Modi govt fears truth and non-violent protest: Rahul on MP tribal agitation

Congress MP and Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Monday, 27 July accused the BJP-led Union government of suppressing the peaceful agitation of tribal communities protesting displacement by the Ken-Betwa river linking project in Madhya Pradesh, claiming that the Modi government fears both truth and non-violent resistance.

The protests, centred around villages likely to be affected by the Daudhan dam, have seen hundreds of adivasi residents stage a prolonged water satyagraha and indefinite hunger strike, demanding fair compensation, rehabilitation and recognition of their rights under forest and land laws. Some protesters even built mock chitas (funeral pyres) and lay on them to symbolise living death.

Protesters say many families face displacement from ancestral lands and forests that sustain their livelihoods, and have alleged that the rehabilitation process has been inadequate and lacking in meaningful consultation.

Most of the protesters were driven away by police action on 19 July.

In a post in Hindi on X, Gandhi said the protesters had been forced to take to the water because their land had been acquired for the Ken-Betwa project without ensuring justice.

'The tribal brothers and sisters of Madhya Pradesh sat on a water satyagraha and hunger strike because their land was taken away for the Ken-Betwa project, but they received neither fair compensation nor dignified rehabilitation,' the LoP wrote.

'The truth is that tribals are the original owners of the country — the first right to water, forests and land belongs to them alone,' Gandhi said, alleging that their constitutional rights were being taken away.

Calling their agitation a struggle for survival rather than a political movement, Gandhi said the protesters were demanding nothing more than a secure means of livelihood.

'In their unique way, their demand is simply this: provide a proper means of livelihood — or else life is no different from a funeral pyre. But even this is unacceptable to the BJP government. Instead of listening to them, their peaceful protest is being crushed with police force,' he said.

"We stand with our tribal brothers and sisters. We will secure justice for them — compensation and rehabilitation will have to be provided," the Congress MP added.

Gandhi also shared a video highlighting the ongoing protests in Madhya Pradesh.

The Rs 44,605-crore Ken-Betwa Link Project is the country's first river-linking project under the National Perspective Plan. Envisaged as a major water-sharing initiative between Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, the project aims to irrigate 1.062 million hectares of land, provide drinking water to around 6.2 million people and generate hydropower in the drought-prone Bundelkhand region.

The project, however, has remained contentious, with environmental groups and tribal organisations warning of large-scale displacement, the submergence of forest areas — including parts of the Panna landscape — and the long-term impact on the livelihoods and cultural ties of forest-dependent communities.

Protesters have maintained that while they are not opposed to development, it cannot come at the cost of forcing vulnerable communities from their homes without fair compensation, rehabilitation and informed consent.