NARMADA BACHAO ANDOLAN
Jail Road, Mandleshwar
District Khargone, Madhya Pradesh
Tel: 07283-33162
Email: nobigdam@vsnl.com

Harassment by the State Administration continues as more false charges have been filed against them
The Man project affected adivasis still kept in jail for the fourth day.

On the fourth day in jail, the adivasis continue to face the brunt of the harassing tactics of the State administration. A number of people including eminent personalities have written to the Chief Minister demanding the unconditional release of the arrested adivasis. They have also demanded that the government immediately undertake the task of rehabilitating the affected adivasis as per the policy. In Kukshi, people affected by the Sardar Sarovar Project took out a rally, expressing their solidarity with the adivasis and strongly protesting the State government's callous and irresponsible attitude towards those displaced by large projects.

The State continues to harass the arrested adivasis by filing false charges against them. Today Chittaroopa Palit and few others were charged under the Scheduled Castes and Tribes Atrocities Act. The exact details of the charges filed are still unclear. They were produced before the Court today and remanded to custody. This charge of the State administration makes it obvious that the State is trying every trick in the book to break the resolve of the adivasis. Again it is pertinent to remember that these adivasis were sent to jail just because they demanded their agricultural land for their rehabilitation. These developments are a true indication of the State's indifferent attitude towards adivasis.

Eminent people, peoples organizations and others from different corners of the country have written protest letters to Shri Digvijay Singh. Among others, Shri Vinod Raina, Smt Aruna Roy, Shri Praful Bidwai, Shri Anoop Saraya, Shri Vijay Pratap, Shri Abdul Jabbar, Shri Ram Dheeraj, Azadi Bachao Andolan, Dr.Sunilam, Shri S.P.Shukla have written to Shri Digvijay Singh condemning the atrocities on adivasis and demanding their immediate unconditional release. They have demanded that the Man Project should be immediately stopped and land-based rehabilitation of the affected adivasis be undertaken.