Social activist and National Alliance of People's Movements (NAPM) leader Medha Patkar on Thursday joined the protest against the construction of Andhra's proposed capital and alleged that the state was breaking laws.
The New Indian Express reported that she visited villages in Guntur's Tullur mandal where the capital city would be built and alleged that the rights of agriculture workers, Dalits and women were been undermined.
“It is time all those who uphold human rights, fought against the injustice being meted out to the people of the villages in Tullur mandal...Land Acquisition Act, 2013 and environmental legislations were violated without any compunction,” TNIE quoted her as saying.
Speaking to The Hindu after the protest, Patkar said:
"Amaravati appears to be a piece of real estate and not a real Capital. The people’s natural resource capital is robbed. No doubt about it...The project may not stop as Chief Minister (N. Chandrababu Naidu) was defiant of people’s democracy. He would not easily bow down and hold a dialogue with the (people’s) organisations. Otherwise, there would not have been a conflict. There is no dispute resolution in this country with regard to forest, land and water. That’s the tragedy of development paradigm.(sic)"
She is also quoted to have said that the capital would "collapse on it's own."
The report adds that she also criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi for attending the foundation laying ceremony of the capital.