Special Correspondent
NEW DELHI: Narmada Bachao Andolan leader Medha Patkar on Sunday urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to intervene and get her discharged from the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences where she was admitted after she was removed from the dharna site at Jantar Mantar on April 5 after her condition started deteriorating.
Asserts her right
In a letter to Mr. Singh, she asserted her right to continue her indefinite fast at the dharna site with the tribals and villagers displaced by the Narmada dam.
She said it was "unfortunate" and "spoke for the distorted perspective of the system" that she was charged with attempt to commit suicide under Section 309 of the Indian Penal Code.
Her colleagues were accused of "rioting, criminal assault, obstructing public servants in discharge of their duty and so on".
Police action
Most of the NBA workers and dam-displaced people were asleep when police swooped down on them in the middle of the night, she pointed out.
Ms. Patkar said that while this might have to be fought legally, "we know by now that all decisions relating to the Sardar Sarovar dam are made on the basis of neither law nor facts, but politics."
The fasting leader’s potassium levels dipped on the 12th day of the fast, though her condition was described as "stable".
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