President speaks up for Narmada dam oustees

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, DEC. 10. Anti-Narmada dam activists have found satisfaction in the mention made by the President, Mr. K.R. Narayanan, of the struggle for the Sardar Sarovar Project oustees, at the function to present the Dr. B.R. Ambedkar International Award for Social Change to Baba Amte at Rashtrapati Bhavan on December 6. The Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, was present on the occasion.

Babasaheb Ambedkar's death anniversary also being the anniversary of the demolition of the Babri Masjid, the President's remarks got lost in the subsequent controversy over Mr. Vajpayee's remarks. But this was the first time since the Supreme Court judgment of October 18 allowing reconstruction of the Narmada dam in Gujarat, that a person in high office spoke on record for the dam-displaced persons.

Earlier, Mr. Narayanan is reported to have sent the Narmada Bachao Andolan's memorandum seeking his intervention on the court order, to the Prime Minister. Responding to Baba Amte's description of the NBA movement as a new battlefront for youth action and as an outburst of Gandhian courage and concern for ``antodaya'', the President said, ``I recall during our independence struggle the late V.K. Krishna Menon directing his verbal missiles at British audiences, declaring that the British imperialists had gone around the world `damning rivers and damning peoples'. Let us, now that imperialism is gone, take every possible care to see that the impact of dams we build is not ruinous to the lives of our tribal brothers and sisters inhabiting our forests and river-valleys.''

Mr. Narayanan said, ``Dr. Ambedkar had once said that `land shall belong to the State and shall be let out to the villagers without distinction of caste or creed and in such a manner that there will be no landlord, no tenant and landless labour.' On another occasion, he had proposed more pragmatically that all waste-land should be acquired by the state and distributed among Dalits and Adivasis. In the blind and remorseless march of modern development, it is good for us to pause and recall these words, which were voiced by Mahatma Gandhi too when he said, `Land belongs to Ram'.''

The President said, ``The forest land on which Baba Amte established his Lok Biradari Prakalpa, `an outcast land for outcast people', he named Anandvan or `Forest of Joy'. While presenting Baba Amte with this award, let us recall the dreams of Mahatma Gandhi and Babasaheb Ambedkar and try to make our forests and river-valleys, forests and valleys of joy, and not of human misery and deprivation.''

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