Church leaders slam jail term for Indian activist

Church leaders have condemned an Indian court order to jail for five months a well-known social activist at the center of a 23-year-old libel suit.

Medha Patkar, a renowned human rights activist, was sentenced by a metropolitan court in the national capital New Delhi on July 1 in a case filed by the current Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena in 2001.

The court directed Patkar to pay 1 million Indian rupees (some US$12,000) in compensation to Saxena, a leader of the right-wing Bharatiya Janta Party of Prime Minister Narendra Modi whose administration is known for targeting social activists, writers, students, lawyers, and journalists.“Convicting Medha Patkar is a travesty of justice,” activist priest Father Cedric Prakash told UCA News on July 2.

After all, it is a 23-year-old case, Prakash noted.

In 2000, Saxena, who headed an NGO in the western Indian state of Gujarat, published an advertisement against Patkar’s Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA ), a movement that opposed the construction of dams over the Narmada River in western India.

After the advertisement, Patkar issued a statement alleging that Saxena was “mortgaging the people of Gujarat and their resources before Bill Gates.”

Subsequently, Saxena filed a libel suit against her in a Gujarat court in 2001. The case was transferred to Delhi in 2003 on the orders of the Indian Supreme Court.

Prakash said that Patkar “spoke the truth,” and her statement does not constitute defamation.

“The conviction order reeks of vindictiveness,” said the Jesuit priest, who is based in Ahmadabad, the capital of Gujarat, Modi’s home state.

Patkar came to prominence with the protest against the Sardar Sarovar Project, a terminal dam on the Narmada River in Gujarat that is due to be completed in 2025.

According to the government, the project will provide drinking water to 30 million people. However, Patkar said it would displace more than 100,000 people in 245 villages.

Patkar is a national icon and all charges against her must be dropped immediately, Prakash demanded.

“Patkar has done selfless services for decades. Sentencing her is inhuman,” said A C Michael, national coordinator of the United Christian Forum (UCF), an inter-denominational organization that tracks violence against Christians in India.

“She doesn’t deserve this kind of harsh punishment. The court must reconsider the order.”

The court noted in the order that Patkar tried to associate Saxena with illegal and unethical financial dealings without providing substantive evidence.

“This is an attempt to malign his [Saxena’s] financial integrity,” the court said.

Patkar has filed a bail plea pending an appeal, and the sentence will be suspended for 30 days until the court hears the plea.

Modi became prime minister of India for the third time on June 9. His pro-Hindu government does not tolerate criticism and has jailed many activists.

Many writers and activists are still cooling their feet in Indian jails. Father Stan Swamy, who was accused of a plot to kill Modi, died in custody on July 5, 2021.Late last month, Saxena gave the green signal to the Delhi police to file charges against author Arundhati Roy in a 14 -year-old case relating to remarks she made at a conference on disputed Kashmir in October 2010.

Currently, India is ranked 159th out of 180 nations in Reporters Without Borders’ press freedom index.

This article is originally published on https://www.ucanews.com/news/church-leaders-slam-jail-term-for-indian-activist/105600