Medha counters NCCL's vilification campaign

By Staff
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Google Oneindia News

New Delhi, Apr 25: Undeterred by inspired legal challenges, the Narmada Bachao Andolan has pledged to continue its "non-violent battles for human dignity, justice and people-oriented development".

Reacting to media reports about the NBA allegedly having been issued notice regarding illegal foreign funding and stalling a 'development' project, NBA Chairperson Medha Patkar today told sources that such news items -- about ''inquiry ordered'' or ''the accusation by Government -- were ''utterly false and legally challengeable as criminal and defamatory.'' She said Mr V K Saxena of the National Council of Civil Liberties (NCCL), who was one of the accused in the case filed by her for physical attack in Sabarmati Ashram, had been carrying out a vilification campaign against her.

He was also an accused in another case of publishing defamatory advertisement in newspapers about the NBA several years ago.

NCCL has now filed a petition charging NBA with 'sedition' apart from illegal foreign funding, violence using detonators and stalling a 'development' project, she said.

She said though the Supreme Court had admitted the case, it had refused to issue any notice to her. Notices were issued to the NBA and other parties, including state governments of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and the Union of India.

''The charge of foreign funding, claiming that we have accepted foreign awards illegally and received money through support organisations is also countered with all proof and data,'' she said.

She categorically said the NBA had not touched any money associated with the awards and did not have any foreign funded projects.

The state governments of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh had filed their affidavits in which Gujarat has stated that a high-level inquiry may be conducted.

Madhya Pradesh has repeated the cases filed by itself (the police at local levels) while almost all of those were settled in favour of NBA activists, the affected people themselves.

The Centre too filed its affidavit on April 17 in which it referred to two inquiries already conducted into the account books of NBA in 2000 and 2002 by the Ministry of Home Affairs and found nothing indicating violation of Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA).

UNI

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