(A) Personal Details Role Name Affiliation Principal Investigator Prof. Sumita Parmar Allahabad University, Allahabad Paper Coordinator Dr. Sabu George & CWDS, New Delhi Ms. Kumudini Pati Independent Researcher Content Writer/Author (CW) Kumudini Pati Independent Researcher Content Reviewer (CR) Dr. Sabu George CWDS, New Delhi Language Editor (LE) Prof. Sumita Parmar Allahabad University (B) Description of Module Items Description of Module Subject Name Women‟s Studies Paper Name The Stories the States Tell Module Name/ Title Champion of Non-Violent Civil Resistance in India :MEDHA PATEKAR Module ID Paper-15, Module-20 Pre-requisites Some awareness of Indian women activists Objectives To make the students aware of the life and contributions of Medha Patekar Keywords Activism, struggle, rural, displaced Champion of Non-Violent Civil Resistance in India: Medha Patkar Early Life and Education Born on December 1, 1954 in Bombay to social activist parents Vasant Khanolkar, a well-known freedom fighter and trade unionist,and Indu Khanolkar heading a women's organization, Swadhar, Medha Patkar is a household name in India and is well known internationally too for her pioneering work. Coming from a family with a background of struggle and activism, she grew up to be highly motivated, exceptionally brave and always ready to speak out for a social cause. Her ideological orientation, which was embedded in values of equity, justice and democratic socialism, came through attending various rural vacation camps and participating in social activities of youth organizations. Patkar completed her B.Sc. from Ruia College, Mumbai and she did her MA in Social Work and completed her studies upto M. Phil on the theme of Development and its impact on traditional societies, from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Bombay. Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai-Alma Mater of Medha Patkar, since its establishment in 1936, has been one of the premier institutes in India in social sciences, human development, public policy and economics. Involvement with the Displaced people of the Dam of the Narmada River Project Medhahad become deeply involved with issues of displaced people in the Narmada River Valley, which spans the states of Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.While studying for her Ph.D. and doing research on social inequality and social movements, she came to know about a judgement of a tribunal granting permission to build 30 Mega dams, 135 medium-sized and 3000 small dams. She made her debut visit to Gujarat, and got a first-hand account of the plight of the tribals living in the north-eastern region of the State. She began to work with groups of Adivasi (Tribal) youth in the districts of Dang, Sabarkantha and Banaskantha as well as among farmers in the Narmada Valley. Earlier she had done an action research Project with a Professor at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad on the social action groups which had been focussing their work among adivasis. She also worked as a consultant for the Integrated Child Development Services (Anganwadis), for UNICEF and contributed significantly to the improvement of the structure and procedures adopted by the Scheme. However, later, she resigned from her position as a TISS faculty, abandoned her doctoral research, and plunged into the Narmada Bachao Andolan. When people are evicted every day to make way for development projects [i.e.] “development cleansing” or being forcibly ousted from one‟s land and habitat by a dam, these evictions causing displacement are not only immediately disruptive and painful, but those displaced are also fraught with serious long-term risks of becoming poorer than before, more vulnerable economically, and disintegrated at the community level.It is these philosophical underpinnings and social commitments that have catapulted Medha Patkar to the centre of the struggle against dam projects that threaten the right to life and livelihood of the people of India‟s Narmada Valley. History of Social Action -Involvement in the Narmada Bachao Andolan The Narmada Bachao Andolan (Save the Narmada Campaign) came into being in 1985 under the leadership of Medha, who was one of its founder-members, even though in her own words,“it is the collective leadership of NBA which needs to be recognised.” Patkar and the NBA believe in the Gandhian doctrine of non-violence; hence, most of her movements are „Satyagrahas‟. NBA, through various public actions, has made attempts to publicize the impending ecological disaster and highlight the plight of the people being displaced due to construction of a series of mega dams on the river Narmada. Actions mostly include sit-ins, rallies, fasts and satyagrahas. But the NBA's tireless campaigning, continuing for the past nearly thirty years is based on an in- depth studyof short and long-term environmental and other impacts of construction of big dams. A lot of documentation has also been carried out by the activists of NBA, in order to prove