Medha Patkar, the (in)famous activist, who creates hurdles in every development/infrastructure initiative, might be booked under a criminal case by Regional Passport Office in Mumbai. The RPO Mumbai has sought the permission of Ministry of External Affairs to file a criminal case against the activist, for not disclosing criminal cases against her in the passport application.
The maximum punishment for the offence is two years of rigorous imprisonment and or 5,000 rupees fine, or both.
Patkar had applied for passport in 2017, and many criminal cases were pending against her at that time. She chose not to disclose the case against her, which is a criminal offence. In June last year, a journalist filed case against Patkar, for concealing the criminal cases filed against her in Madhya Pradesh. After which, the Mumbai PRO served her with a notice, in which it was revealed that nine cases- Three in Barwani, one in Alirajpur and five in Khandwa district of Madhya Pradesh- have been registered against Medha Patkar so far.
A notice was issued to her seeking explanation, responding to which she surrendered her passport on December 9. Her passport was automatically impounded by the authorities, given the fact that she had not obtained it through legal means.
Medha Patkar is the founding member of the 32-year-old movement called Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) in three states- Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat. NBA has been engaged in a fight against the dams related to the Sardar Sarovar dam project, by virtue of which Patkar can be called an obstructionist, denying many regions of infrastructural development. For modern anti-development activists, Medha Patkar serves as an inspiration.
Recently, Aatish Taseer’s OCI status was revoked by the Indian government for concealing the fact from authorities that his father was of Pakistani origin. Now with Medha Patkar concealing information on a much larger scale, it is more than evident that her passport would be impounded, not to mention the legal action which will also be taken against her under the Passports Act.
A few weeks ago, when Medha Patkar joined the anti-CAA protest in Delhi, the Pakistani Hindu refugees in a show of strength forced her to leave as they dared her to show them if she could survive in Pakistan. Patkar was served a timely reality check as the Pakistani Hindus showed her the mirror.
People like Medha Patkar take moral high ground, show themselves as pro-people, pro-environment and what not. But, when it comes to honesty in personal conduct, they are far away from the positions taken in public.
She has made a career out of protests against the development activities, delayed crucial irrigation facilities to the farmers of the country, especially in state of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. She should be awarded with maximum punishment, therefore, she cannot carry out the anti-state, anti-national, anti-development, anti-poor activities in next few years.