After forcible eviction of social activist Medha Patkar and 12 others who were sitting on indefinite fast, another set of 10 villagers from Chikhalda village in Dhar district of Madhya Pradesh, have started a similar fast .
Patkar was forcibly shifted by a troupe of over 1,000 policemen on Monday, and admitted to a hospital in Indore. The others were admitted to Dhar district hospital.
Immediately after her arrest, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said in a twitter message that Patkar and her colleagues were admitted to the hospital on the advice of doctors and that they are not arrested.
Patkar, however, in a reply tweet from the Bombay Hospital where she is 'detained', tweeted: “If I am hospitalised as per CM, not arrested then why my colleagues are not allowed to visit me. I want to be with my people. Why government is discriminating between me and my colleagues health, I want to be with everyone in Dhar govt hospital.’’
Meanwhile in Dhar district hospital, the other protesting activists have refused to eat anything provided by the hospital. “We are still continuing our indefinite fast here in hospital,’’ said Sanjay, one of the protestors. “We will not eat anything until our demands are met,” he said.
Civil surgeon of the Dhar district hospital S.K. Khare told media that he was informed by the staff that two protestors have eaten some food last night. He said: “We have kept a 20 litre pack of mineral water and breakfast this morning in their ward. We are offering all possible facilities to them’’.
Narmada Bachao Andolan activist Rahul Yadav said: “When the police took away our fasting colleagues they did not pick Bhagwatibai Shankar and Rukmini Ranchod. Our indefinite fast is continuing with these two old members’’.
On Tuesday, in response to a special leave petition (SLP) filed by Bhagirath Dhangar, the Supreme Court refused to interfere with the proceedings pending before the Indore High Court regarding rehabilitation of people affected by Sardar Sarovar Dam. The matter will come up for hearing at the high court today.