to the world that mega projects like the Narmada River Valley Project would have a devastating impact on the life and livelihoods of people in the valley. The Narmada Bachao Andolan has always maintained a dialogue with all the stakeholders, including the Government. The international impact of NBA's advocacy with research, dialogue and deliberations, has also led to the World Bank acknowledging that its continued support to the Sardar Sarovar (Narmada) Dam would be disastrous for the environment and people. It was forced to finally withdraw support and funding from the project in 1994. Patkar always felt that the Narmada Valley Project is a result of a lopsided, anti-people development plan, where the benefits for the rich and the powerful overweigh benefits to the poor, for example displacement and loss of livelihood. She and NBA challenge this displacement and the loss of livelihood as well as the rich natural resources and invaluable archaeological heritage of the region, without fair compensation and rehabilitation. She also calculated the actual cost and benefits of the Project. Today, when the Project seems to be not accruing due benefits to the drought-affected regions of Kutch, their questioning has been proved right. Several fact finding reports, People‟s Tribunal reports, Court Judgements and reports by prestigious institutions like TISS have vindicated NBA‟s and Medha Patkar's position. She is a committed campaigner for the cause of the displaced and participates in numerous fora to educate the world about the atrocities against the helpless tribals and villagers. In 1999, she had to be forcefully removed from a nearly submerged village (State) where she was protesting against the submergence of villages for the Project. In March 2006, Patkar participated in a 20 day hunger strike to protest against the authorities' decision to raise the height of the dam.1 Support to her cause has poured in from many eminent people. Baba Amte joined the leadership of Narmada Bachao Andolan for over a decade. Noted writers Mahashweta Devi and Arundhati Roy, social activists like Swami Agnivesh, Aruna Roy, jurists like Justice Krishna Iyer, Justice Rajinder Sachar, Senior Lawyers K G Kannabiran and Prashant Bhushan, Directors Vijay Tendulkar and Anand Patwardhan, cine artists Sadashiv Amrapurkar, Shreeram Lagoo, Rahul Bose, Aamir Khan and Shabana Azmi, academicians like Amlan Dutt, Prof Yashpal, eminent journalist and ex-MP, Kuldeep Nayyar, JNUSU as well as leaders from Left Parties have been involved with her causes from time to time. Patkar is one of the leading activists of a powerful network of over 250 mass-based movements across India called the National Alliance of People's Movements (NAPM) of which she is the National Convenor. The NAPM2 is involved in various people's struggles in at least 15 states of the country where human rights are being violated. Apart from taking up the issues of rights' violations, NAPM also work towards a more people- centric polity, with accountability and transparency as its core. The major issues on which Medha Patkar and NAPM have campaigned and achieved success in some measure through various struggles include the cause of the farmers and agricultural workers, unorganized / unprotected sector workers, the urban poor and their right to housing, the right to food and malnourishment in the tribal region and decentralized development with the rights of local communities to the local resources. Mass Leader fighting to Protect Civil Rights Beyond the Narmada valley, Medha Patkar played a crucial role in the empowerment of people, struggling to protect their civil and political, as well as economic, social and cultural rights in as many as 20 states of the country. Apart from extending support to such struggles, a few notable ones where her name prominently appeared are the ones against massive evictions in Mumbai's slums, for farmers and the fishing community affected by anti-poor policies in various states, and against projects such as the Kakinada SEZ in Andhra Pradesh, Coca Cola company in Plachimada of Kerala(for water rights), for rehabilitation rights of various dam- affected people in Maharashtra and many other issues related to displacement in Orissa, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, as well as West Bengal; such as Nandigram, Singur and Katwa. Some important struggles where she was directly involved were: Against the Tata Nano car plant in Singur, where a young tribal girl Tapasi Malik was raped and killed by Guards deployed by the CPIM-led Left Front Government of West Bengal. Due to popular protest, the plant had to be relocated to Sanand, Gujarat3. Against the proposed Chemical Hub of Salim Group of Indonesia, in Nandigram. While proceeding towards Nandigram, Patkar‟s vehicle was attacked by CPIM goons at Kapaseberia in East Midnapore4. Against the Lavasa City project near Pune in Maharashtra5. Medha protested against environmental damage in Nagpur and had filed a PIL in the Supreme Court against the Project.