New Delhi: Social activist Amit Bhatnagar, who led the agitation against the Ken-Betwa river interlinking project, has paused his hunger strike. On the night of Thursday, July 23, he said in a statement that the strike is “on hold”.He is doing so because authorities have shown a “positive attitude” by announcing that they will visit every village affected by the project and identify people whose names have not been included in the list for compensation, he said. A representative of the Jai Kisan Organisation will also be part of this process.However, the struggle is not over, Bhatnagar said in the statement.“From this day forth, I pledge to undertake a ‘Nyay Satyagraha’ (a struggle for justice). I will not rest until justice is secured for the very last eligible person affected by this project,” he said.He said he would travel from village to village to lead this struggle, cooperate with every positive step taken by the administration and monitor the fulfillment of every promise. If the need arises, subsequent phases of the movement will also be launched, he added.The social activist is still currently in hospital, where he was admitted on July 19, and will remain there until his health improves. July 23 was the 18th day of his hunger strike.The hunger strike began with the agitationThe Madhya Pradesh police brought Bhatnagar to Chhatarpur District Hospital by forcibly removing him and dispersing other protesters from their protest site on the banks of the Barana river near Kupi village in Chhattarpur district. The protesters, predominantly people from indigenous communities, had been agitating against the Ken-Betwa river interlinking project since July 3 and demanding fair compensation for their lands and homes that they will lose to the project. Their agitation was similar to their earlier protest in April which used unusual means of protest – such as smearing their faces with mud, laying on wooden funeral pyres on the bank of the river and wearing loose nooses around their necks.Even on July 19, the day that police brought Amit Bhatnagar to hospital, he had said that he would not be breaking his fast. “I will not break my hunger strike, even if I have to lose my life,” Bhatnagar had said. “If they force feed me, then I will stop drinking water and taking breaths.”Appeals to stop hunger strikeMeanwhile, more than 300 activists and concerned citizens across the country had appealed to Amit Bhatnagar in a letter, urging him to break his fast. In an open letter to Amit Bhatnagar on July 20, they wrote that they wanted him to stop his indefinite fast so that he could live on to fight the project and injustice and corruption surrounding it.“The government removing the protesting people and you from the andolan site on the 17th day of the resumption of the Chita Andolan was an admission that the andolan was exposing the administration’s wrong doings and making national and international news…Now we humbly ask you to lead the affected communities further in their quest for justice and rehabilitation,” they wrote. “You have awakened the suffering people to raise their voices and the citizens across India. The country needs people like you alive to lead and show the way. The whole country is with you. We see you. We hear you. Please end your indefinite fast, so that you can finish what you started, with the people who need you most.”In a video message to Amit Bhatnagar on July 20, Medha Patkar, founder of the Narmada Bachao Andolan and co-founder, National Alliance of People’s Movement, had said that he was the inspiration and strength of the protest against the Ken-Betwa river interlinking project. “People standing with you are fighting for their right to life. The government must enter into a constructive dialogue, this is our demand. You have been fasting for far too long. Please end your fast now. More organisations will join this struggle ahead,” she had said.Women in Madhya Pradesh’s villages that will be affected by the Ken-Betwa river interlinking project have refused to cook food in an effort to convince Amit Bhatnagar to stop his hunger strike.“Today is the 18th day of my indefinite fast unto death,” Amit Bhatnagar said in a post on Facebook earlier today. “I am getting appeals from across the country to stop my hunger strike. But the images that most shook me was that of your extinguished firewood stoves. It is not acceptable to me that any child, mother, or elderly person go hungry on my behalf.”This afternoon, he had said that decisions on any further actions regarding the protest would be taken in consultation with the villagers.