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.
