The health of Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) activist Medha Patkar — who is on an indefinite hunger strike demanding rehabilitation of those displaced due to Sardar Sarovar Dam’s construction — has been deteriorating, her aides said. Sabbrangindia spoke to the fasting leader. She sounded frail, bur determined to carry on.

“Do not worry, spread the message about our atruggle,” Medha said to sabrangindia even as her health continued to deteriorate.

The health of prominent Narmada Bachao Andolan(NBA) leader Medha Patkar, on indefinite hunger strike along oath 11 of her colleagues for the ninth day in Chikhalda village of Kukshi tehsil, is said to have deteriorated. An official communique by NBA said, her supporters spent “sleepless night” on Thursday, as the situation of Patkar and three others turned “critical.” In an early morning statement on Friday, NBA has asked all those who stand by her “cause” of seeking full and final rehabilitation of an estimated 40,000 families who, it is alleged, might face submergence in case the Narmada dam’s waters are taken to the full reservoir level of 138.64 meters by closing its 30 gates, to “pressure” governments of India and of Madhya Pradesh to open a dialogue with her.
 

Toilets without gates at a rehab site

Solidarity action in Delhi

Around 30 children from the Nav Jagriti Collective from Madhya Pradesh joined the indefinite solidarity fast and talked with officials about NBA and its struggle and achievements.
Others who joined the Jantar Mantar protest included Prof KB Saxena, Advocate Sanjay Parikh and activist Manoranjan Mohanty, Annie Raja of the National Federation of Indian Women, AAP spokesperson Ashutosh, and Swaraj India general secretary Navneet.

The statement comes amidst Medha supporters beginning protest hunger strike at Jantar Mantar in Delhi, in which those who participated include well known political scientist, Swaraj India’sYogendra Yadav, top Gandhian and Magsaysay awardee Sandeep Pandey, Aam Aadmi Part’s Alok Agrawal, senior environmentalist Soumya Dutta, and activists Dr Sunilam, Kamla Yadav and Kailash Awasya.

Apart from the Solidarity Protest at Jantar Mantar, Delhi, a Campaign for Letter to the prime minister Narendra Modi has begun.
 

Draft Letter to Prime Minister on the Narmada Issue
 
New Delhi, August 4, 2017
 
To,
Shri Narendra Modi,
The Prime Minister of India
 
Dear Sir,
 
We are sending this appeal to you in extraordinary circumstances when 40,000 families in 192 villages of Madhya Pradesh are on verge of facing submergence this Monsoon. The resettlement and rehabilitation sites for them completely lack basic amenities and facilities like drinking water, sanitation, primary medical centers, schools, electricity, roads etc. In such a situation it is difficult for them to shift from their original villages to the R&R sites.  
 
The Narmada Water Dispute Tribunal Award (NWDTA) clearly provided that after completion of the R&R, the Project Affected Families (PAFs) should be given 6 months time before submergence. This condition was emphasized in the Supreme Court judgments given in the year 2000 and 2005 in the Sardar Sarovar Case. The requirement of six months has been recognized, as part of Article 21 in Tehri dam case also. The Order dated 8.2.2017 of the Supreme Court also assured completion of R&R. 
 
The Supreme Court in its judgments assured the PAFs, based on Art 21, that they would be better-off at the rehabilitation sites. The R&R of the PAFs ought to have been done as and when the dam height was raised. However, the State has failed to comply with this obligation. The oustees have not been provided land for land. The benefit of 60 Lakhs and 15 Lakhs has still not been provided to all the PAFs who lost their land to enable them to purchase agricultural land for their livelihood. Many PAFs still await allotments of plots. It is only recently that state government has announced many packages. Many issues concerning R&R are still pending before the Grievance Redressal Authority (GRA).
 
Looking at the plight of thousands of such PAFs, Medha Patkar and 11 others have gone on an indeifnite fast from July 27^th. Today is the 9^th day of the fast and their health condition is CRITICAL. Their only demand is that the rights of resettlement and rehabilitation, which have been given to the PAFs under the Award, and the judgments of the Honourable Supreme Court should be provided to them.  
 
You may from your own resources verify the pitiable condition of the R&R sites and we are sure that you will be satisfied that it will be cruel and inhuman to compel thousands of PAFs to leave their villages and shift to the temporary tin shades which have been constructed by the state.
 
In these compelling circumstances, which involves thousands of men, women and children, we hope that you will intervene and ensure that till the R&R of the Oustees is completed and the rehabilitation sites are developed with all the amenities and facilities, PAFs will not be evicted forcibly.
 
We request you to send your representative to Chikalda, Badwani, MP, where Medha Patkar and 11 others are undertaking fast, assuring her of complete R&R of the PAFs  and that till that is done they will not be forcibly evicted. We are sure that your assurance of completion of R&R will move Medha Patkar and others to end their fast, which they have undertaken for a great human cause.
 
We would also like to request you to give us a time to meet and brief you of the situation and personally request you the time. Kindly, give us a time, looking at the urgency of the situation.
 
Yours Sincerely,

Court slaps fine
A Delhi court on Thursday imposed Rs 10,000 as costs on Patkar for her repeated failure to appear before it in defamation cases filed by her and KVIC chairman VK Saxena against each other. Metropolitan magistrate Vikrant Vaid granted one last opportunity to the activist, while warning that he will dismiss her complaint against Saxena if she fails to appear again.

