FIR against Medha Patkar, 11 others for 'misuse' of funds; she denies allegations
Barwani (PTI): An FIR was registered against Narmada Bachao Andolan leader Medha Patkar and 11 others in Madhya Pradesh's Barwani district on a complaint by a villager alleging the misuse of funds collected for managing educational facilities for tribal students by diverting them for "political and anti-national agenda", police said on Sunday.
Patkar has dismissed the allegations against her as "wrong", saying she had a full account and audit of the expenses and hinted at political reasons behind the allegations.
Barwani superintendent of police Deepak Kumar Shukla told PTI over the phone that a case was registered against Medha Patkar and others following a private complaint, in which the complainant has provided some documents.
"As the case is related to old transactions, a detailed investigation will be carried out," he said.
The FIR was registered at the Barwani police station on Saturday on the complaint of one Pritamraj Badole, a resident of Temla Bujurg village.
Badole has alleged that Narmada Navnirman Abhiyan (NNA), a trust registered in Mumbai, misused funds collected for running residential educational facilities for tribal students of the Narmada Valley in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, as per the FIR.
The complainant stated that the NNA had received Rs 13.50 crore from various sources in the past 14 years but these funds were used for a "political and anti-national agenda", which requires a probe.
Those named in the FIR are Medha Patkar, Parveen Rumi Jahangir, Vijaya Chouhan, Kailash Awasya, Mohan Patidar, Ashish Mandloi, Kewal Singh Vasave, Sanjay Joshi, Shyam Patil, Sunit SR, Noorji Padvi and Keshav Vasave.
"The case is related to two states Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. The documents and facts will be verified and all the parties concerned will be allowed to present their sides and facts. Further legal steps will be taken as per the facts that emerge during the investigation," the SP said.
Rubbishing the allegations, Patkar said she was yet to receive any information on this development (registration of the FIR) from the police.
Patkar claimed it was not the first time that she was being subjected to such allegations and asserted she was ready to reply to all of them as the full accounts and audit of the funds were available.
She alleged the complainant may be associated with the RSS and ABVP and reiterated that her organisation does not receive funds from abroad and all finances are thoroughly audited annually.
"The funds were used appropriately and the 'jiwanshalas' being run at present have been there for the past three decades. The organisation has been involved in rehabilitation for decades. It has always given replies to such allegations with documents," Patkar said.
The activist, however, also said she didn't deal with funds and expenses, which are taken care of by other functionaries.
Patkar, who claimed that a debate is underway in the country on 'rashtravad' (nationalism) and "rashtradroh (treason/sedition), said there may be political reasons behind this case or it may be a conspiracy to defame.
"Those who do the right thing by asking questions about the system are called anti-nationals. The public will decide," she said.
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Trouble ‘Miyas’ everywhere only then they will leave Assam: Himanta Biswa Sarma
Says “Himanta Biswa Sarma, BJP are openly against them, we are saying it openly
New Delhi: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday said that four to five lakh “Miya voters” would be removed from the electoral rolls in the state once the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists is carried out. He also made a series of controversial remarks openly targeting the Miya community, a term commonly used in Assam in a derogatory sense to refer to Bengali-speaking Muslims.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an official programme in Digboi in Tinsukia district, Sarma said it was his responsibility to create difficulties for the Miya community and claimed that both he and the BJP were “directly against Miyas”.
“Four to five lakh Miya votes will have to be deleted in Assam when the SIR happens,” Sarma said, adding that such voters “should ideally not be allowed to vote in Assam, but in Bangladesh”. He asserted that the government was ensuring that they would not be able to vote in the state.
The chief minister was responding to questions about notices issued to thousands of Bengali-speaking Muslims during the claims and objections phase of the ongoing Special Revision (SR) of electoral rolls in Assam. While the Election Commission is conducting SIR exercises in 12 states and Union Territories, Assam is currently undergoing an SR, which is usually meant for routine updates.
Calling the current SR “preliminary”, Sarma said that a full-fledged SIR in Assam would lead to large-scale deletion of Miya voters. He said he was unconcerned about criticism from opposition parties over the issue.
“Let the Congress abuse me as much as they want. My job is to make the Miya people suffer,” Sarma said. He claimed that complaints filed against members of the community were done on his instructions and that he had encouraged BJP workers to keep filing complaints.
“I have told people wherever possible they should fill Form 7 so that they have to run around a little and are troubled,” he said, adding that such actions were meant to send a message that “the Assamese people are still living”.
In remarks that drew further outrage, Sarma urged people to trouble members of the Miya community in everyday life, claiming that “only if they face troubles will they leave Assam”. He also accused the media of sympathising with the community and warned journalists against such coverage.
“So you all should also trouble, and you should not do news that sympathise with them. There will be love jihad in your own house.” He said.
The comments triggered reactions from opposition leaders. Raijor Dal president and MLA Akhil Gogoi said the people of Assam had not elected Sarma to keep one community under constant pressure. Congress leader Aman Wadud accused the chief minister of rendering the Constitution meaningless in the state, saying his remarks showed a complete disregard for constitutional values.
According to the draft electoral rolls published on December 27, Assam currently has 2.51 crore voters. Election officials said 4.78 lakh names were marked as deceased, 5.23 lakh as having shifted, and 53,619 duplicate entries were removed during the revision process. Authorities also claimed that verification had been completed for over 61 lakh households.
On January 25, six opposition parties the Congress, Raijor Dal, Assam Jatiya Parishad, CPI, CPI(M) and CPI(M-L) submitted a memorandum to the state’s chief electoral officer. They alleged widespread legal violations, political interference and selective targeting of genuine voters during the SR exercise, describing it as arbitrary, unlawful and unconstitutional.
