In the summer of 2012, Tehelka’s Tusha Mittal, along with
photographer Tarun Sehrawat, ventured deep into Abujmarh, a 6000 sq. km. of
forest area in Chattisgarh which was then a “fully-liberated” Maoist territory
literally off-bounds for any Government machinery to reach and where not even
mainstream journalists dared to venture. As they came across the “Gram
Adhyaksh” of the area, a Maoist designate and the equivalent of a village
sarpanch, they were surprised that they were frisked not for weapons or money
or food items, but for medicines. They found out that people living in remote
areas such as Abujmarh either do not have the resources to travel to towns for
treatment or are restrained from doing so owing to Maoist diktats. If they defy
the diktat and go to modern medical centres, they don’t dare to return to their
villages for fear of the Maoists’ backlash. So much for the utopian vision of
the State fulfilling its duty of providing civic amenities in every nook and
corner of the country!
For a moment,
even if we assume that “The State”, which I would assume is constituted of the
legislature and the executive for the purposes of my argument, decides in right
earnest to adhere to the welfare plans envisaged for the general population, I
have complete and unshakeable faith in the wretchedness of the morally depraved
“common man” of India to rob every other citizen lower in the social hierarchy
than him of his or her rights and privileges resulting in the Government’s
best-laid plans going astray. Every doctor appointed in rural areas MUST attend
to his patients as per his duty roster, every government teacher drawing salary
MUST be present in the classroom at the appointed hour, every PDS outlet MUST
provide ration as per the approved quota, every contractor whose tender for
civic works is accepted MUST construct as per the terms of the tender, every
sarpanch disbursing NREGA wages MUST ensure transparency, every petrol pump
owner, every tax-payer, every taxi driver, every businessman employing others,
every loan agent, every mutual fund/ insurance agent and anyone and everyone
involved in any transaction bound by a civic/legal contract MUST discharge his
end of the bargain without impinging upon the rights of others. However, the
complete moral and ethical bankruptcy of the average Indian acts as a sponge
soaking the benefits which are to flow out from him in the value chain. And
whenever he is shown the mirror, he is quick to jump up and conveniently point
fingers at politicians and government functionaries and evil corporate entities
for the sorry state of affairs. So the last thing we can rely upon, if we wish
to ensure the upliftment of a traditionally neglected set of tribals living on
a remote hill range in a historically famished region like Kalahandi of a
phenomenally backward state of this country is the Government machinery
delivering the services which can bring them out of extreme poverty of a scale
which places them in a medieval era existence as of now. If there is chance of
their progress occurring on account of industry, thwarting that chance is the
same as condemning them to centuries of doom. Multitudes of policy-makers
sitting in air-conditioned environs and hordes of activists and social
commentators emitting gallons of hot air in the name of preserving the rights
of people such as these move on to the next possible opportunity of displaying
their intellectual acumen and mastery of Civics lessons leaving behind numerous
Singurs and Niyamgiris and Narmadas to rot further.
Do allow me to treat Niyamgiris as a microcosm of the battle being raged in India between the doers and the talkers and focus on the issue of the Palli Sabhas of Niyamgiris having been given the
entitlement of taking decisions for themselves and for the
long-term welfare of their region assuming that they are capable of doing so. To start with, the entire hill range is not
owned by the villages which are voting on allowing mining of bauxite, and
realising this, they have fallen back on the age-old stinking premise of
“religious rights” to claim their right over the entire hill range. So
convenient and so rational and so very “Indian”!! I do not know how deeply the
reader has studied the infrastructural and social makeup of this region so let
me summarise it here for you. The area under contention does not have any
roads, health centres, or schools presently. The state provides 7 kg of rice to
each tribal every month- and there is no saying how much of this actually
reaches them because of the reasons discussed at the onset. Potable water must
be fetched from streams. People here still hunt with bows and arrows and
consider one of the hills to be their Gods- the Niyam Raja, meaning the God of
Justice. Witch doctors rule the roost. Any outbreak of a fatal disease like
cholera leads to casualties. In majority of the villages, women outnumber men
who often die young, as young as in their early 40’s, often emasculated by
local wine. Speaking of wine, let me narrate the scene at one of the “voting
sessions” of a Palli Sabha which voted on the issue of allowing Vedanta access
to bauxite. I quote here Jay Mazoomdar, who has been consistently reporting from
the region: “The morning after the first palli sabha at Sekarpadhi, a few
villagers in neighbouring Kesarpadhi intently scanned some Odiya dailies. Not
the headlines but the photos to check how familiar faces look in print. In a
corner, one made a lively fire to cook chicken and rice for the visitors. The
rest debated their options for the second palli sabha on 22 July. A morning
tippler emerged from a hut and ambled across the common yard, rehearsing his
spirited speech aloud. A couple of youngsters, worried that the perpetually
drunk elders would mess up the palli sabha, vowed to axe the salaf trees – a
variety of palm prized for its intoxicating sap — of the village. In an
instant, the can’t-touch-our-Niyamgiri speech changed to a can’t-deny-me-salaf protestation.
