternate but
to involve itself in the struggle for the rights of those displaced. If the
government decides to make a sincere effort to rehabilitate these adivasis,
then the Andolan promises to offer its total help, support and
participation. However, if the government attempts to cheat the adivasis,
then the Andolan sees no other way, except intense struggle, to fight for
the rights of those displaced by this project.
Alok Agarwal Gendalal Mandloi Govingsingh
Rawat Clifton D' Rozario
Jagadeesh B.N.
VARIOUS CASES FILED AGAINST SILVY AND 12 OTEHRS
NAMECOURTCASE NUMBERSECTIONS
Chittaroopa PalitKhargone1737/2000294,427,341,299
Chittaroopa PalitAlirajpur 2195/1997186,147,148,353,427,506
Chittaroopa Palit and Urmila PatidarMandleshwar139/2000
Chittaroopa Palit and Urmila PatidarMandleshwar223/2000
Chittaroopa Palit and Urmila PatidarMandleshwar224/2000
Chittaroopa Palit and Urmila PatidarMandleshwar209/2000
Chittaroopa Palit and Urmila PatidarMandleshwar325/2000
Chittaroopa Palit and Urmila PatidarMandleshwar337/2000
Chittaroopa Palit and Urmila PatidarMandleshwar208/2000
Chittaroopa Palit and 8 othersDhar37/2001332,353,147,294 IPC
3(1-10) of SC/ST Act
Chittaroopa Palit and 10 othersDhar54/2001147,353, Lok Sampathi Haani
Nivaran Adhiniyam-Section (3)
Chittaroopa Palit and 10 othersDhar55/2001147,341,294,506,447,427
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