Dear Friends/Co-sailors,
Greetings from Water Initiatives Odisha (WIO) !
This is really shocking. Maharashtra is reeling under one of the severest drought conditions in known history and the Deputy Chief Minister of the state Mr. Ajit Pawar, who is also the nephew of Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, has humiliated farmers of this nation by a very shocking statement. As you can see from the NDTV report that I am pasting below, Mr. Pawar has said in a rally, "There is this person from Solapur, sitting on hunger strike for 55 days demanding water be released from the dam. But where are we going to get water from? Should we urinate? And when we are not getting water to drink even urine is not coming easily."
He has apologized for his remarks later but this speaks for the true character of the current ruling political class of this nation who are all sold out to interest of industries and rich urbanites. They are all out to kill the farmers and farming.
Water Initiatives Odisha (WIO) condemns this statement by Mr. Pawar and asks him to provide sufficient water for irrigation to needy farmers; stop rampant commercialization of agriculture; stop privatizing water resources and draw suitable lines for industrialization in the state keeping in view the water and ecological footprint carrying capacity of the ecology.
We are keeping a watch on the issue and will keep you updated. If you are also looking at this issue and have something to share, please do share with us. And, if you are interested to join hands with WIO in its campaigns, advocacy efforts and action programmes, please contact us at ranjanpanda@gmail.com/
Thanks and regards,
Ranjan
Thanks and regards,
Ranjan
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Ajit Pawar apologises for shocking remark: 'If no water in dam, do we urinate in it?'
Pune: Maharashtra's Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Sunday apologised for ridiculing a two-month-long protest by a farmer, who is demanding dam water for his parched field.
"There is this person from Solapur, sitting on hunger strike for 55 days demanding water be released from the dam. But where are we going to get water from? Should we urinate? And when we are not getting water to drink even urine is not coming easily," Mr Pawar had said at a rally in Indapur, Pune, on Saturday.
Yesterday, in a statement, Mr Pawar said he is sorry for "hurting sentiments of people in Maharashtra with his comment". "These remarks were not made for drought-affected people," he said.
Protesting farmer slams Ajit Pawar's remark on water shortage
Mr Pawar is the nephew of Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar and a senior leader of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
Commenting on the shortage of electricity, Mr Pawar made another controversial remark. "I have also come to know that since there is a shortage of electricity in Maharashtra, the population is increasing," he said.
As the crowd laughed, Mr Pawar added, "All of you must be thinking that I have taken (liquor) in the day itself."
Prabhakar Deshmukh, the farmer Mr Pawar ridiculed, said the minister had insulted the people of Maharashtra.
Mr Pawar was to hold a rally in Pune on Sunday, but it was cancelled. The NCP is tight-lipped on the issue, but party leaders are reportedly shocked by Mr Pawar's statement. "Even as a joke, this is just unacceptable," a senior leader said.
The BJP too slammed Mr Pawar. "Instead of saying that I stand by the public he makes comments like this. This is the lowest of low in Maharashtra politics," BJP leader Shaina NC said.
The Maharashtra government says the state is reeling under the worst drought since 1972. Most affected are the districts of Solapur, Ahmednagar, Sangli, Pune, Satara, Beed and Nashik.
Ajit Pawar had to resign after allegations were levelled against him in the Rs. 70,000 crore irrigation scam as he held the irrigation and water resources portfolio for a nearly a decade. However, the party reinstated him later.
Source: http://www.ndtv.com/article/
Pune: Maharashtra's Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Sunday apologised for ridiculing a two-month-long protest by a farmer, who is demanding dam water for his parched field.
"There is this person from Solapur, sitting on hunger strike for 55 days demanding water be released from the dam. But where are we going to get water from? Should we urinate? And when we are not getting water to drink even urine is not coming easily," Mr Pawar had said at a rally in Indapur, Pune, on Saturday.
Yesterday, in a statement, Mr Pawar said he is sorry for "hurting sentiments of people in Maharashtra with his comment". "These remarks were not made for drought-affected people," he said.
Protesting farmer slams Ajit Pawar's remark on water shortage
Mr Pawar is the nephew of Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar and a senior leader of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
Commenting on the shortage of electricity, Mr Pawar made another controversial remark. "I have also come to know that since there is a shortage of electricity in Maharashtra, the population is increasing," he said.
As the crowd laughed, Mr Pawar added, "All of you must be thinking that I have taken (liquor) in the day itself."
Prabhakar Deshmukh, the farmer Mr Pawar ridiculed, said the minister had insulted the people of Maharashtra.
Mr Pawar was to hold a rally in Pune on Sunday, but it was cancelled. The NCP is tight-lipped on the issue, but party leaders are reportedly shocked by Mr Pawar's statement. "Even as a joke, this is just unacceptable," a senior leader said.
The BJP too slammed Mr Pawar. "Instead of saying that I stand by the public he makes comments like this. This is the lowest of low in Maharashtra politics," BJP leader Shaina NC said.
The Maharashtra government says the state is reeling under the worst drought since 1972. Most affected are the districts of Solapur, Ahmednagar, Sangli, Pune, Satara, Beed and Nashik.
Ajit Pawar had to resign after allegations were levelled against him in the Rs. 70,000 crore irrigation scam as he held the irrigation and water resources portfolio for a nearly a decade. However, the party reinstated him later.
- Reported by Tejas Mehta and Syed Imtiaz Jaleel, Edited by Amit Chaturvedi | Updated: April 08, 2013 00:25 IST
The best way to deal with this is to
ReplyDelete1. cut Mr. Pawar's water supply
2. Get all the farmers and supporters to come and fill Mr pawar's water tank with urine. As he said it is difficult to pass urine also, but I am sure the people will do this much sacrifice to fill his tank.