A Delhi court has sentenced activist Medha Patkar to five months of imprisonment in a 23-year-old defamation case filed by V.K. Saxena, now the Delhi LG. It is feared that the order will send a warning signal to people leading movements against state excesses. A report by Jag Mohan Thaken
The month of July started on a somber note for renowned social activist Medha Patkar when a Delhi court on July 1 sentenced her to five months of imprisonment and a fine of Rs 10 lakh in a 23-year-old criminal defamation case filed by Vinai Kumar Saxena, now the Delhi Lieutenant Governor (LG).
Giving relief for filing an appeal against the court order, while convicting Patkar for the offence of criminal defamation under Section 500 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, Metropolitan Magistrate (MM) Raghav Sharma of the Saket Court Delhi, said that the conviction order will remain suspended for 30 days.
Medha Patkar is an Indian activist working on political and social issues for tribals, Dalits, farmers, laborers and women facing injustice in India. She is a founding member of ‘Narmada Bachao Andolan’ in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat. She was the national coordinator and then convenor of National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM) for many years and now continues to be an advisor to NAPM. Under the banner of NAPM, she has participated and supported various mass struggles across India against inequity, non-sustainability, displacement, and injustice in the name of development. She challenges casteism, communalism, and all forms of discrimination in her work.
Commenting over the court’s decision, an umbrella of farmers unions of India, Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), in a statement issued on July 3, 2024 by its Media Cell, said, “The SKM is of the opinion that the verdict given by the Saket Court in Delhi against ‘Narmada Bachao Andolan’ (NBA) leader and renowned social activist Medha Patkar in a defamation case filed by the Lt Governor of Delhi, V K Saxena is highly unfortunate. It sends a wrong message for all the people’s movements for justice and livelihood protection who are fighting the state excesses.”
Narmada Bachao Andolan
Narmada Bachao Andolan is a social movement comprising Adivasis, farmers, environmentalists and human rights activists against a number of large dams being built across the Narmada river, which flows through the states of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. Sardar Sarovar Dam in Gujarat is one of the biggest dams on the river and was one of the first focal points of the movement. Their mode of campaign includes hunger strikes and garnering support from film and art personalities (notably Bollywood actor Aamir Khan). Leading spokespersons of Narmada Bachao Andolan, Medha Patkar and Baba Amte, received the Right Livelihood Award in 1991.
Divulging about the NBA, SKM states, “The Narmada Dam Project is deficient in effective clauses for compensation, rehabilitation and resettlement amenities for tens of thousands of affected families. Medha Patkar and the ‘Narmada Bachao Andolan’ are continuing the struggle for justice to the project-affected people braving repression by successive State and Union Governments and consistent humiliation by a pro-corporate media and bureaucracy.”
Sharing the SKM release with this writer, SKM leader and National Vice-President of All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS), Dr. Inderjeet Singh quotes, “As an official post holder of J K Cement and Adani group since 1990, V K Saxena had opposed the movement for rehabilitation of Adivasis, Dalits, workers and peasants of the 244 villages affected by the Narmada Dam. During the long and tortuous struggle for rehabilitation of victim families of the Narmada project, VK Saxena had on several occasions attacked the NBA and Medha Patkar resulting in three complaint cases filed by her at different times. V K Saxena had charged Medha Patkar of receiving donation money from Lalji Bhai based on a fabricated cheque and receipt, printed as a story in the Indian Express. The defamation case against Saxena remains pending since 2000.”
The SKM media statement adds, “In 2000, Saxena had published an advertisement against Medha Patkar and ‘Narmada Bachao Andolan’ and publicly called for Medha Patkar ko “Phasi Do” and “Holika mein Dahan Karo” and motivated articles were published against her at his behest. He (Saxena) had also filed a PIL against her in the Supreme Court which was dismissed with a comment that it is a “Personal Interest Litigation” and was fined Rs 5000. He was also directly involved in a physical attack on her at a meeting at Sabarmati Ashram, which is registered as a case since 2002, but remains pending till today.”
Reacting to the court’s verdict, the activist Patkar said that her lawyers will challenge the order. “Truth cannot be defeated. Whatever work we are doing is for the poor, tribals and Dalits… We do not want destruction and displacement in the name of development,” she said. “We do not have any desire to defame anyone. My lawyers will take further legal recourse… We will challenge it (court order),” she said outside the courtroom.
