Spanish Protest comes to a standstill, one falls ill

New Delhi, May 27 (UNI) Condition of a Spanish national, Caballero, who had been on hunger strike for the past 23 days at Jantar Mantar here to protest the Uttarakhand government's alleged ''forcible acquisition'' of an NGO's land, deteriorated last night.

Caballero was adminstered treatment last night after his condition aggravated. He was rushed to a hospital by the police thereby forcing him to evict the protest site.

Juan Manuel Rojas Caballero, along with Antononio Campana Padilla, had started the fast on May 5 in protest against the seizure of a piece of land that their NGO had bought in Hardwar in 1997.

After the duo moved from Hardwar and Rishikesh to Delhi to register their protest, Padilla was taken ill and had to end his fast. However, the strike did not come to a halt as Caballero was determined to continue the protest.

The NGO 'Fundacion Veg Pozo Rojas Padilla Trust', also registered in India, said the land had been bought from a private dealer with official approval at a payment of Rs 13 lakh. The duo, who are trained football coaches, had intended to build a well-equipped playground for children of socially backward classes, for soccer training. They had started the programme with 26 children in 2001 and had over 300 children enrolled till last year, it said.

In January this year, the district administration, however, had termed the land acquisition ''illegal'' and ordered the builders to undo whatever had been built under the project. The NGO also alleged that Padilla was assaulted during the seizure.

UNI