The Police in Barwani, in the BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh, has registered a case of misuse of funds on the founder member of “Narmada Bachao Aandolan” and noted activist for the right of the tribals and underprivileged, Medha Patkar.
The FIR is registered based on a complaint by one Pritamraj Badole, a resident of Temla Bujurg village alleging that the funds collected for managing educational facilities for tribal students are diverting for a “political and anti-national agenda”
67-year-old Medha Patkar, a student and later a faculty at Tata Institute of Social Sciences is MA in Social Work. She spearheaded the Narmada Bachao Aandolan from the point of view of the tribals affected by the Sardar Sarovar Dam on the Narmada river against the might of establishment comprising of three states Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat. Terming it a struggle for justice for the people affected by the dam projects and rehabilitation of the people
whose homes will be submerged, she led the agitations for decades.
Medha Patkar is also one of the founders of the National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM), an alliance of hundreds of progressive people’s organizations. Governments have always portrayed these agitations as anti-progress, having hidden agenda and ulterior motive.
Medha Patkar has associated herself with many a mass struggle in India over last decades. She is known for raising a voice for the people without voice in the matter of inequity, non-sustainability, displacement, injustice and discrimination in the name of caste and community as perceived by her and the the institutions she suports.
The complaint alleges that Narmada Navnirman Abhiyan (NNA), a trust registered in Mumbai received Rs 13.50 crore from various sources in the past 14 years for running residential educational facilities for tribal students of the Narmada Valley in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, were misused for a “political and anti-national agenda”
Medha Patkar, claiming that it is not the first time she is subjected to such wild narative agaisnt her, has dismissed the allegations. She said that there might be “political resons” behind it and asserted that full account and audit of the expenses is available for investigation, she said. Her organisation does not receive funds from abroad and all finances are thoroughly audited annually, Medha Patkar elaborated.
“Those who do the right thing by asking questions about the system are called anti-nationals. The public will decide,” Medha Patkar said. while adding she didn’t deal with funds and expenses directly, which are taken care of by other functionaries.
Those named in the FIR along with Medha Patkar, are activists Parveen Rumi Jahangir, Vijaya Chouhan, Kailash Awasya, Mohan Patidar, Ashish Mandloi, Kewal Singh Vasave, Sanjay Joshi, Shyam Patil, Sunit SR, Noorji Padvi and Keshav Vasave.
