National Book Trust (NBT) has decided to drop a chapter on Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) founder and Aam Adami Party leader, Medha Patkar, from a book titled “Children who made it big” after Ahmedabad based NGO, National Council for Civil liberties (NCCl), raised an objection.
NCCl President VK Saxena, in June 2002 wrote a detailed letter to Director NBT and requested to forthwith delete the the chapter “The Bus stop” on Medha Patkar. According to Saxena it was about a person having doubtful integrity and dubious contributions to the nation.
NCCl President was pursuing this matter since 2002 and in June 2014. Recently he wrote a letter to HRD Minister, Smirti Irani which was forwarded by her to the Director, NBT, for consideration. NBT after considering all the documentary evidence provided by the NCCl, took the decision to remove the Chapter on Patkar
“The author or the publisher of the book has perhaps unwittingly committed a great error of judgment by bracketing Medha Patkar with illustrious sons of the soil like M.S. Swaminathan, the Father of Green Revolution, and Ruskin Bond, one of the finest English writers in the world. This has grossly lowered the importance of the book and has put on stake the reputation of National Book Trust - known for publishing quality books on indisputable topics and unquestionable persons,” he wrote in the letter.
The book has been prescribed as a Textbook for the students of Class VII, which might leave unduly high impressions about a highly undeserving person in the minds of young students, he opined adding, “For instance, the chapter on Medha Patkar, titled “The Bus Stop” in “Children Who Made It Big” at one place quotes her saying, “How can people be so insensitive to the misery of another human being” does not just fit in her true character.”
In the guise of environmental protection of Narmada Valley upstream the Sardar Sarovar Project (SSP) dam, she has been totally insensitive and cruel to over three crore people living downstream in the drought-prone areas of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Maharashtra, added Saxena.
In his letter addressed to NBT director Saxena stated that Patkar’s brief life sketch in “A Champion of the Downtrodden” is another misnomer. “She claims herself to be the messiah of the project-affected persons. But the very fact that her “Andolan” is supported by ‘more than ten countries, which have harnessed their hydel potential to the maximum capacity, exposes her links with countries, which do not want the progress of India,” he said.
Saxena mentioned in the letter that her anti-national activities, just in case they have missed your attention as well as several cases have been filed against Ms. Patkar and NBA in various courts of the country.
“We have published various sensitive letters of NBA in the form of an advertisement in the leading newspapers of the country to show her real activities. She has not spared even the apex court of the country. We have supplied all the documentary evidence, so far collected against this institution, to the Ministry of Home Affairs, GoI, for suitable action for spreading misinformation,” said NCCl President.