‘Modi govt fears both truth and non-violent protest’
NEW DELHI, July 27: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday attacked the BJP over the tribal protests against the Ken-Betwa river linking project in Madhya Pradesh.
Rahul has alleged that instead of listening to them, their peaceful agitation is being crushed with police force.
Gandhi also alleged that the Modi government fears both truth and non-violent resistance.
“The tribal brothers and sisters of Madhya Pradesh sat on a water satyagraha and hunger strike because their land was taken away for the Ken-Betwa project, but they received neither fair compensation nor dignified rehabilitation,” the leader of opposition in Lok Sabha said in a post in Hindi on X.
The truth is that tribals are the original owners of the country-the first right to water, forests, and land belongs to them alone, Gandhi said.
And their “satyagraha” is because that very right is being snatched from them today, he alleged.
“In their unique way, their demand is simply this: provide a proper means of livelihood-or else life is no different from a funeral pyre.
“But even this is unacceptable to the BJP government. Instead of listening to them, their peaceful protest is being crushed with police force,” Gandhi said.
Gandhi also shared a video clip highlighting the protests in Madhya Pradesh.
The Rs 44,605-crore Ken-Betwa Link Project is the country’s first river-linking project under the National Perspective Plan.
It aims to irrigate 1.062 million hectares of land, provide drinking water to about 6.2 million people and generate hydropower in the drought-prone Bundelkhand region spanning MP and UP. (PTI)