After all, it is the ‘national drink’ of Niyamgiri. Within minutes, others
chose sides. Some would have come to blows had a few activists not intervened.
But the edginess hung in the air.” Carrying on, Mazoomdar quotes an “activist”,
“Nothing awakens the confident speaker in Dongriya Kondhs like a tipple or
two,” assures a veteran activist, “as long as they watch their limits”. So when
a potentially industry-altering project with Rs. 40,000 crore at stake is to be
decided, it will be done by a bunch of drunk, illiterate, violent and confused
residents from 12 villages (why just 12??). Elaborating on the violence and
threat permeating the scenario, let me quote another enlightened decision-maker
here: “Nobody supported the company, if anyone did, the rest would tear him
into pieces”. Great!! Hordes of national and international organizations
descend upon a cluster of villages which have no idea how the proposed industry
would change their living conditions which have been abysmal for centuries, coax
them into disallowing Vedanta, they are threatened with their lives if they
dare to reconsider, and we are supposed to assume that these residents have the
wherewithal to take the correct decision. So rational!
Let me dwell a
bit more on the international angle to the protests. If Vedanta is able to
produce aluminium so close to a bauxite source in what is the world’s biggest
aluminium refinery, international prices of aluminium are expected to nosedive
and India would be on its way to becoming an aluminium producer of global
significance. So when British “activists” suddenly discover Kalahandi in Orissa
and are found hobnobbing with the locals, is it surprising that their
connivance with the global aluminium lobby is being doubted?
Today India
faces a ludicrous scenario where it has some of the world’s biggest deposits of
iron ore and coal but imports both!! If we are to move ahead on the path of the
growth which we see midget-shaped Mongolians stretching from Beijing to
Singapore galloping upon, we have to take tough decisions of relocating people
from their natural habitats and allowing the mining and extraction of natural
resources. Environmental concerns should be a part of the checklist, and not
the bottleneck impeding growth. Quoting an estimate of the Association of
Indian Chambers of Commerce, struggles related to land use are today holding
back nearly 200 proposed factories, railroads, highways, and other projects in
India worth $98 billion in investment. According to UN estimates, the global population
is expected to cross 9 billion by 2050 and 10 billion by 2100. Considering
India, 60% of India engaged in agriculture contributes to 16% of GDP. So shall
we be content with this scenario and wait for the population to explode without
any corresponding evolution of income sources? If we do, then we shall have to
pack our bags and head with the Dongarias back to the caves which we had left
eons ago after overcoming our fear of fire!
 |
| Tarun Sehrawat |
As for Tarun
Sehrawat, the brave man who ventured into the heart of one such deprived and
neglected corner of India which is waiting for the Government sunshine to
percolate its quarters, he succumbed to cerebral malaria a few weeks after he
came out of the jungle at the age of 22. Every day, countless such deaths go
unnoticed in the deepest recesses of this country, while we haggle with
populist regulations and give high-fives to foreign activists who’ve been duly
kicked out of their own lands.
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