Roy's anti-Anna remarks draw Medha Patkar's criticism

Bhopal, Aug 24: Social activist, Medha Patkar slammed Arundhati Roy's statements on the Gandhian Crusader Anna Hazare calling it baseless and unacceptable.

"We completely disagree with the statement of Arundhati Roy, that the Maoists and Jan Lokpal activists have one thing in common - they both seek to overthrow the Indian state," said Medha Patkar.

"This is baseless and not acceptable," she said further.

Arundahati Roy is one of Medha Patkar's biggest supporters in her campaign against big dams.

When questioned about Shabnam Hashmi, human right activist calling Anna's fast “violent", Medha said, "How can she term it violent? Satyagrah can never be violent. I have always appreciated Shabnam's human rights campaigns, but I disagree that Anna's movement can be violent just because he has set a deadline for the UPA to accept the Jan Lokpal."

When further questioned if the anti-Anna movement would affect the campaign she said, "They may, they may not."

"We may have differences on how the campaign should be run or on some points of the Jan Lokpal bill, but they can be sorted out with discussions. We certainly don't want Mahabharata with each other," she added.

When asked about her views on the Aug 30 deadline to pass the Jan Lokpal Bill, Medha said that it was the UPA's problem and it was the government that granted Anna to protest at Ramlila till Aug 30.

She also added that someone with a clean image like the chief minister of Maharashtra, Prithviraj Chavan hold talks with Team Anna as there were no cases of corruption against him.

She also criticised LK Advani for demanding the Prime Minister's resignation.

"He should first clarify his stand on Jan Lokpal," she said.

OneIndia News