Medha Patkar seeks CM Pinarayi Vijayan's intervention to end woman's hunger strike

KOCHI: Activist Medha Patkar has urged Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Finance Minister Thomas Isaac to intervene to save the life of Preetha Shaji, who is on a hunger strike to prevent the attachment her family property of 18.5 cents of land by a bank in a loan default case. In separate letters to Mr Pinarayi Vijayan and Mr Isaac, Ms Patkar has sought their immediate “intervention to stop unfair and unjust eviction of the family of Preetha Shaji by the bank and realtors and save the life of Preetha.”

She has been fasting at a pandal erected on the premises of her house at Pathadippalam near Edappally for the last 16 days. “The bank has initiated attachment proceedings based on a Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT) order for a loan liability of Rs 2 lakh in which the family of Ms. Preetha has no direct role as Shaji, her husband, had mortgaged the property only as a guarantee for the loan taken by another person. The current market value of the property is worth over Rs 2 crore and the DRT order has permitted to auction the said property for a paltry sum of Rs 37 lakh,” the letter said.

Ms Patkar has also pointed out that the “incident is one more instance of the banking system in the country functioning totally against the interests of the ordinary people while the rich and powerful are allowed to leave the country after fleecing billions from the banks,” the letter said. She has also called for a thorough probe into the incident involving the HDFC Bank branch.