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Attack on Medha Patkar: five arrested

By Our Special Correspondent

AHMEDABAD June 18. The BJP Gujarat unit chief of the Yuva Morcha, Amit Thakkar, and four others, including two from the Congress, have been arrested in connection with the attack on the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) leader, Medha Patkar, at the Sabarmati Gandhi Ashram on April 7.

In a latenight swoop, police picked up Mr. Thakkar and two sitting BJP members of the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation — Amit Shah, corporator from Vasna, and Nitin Patel, corporator from Naranpura. Also among the arrested were a former Congress corporator, Rohit Patel, and another party worker, Hemmant Chauhan.

All the five were produced before the court this afternoon and were released on bail.

The incident had occurred when Ms. Patkar, a "common enemy'' for all the political parties in the State for opposing the Narmada dam project, appeared in the ashram to participate in a convention of NGOs and non-political senior citizens to discuss peace and communal harmony in the riot-torn State.

While one of the organisers of the meeting and noted dancer, Mallika Sarabhai, claimed that Ms. Patkar had come "uninvited,'' some senior participants had maintained that invitations were not sent personally to anyone and the messages send through e-mail had invited "all concerned about communal disturbances'' to attend the deliberations and Ms. Patkar, as a concerned citizen, had the right to be present.

However, even before Ms. Patkar took her seat, a group of people belonging to the BJP and the Congress had attempted to disrupt the proceedings and demanded that the NBA leader be "handed over'' to them. Some of them had rushed towards Ms. Patkar and manhandled her. The organisers, with the help of police, locked up Ms. Patkar in a backroom. But as the slogan-shouting mob tried to break open the room, police resorted to lathicharge and in the melee some journalists and photographers were hurt.

The K.A. Dave Judicial Commission appointed to inquire into the lathicharge on the journalists has already absolved the police on the ground that the mediapersons were hurt in trying to save Ms. Patkar and there was no intentional attack on them.

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