CNN-IBN
Posted Thursday , April 06, 2006 at 07:35
Updated Thursday , April 06, 2006 at 13:05
New Delhi: The Delhi Police have filed an First Information Report (FIR) against Narmada Bachao Andolan activist Medha Patkar after forcibly taking her to hospital late on Wednesday night.
Patkar, who had been on a hunger strike against the Sardar Sarovar Dam for eight days, was taken to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences as police feared for her life.
She is now in the Intensive Care Unit of AIIMS and her condition is said to be stable.
“She is out of danger. However, she has still in the ICU for observation,” Medical Superintendent, AIIMS, P K Sharma, said.
Medha was put on a drip and was administered 600 ml glucose.
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More than a hundred other activists were also arrested and taken to the Parliament Street police station.
Most of them were later released, and some of them reportedly sustained minor injuries during the arrest.
And though Medha’s condition deteriorated at AIIMS, she was not ready to give in.
Her message to the fellow activists was clear – don’t give up.
The figure-head of the Narmada Bachao Andolan was on a hunger strike for the past eight days protesting the construction of the Sardar Sarovar Dam.
She has also been demanding proper rehabilitation of the people displaced from the dam site.
On Wednesday, as her fast enetered Day 8, Medha’s condition deteriorated rapidly and started suffering from bouts of nausea.
The doctor who examined her said the next 48 hours would be critical for her.
Meanwhile, the activists supporting Medha’s cause held the Government responsible for not handling the situation properly.
“Instead of addressing the situation, Government is focusing on ending the strike itself. They are simply not bothered,” Activist Kavita Srivastav, says.
Meanwhile, political reactions are also trickling in. Left was, as expected, the first to react.
“Government should have taken this matter more seriously. Medha Patkar has shaken the conscience of the people,” CPI-M leader, D Raja said.
On Wednesday, the Cabinet had discussed the issue and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh tried to persuade her to give up the fast.
The Government Review Committee is due to visit the dam site on Thursday and take stock of rehabilitation measures taken so far.
This announcement was made by Union Water Resources Minister Saifuddin Soz and came after Medha’s strike entered the eighth day.
“Tomorrow, three Cabinet ministers will go to the Narmada dam site. The rehabilitation programme for those displaced by the project would be fully implemented as per the Supreme Court decision,” Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee had said.
Former prime ministers V P Singh and I K Gujral have also written to the PM, asking him not to let Patkar’s condition worsen.

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