The post Fight for Justice for Narmada Evacuees Will Continue: Medha Patkar, 8th Day of Hunger Fast appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Syria continues to suffer and struggle. March 15^th marks the sixth anniversary of the bloody Syrian war. This afternoon (March 14^th), a bomb blast in the city of Homs killed one and injured several. On March 12^th, a double bombing near a popular Shiite shrine in Damascus killed over fifty and scores more were left injured. Since December, the eastern areas of Aleppo have been evacuated, but the bombings continue.

The Syrian war, over these six years, has resulted in the deaths of thousands and caused the largest displacement in human history. After experiencing widespread destruction and insecurity, there is a certain desperation and a sense of fatigue among the Syrian people. The general feeling is that most are ready to clutch at any straw, to fan any glimmer of hope. They yearn for peace, security and stability and want the bombarding and the air strikes to stop now.

The UNHCR (the UN Refugee Agency), in a statement for the sixth anniversary says: “While there are some hopes for peace, the needs and suffering of millions of Syrians continue unabated.” Filippo Grandi, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees adds, “Unless drastic measures are taken to shore up peace and security for Syria, the situation will worsen. Families have been torn apart, innocent civilians killed, houses destroyed, businesses and livelihoods shattered. It is a collective failure. Ultimately, Syria’s conflict isn’t about numbers – it’s about people”
 
Today an estimated 13.5 million Syrians need humanitarian assistance and children make up half of that number. Children have lost their childhood; nearly 3 million Syrian children under five have grown up knowing nothing but conflict… More than 6.3 million people are internally displaced within Syria. About 4.9 million others (the majority women and children) have fled to neighbouring countries in the Middle East, including Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan, Egypt and Iraq. These have put the host communities under huge strain as they shoulder the social, economic and political fallout. Hundreds of thousands have made perilous sea voyages seeking sanctuary; no one is sure how many may have died at sea.
 
The plain truth is that the suffering of the Syrian people who are refugees and internally displaced, continues with no end in sight. Harsh weather conditions and limited access to basic resources gravely affect displaced families and individuals. Making ends meet is a daily struggle for both the displaced within Syria and those who have fled the country and sought refuge elsewhere. Sizeable sections of them are living in extreme poverty, unable to secure food, water, or medical provisions. Key cities in Syria today have no water, electricity and gas or very little access to these essential commodities.

Delivering humanitarian aid to war-affected populations within Syria is still an urgent issue. There is also the ongoing concern that some neighbouring countries are unable to provide adequate assistance to meet the basic needs of refugees. This lack of assistance threatens the safety of vulnerable people and the stability and security of the region.

Nevertheless, there is hope! There are innumerable stories of resilience in war-torn Syria among the forcibly displaced and from among the Syrians who have sought refuge in other countries.

Majeda, a woman from Damascus who fled with her family in search of safety, still holds onto her dream of becoming a lawyer. Kassem is a young man who, in spite of losing a leg in a bomb blast in Syria, is studying in a school in Lebanon and one day wants to become an art teacher.

There is Randa who has escaped the horrors of war but is now writing a book for little children telling them why war is all wrong. There is Mohamed Qasim, who now lives in Jordan. He suffers from cancer, but with a ‘never-say-die’ spirit is determined to give his little children a better future.

The ‘big powers’ and the wide range of vested interests particularly the military-industrial complex continue to play havoc with lives and destinies of the Syrians. There are ‘peace talks’ which take place among the ‘big guys’; not too many however, place too much of hope on them.

Majeda, Kassem, Randa and Mohamed are simple, ordinary people. Each one of them has experienced the horrors of war in profoundly traumatic ways. They represent today, the spectrum of innumerable Syrians who have suffered immensely, but look towards a better future for themselves and for their children. They are some of the many, brave individuals who with their indomitable spirit, want to live a normal peaceful life and look to the future with hope.

The Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) of the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) Region has been working in the midst of the Syrians who are displaced. Despite the challenges, JRS has stayed the course in Syria during the six years of conflict, addressing and serving those in urgent need while advocating for and with Syrians, for life with dignity.

In Damascus and Homs, JRS operates education centres in parallel with child protection programs and psychosocial care for children and adults. In Aleppo, JRS teams provide those most vulnerable with emergency humanitarian assistance of food baskets and non-food items.

When medical facilities in Aleppo came under ferocious bombardments, JRS continued to provide health services. In Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Turkey, JRS works with hundreds of Syrian refugees, providing them with emergency assistance as well as ongoing educational and psychosocial support.

In spite of the darkness that this conflict casts over all Syrians, JRS staff and volunteers have also experienced many moments of hope. On March 15^th this year, JRS will launch a campaign (you can see a preview here to highlight the stories of Syrians living both inside and outside of the country.

The campaign will focus on the hope and resilience of the Syrians; of light overcoming darkness, Lola Moussa, who originally hails from the countryside near the city of Homs in Syria, sums up the struggles of the Syrian people meaningfully saying, “there is still suffering and much pain – but what keeps us going on is our courage to hope and our continued resilience.”

* (Fr Cedric Prakash sj is the Advocacy and Communication Officer of the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) of the MENA Region Contact:cedric.prakash@jrs.net;   www.jrsmena.org; twitter:@jrs_mena)
 

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