In late September Nandlal Prasad, a community activist from Mehdiganj, near Varansi, who has been raising community issues regarding the depletion of water in the area owing to the bottling plant of Coke and toxic dumping in the area by the plant, was denied renewal of his passport.

Between September 2004 and March 2005, Nandlal, along with numerous other members of the community used non-violent and democratic methods to present their concerns. The concerns they were raising included depletion of local water table through withdrawal of over 500000 liters of water per day, dumping of toxic wastes in fields around the plant that have affected toxicity in the area, illegal occupation of village land (which Coca Cola company has not yet released despite orders from the High Court), and fraud of Rs 75 lakhs in taxes.

Local communities organized a march through about 300 KM with over 500 people joining the rally on the final day. Members of communities raising these concerns were arrested, and beaten up by the police, their lives were threatened by individuals who were connected to Coca Cola company through circumstantial evidence. Criminal charges were pressed against Nandlal and others.

In the past month, Nandlal was invited on a speaking tour in the USA to talk to communities in the USA about the impact of Coke’s activities on local communities. He submitted his passport for renewal and his passport was confiscated by the government of India because of criminal charges outstanding against him. Since then, his appeal to the local court to allow for the renewal has been overruled. The high court has since asked Nandlal to appear in Court numerous times.

Nandlal says that he has gone to the court every time and each time the court has postponed the hearing. Yet, he cannot afford not to go because the court threatens that an arrest warrant will be issued if he does not go. This has been a process of harassment.

This process has raised numerous questions about the democracy of our nation and processes of justice.

For one, the barriers to communities raising their voices against injustice and exploitation against powerful entities are clear. How does a community that is (or that feels that it is) exploited by Coca Cola present these concerns. Clearly, in a democratic society, the constitution guarantees that communities can gather to present their concerns.

In this case, there was never any doubt that these were non-violent demonstrations. Through out the rallies, speakers and leaders constantly reminded the group about their commitment to non-violent processes. Besides, if indeed the group wanted to perpetrate violence or cause damage to the plant, it could do it at any point given that they live next to the plant. So clearly the rally was not meant to do any physical damage to the plant.

And yet, police, and administration was called in to brutally beat down this democratic process. Heads were split, bones were broken. Medical services were not provided. Why? And who ordered this action by the police?

On the same lines, why this process against Nandlal? Numerous activists from political parties, business leaders, etc, who have criminal convictions as well as criminal charges against them, have been able to travel out of the country freely.

Why has an individual who is actually strengthening democratic processes and working with community organizations in a transparent fashion being harassed? Is the government and bureaucracy not working to stymie democratic processes?

Who is the government working for?

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