It is monetisation, not demonetisation: Medha Patkar

Social activist Medha Patkar on Friday said it is wrong to term Prime Minister Narendra Modi's decision to ban Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes as demonetisation, it is monetisation of least developed communities in the country and it will not address the issue of black money.

"It is certainly not demonetisation. It is monetisation of least developed communities across the country by the government led by Modi to help market and corporate," Patkar, National Alliance of People's Movement (NAPM) leader, told IANS on the sidelines of its 11th biennial National Convention.

She said the government's decision has created such a situation where money has become an important tool in dealing with every aspect of life, even for the poorest of the poor.

Patkar said monetisation is a dangerous trend for the people and the country. Black money will not end through the government's so-called demonetisation move.

Patkar said like 'Ghar Wapsi', 'Note-Wapsi' will fail because people are being hit hard.

Patkar called for a "broader unity" among the people's movement -- from Kashmir to Kanyakumari and northeast to Gujarat -- to address a "rising threat on our natural resources, our constitutional values and the principles of equality and justice".

"If we fail to unite and don't come forward, it will be difficult to protect constitutional values in the country," she warned.

In her address to nearly 1,000 activists gathered here, Patkar said the time has come to not only protect land (zameen) but conscience (zameer) and to protect self-respect and self-honour.

"At a time when electoral politics and political parties are becoming increasingly opportunistic, exclusive and anti-poor, people's struggles have to lead the way towards a better tomorrow. We have to fight the battles of our own lands, forests, rivers but we also need to locate ourselves in the larger ongoing struggles the world over," she said.

She also congratulated the various movements rising across the country, including the struggle for self-determination in Kashmir. "The younger generation is rising and speaking up. We old ones should learn to sit back and give them space... they are not a force that can or should be stopped."

--IANS

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