With Magsasay awardee Rajendra Singh adding his voice to the protests against Pepsi and Coke and their exploitative water policies, the strike in Mehndiganj received another boost.

April 20th 2006- Continued sitting on Dharna in front of Coca cola factory.
April 21st 2006- Motivating the women of Dipapur village to form a Sanghatana and also inviting them to participate in the program on the 28th of April.
April 22nd 2006- Continued sitting on Dharna in front of Coca cola factory.

April 23rd 2006- Women from Kaneri village participated in the dharna as per scheduled.

April 24th 2006- Dharna continued enthusiastically with more and more localities participating in it.

April 25th 2006- Dharna continued as usual and added to it Fr. Anand�s team �� Prerena Kala Manch� from Benaras conducted four street plays in different villages and one in the market place at Raja talab thus conscientising people on the importance of water and spreading awareness of the harm that is being caused due to the Coca-Cola factory.

April 26th 2006- Members from Samajwadi Jan Parishad joined the Dharna.

April 27th 2006- Preparations for tomorrow�s program in which Dr. Rajendra Singh would be invited was being carried out along side some members continued sitting on dharna with awareness songs being played on the microphone.

April 28th 2006- The Dharna site was certainly different today with many more colorful banners being displayed around asking Coca cola to quit India and the world. Women from almost four villages came in to attend the meeting shouting slogans.

Miss Lotta from Sweden was filming this program. Initially Prerena Kala Manch youth sang some awareness songs in which people participated also followed by Mr. Balchandra along with his team. Dr. Rajendra Singh was accompanied by Chanchal Mukherjee, members from Kaladera-Rajasthan, Dr. Swati from BHU, Mr. Aflatoon, Nitibhai and several others.

Chanchal Mukherjee described Coca Cola Company as looters. He mentioned that the future of India looks grim because India will have to face severe water crisis. Activist from KalaDera also encouraged the people by saying that mass strength was more than the strength of MNCs like Coca cola. People started slogans like ladenge- jethenge which means that �We will fight- We will win�.

Then a localite Ms Jagrupanidevi shared her experiences and said fearlessly that they were not frightened of lathis or police threats or any other harm. Dr. Swati from BHU was also present at the occasion and encouraged the people that like Gandhi we would have to fight this struggle by adopting satyagraha means. It is a long struggle but we need to believe that we will win. The speakers created an atmosphere for people to grasp the essence of the meeting.

Magsasay awardee Rajendra Singhji finally came-up to address the gathering by beginning his speech by saying that this country is a place where Rani Laximibai was born. Each one is concerned about water and we feel that we will win. For which people expressed their agreement by a loud applause. He stated that the one�s most affected by water crisis in future would be the women. He boldly stated that Coca Cola is a liar because they claim to be conserving water by rainwater harvesting and others means which is only a farce. Hs also stated instances in which he said that even during the Mexico gathering on water Coca Cola sponsored food but even there they made a lot of money by selling water.

Rajendra Singhji stated stories of women who had made a difference like Kajoridevi from Rajasthan who fought for more than one and half a year and played a key role in mobilizing people. He encouraged people by saying that Coca cola will quit and one should dream that this movement would be a success. Rajendra Singhji in particular was stressing on mobilizing women. The future of the Andolan lies in the hands of the women and women need to play a key role in the Andolan. Some women showed their agreement by spontaneously rising and singing songs thus expressing their agreement.

Rajendra Singhji continued urging people to rise-up and stand against a Coca- Cola giant. Sanghatana is �unity� and Andolan is the answer to stop this exploitation with which Rajendra Singhji concluded his speech. Several others who were present at the meeting like Asit from NBA, Smrutiben, Neeraj Pandey encouraged the people to come together to struggle for their rights.

April 29th 2006- Sitting on dharna continued and preparations for next days cycle rally was being carried out such as contacting youth in villages, making placards like Coca cola Bharat Chodo etc. which would be placed in front of the cycles.

April 30, 2006- Cycle rally- Around 50 youth from different villages accompanied by Nandlal and the other Lok Samiti members went on a cycle rally. The rally started from the Dharna and all the cyclists gathered in front of Coca Cola factory shouting slogans after which Nandlal delivered a short speech during which the cyclists had blocked the road. Then the rally proceeded to Mehndiganj, Bhikaripur, Rakhina, Saidapur, Kalipur, Khazori, Mubarakpur, Murjipur, Ganeshpur, Islampur, Benipur, Maheshpati, Kurdia, Mohmmadapur, Naibasti, Jansa, Dindaspur, Harsos, Harpur, Bhairotalab, Virhanpur, Ganjari, Kaneri, Mohansarai, Kachana and would end at Rajatalab thus covering in all 26 villages. The youth were quite enthusiastic and participated wholeheartedly. The response from the villagers was overwhelming and while conversing with some the people expressed that they too would participate in the dharna henceforth. The rally was being filmed by Ms Lotta from Sweden for her documentay film on water which will be ready in the near future.

May 1st 2006- Continued sitting on Dharna in front of Coca cola factory.

May 2nd 2006- Dharna continued enthusiastically with more and more localities participating in it

Related Links
Coke Too Big for Lower Courts and Other Stories
Pepsi & Coke Facing Ban, Consumer Boycott
Community Groups demand Coke, Pepsi Stop Exploitation
Communities in Ballia, Kaladera want Coke Out