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DAM-L LS: Youth rally on Gandhi Jayanti at Mandleshwar (fwd)
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Date: Wed, 3 Oct 2001 14:40:23 -0700 (PDT)
Message-ID: <200110032140.f93LeNl14863@DaVinci.NetVista.net>
Subject: LS: Youth rally on Gandhi Jayanti at Mandleshwar
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Narmada Bachao Andolan
Jail Road, Mandleshwar,
District Khargone, M.P.
Telefax : 07283-33162
E-mail : nobigdam@vsnl.com
Press Note, 2.10.2001
Massive Youth rally on Gandhi Jayanti at Mandleshwar
Youth organization "Narmada Yuva Shakti" formed,
Resolve to save our country's freedom
Five thousand young men and women took out a rally on the 2nd of October,
2001 and announced the formation of a new youth organization in the Narmada
valley the "Narmada Yuva Shakti". These thousands of young men and women
thronging the streets of Mandleshwar in the district Khargone of Western
Madhya Pradesh resolved to save their villages and their country, to strive
to protect its independence, to stop irrational and destructive Projects
such as the Maheshwar dam and the other large dams on the Narmada as well
as to fight to build a more humanitarian world transcending the barriers of
caste, gender and class. Tribal youth from the villages of Badwani,
Khargone and Dhar affected by the Goi, Veda and Maan dams also announced
the formation of wings of Narmada Yuva Shakti in their areas. They were
joined by young men and women from the Bargi and Sardar Sarovar. The rally
was also attended by Anand Shintre of the All India Youth Federation,
Madhya Pradesh and Shri Raghav of Focus a Mumbai based organization
fighting globalisation.
The public meeting began with the garlanding the portraits of Ma Narmada,
Mahatma Gandhi and Shahid Bhagat Singh. Speaking on the occasion, Shri Alok
Agarwal of the Narmada Bachao Andolan and leader of the struggle in the
area said that that the last two decades have seen protracted struggles in
various parts of the Narmada valley. This struggle for survival has created
a social churning and out of this new forces for change have emerged. One
such new force will be the strength of youth. This new organization formed
by the youth of the valley the Narmada Yuva Shakti will not only struggle
against the destruction to be wrought by destructive and irrational
Projects such as Maheshwar which will take electricity out of the hands and
homes of the common people of this country. It will also challenge the
larger forces of globalization that seek to convert all our rivers, lands
and forests and our livelihoods into profits and to barter away our peace
to keep their war machines running.
He said that our first concrete challenge will be to oust the Asia
Development Bank from attempting to control the economy of the state. It is
because of the conditionalities of the Asia Development Bank that the power
tariffs have been raised last week, and that power was not being made
available to common people despite large surpluses being available in the
country. The Madhya Pradesh government which is unable to buy power from
the NTPC at Rs. 1.75 per unit , will never be able to buy power from
Maheshwar Project at Rs. 7 per unit and the state will become bankrupt
because of suicidal agreements.
Urmila Patidar, activist from Village Pathrad said that the people of the
Narmada valley have successfully challenged the World Bank on one hand and
multinational companies on the other. The last four years of struggle in
Maheshwar has compelled all the US and German power utilities to withdraw
from the destructive Maheshwar Project whose power would be more expensive
that even that of Enron Project and that would produce electricity that no
single person would be able to buy. However today, the Project promoters
S.Kumars were seeking over Rs. 2000 crores of public funds from the Indian
public financial institutions. As a result of the pressure of the people of
the valley, the Indian financial institutions had promised to hold public
meetings in the valley along with the people before taking any decision
about funding. However, on the 27th of last month, officers of the IDBI and
the IFCI came to the dam site along with the S.Kumars but refused to talk
to or listen to the affected people. Instead, on seeing the popular
opposition, they slipped away to Indore. Trying to gag the people's voices,
on the 27th itself, the S.Kumars personnel then abducted and brutally
assaulted two youth from Village Lepa
Mangat Verma of Village Lepa said that it is clear that officers of the
Indian public financial institutions and industrialists such as S.Kumars
have connived to siphon off and loot hundreds of crores of rupees of public
money money that is the lifetime saving of common Indian citizens. He
warned the institutions and the Project promoters of this privatized
Project the S.Kumars that the youth of the area would not stand for the
unleashing of senseless terror by the S.Kumars and that it is time for the
S.Kumars to withdraw from the Project. He also warned the Indian financial
institutions that the people would expose the conspiracy between these
officers and the industrialists.
Jagdishbhai, activist from Village Gogawan stated that the youth of today
cannot be allowed to wallow in hopelessness or consumerism. They have to be
challenged to forge new paths to justice. Kamlakar, working on water
alternatives in the Narmada valley said that all over the country today,
the control of tribals, farmers and the common people over their lands,
forests and water is being wrested from their hands by multinationals. The
youth of today is the future of tomorrow. We have to come together to
challenge this situation.
Shripad Dharmadhikary, senior activist associated with Narmada Bachao
Andolan in India welcomed the formation of the youth organization -Narmada
Yuva Shakti in the Narmada valley. He said that it is timely that the youth
of this area have taken the initiative to start an organization .He said
that the youth have the potential to fight for justice and peace- and they
must do so on the basis of information, determination and their energy of
the youth.
The rally was also addressed by Parvati by the Maan Project in
Dhar, Kailash Awasia affected by the Sardar Sarovar dam ,representatives
of people affected by the Lower Goi Project in Badwani and Upper Veda
Project in Khargone , Sheru Kahar of Village Mardana, Bhagwan of Village
Bhatiyan, Gaju of Village Pathrad and Vania, senior activist of Khedut
Mazdoor Chetna Sanghat, Jhabua.
Lighting the lamps of peace, all the young women and men present at the
meeting resolved to fight to build a society that would erase differences
based on caste, class and gender and that would be based on justice and
respect for all. They passed a resolution against the police crack down on
the struggle against the Sardar Sarovar in the Nimad area, including the
beating up of a 13 -year old girl and said that no force on earth could cow
a people fighting for justice and the truth. They also passed a resolution
against the climate of terror and war that exists today all over the world,
and that has not only caused the deaths of thousands of innocent US
citizens recently in New York, but also the dispossession and death of
millions of people and children in Iraq, Sudan, Palestine and many other
countries of the Third World at the instance of the American government as
well as the continuing terrorist actions in various parts of India. The
youth present at the gathering called on the Indian government not to
extend Indian resources for this war, bur rather actively strive to
increase peace. The meeting was followed by the inauguration of the Shahid
Bhagat Singh Pustakalaya and Vichar Kendra and the Iqbal Masih Bal
Pustakalaya at Village Pathrad.
Chittaroopa Palit
Suresh Varma
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