|
 We
can turn a blind eye to the threat from the Maoists only after
risking the very existence of the Indian Republic. His is
becoming clear from the events of the past few weeks. The
protest in Nandigram and many other places over the land
acquisition in the name of development had drawn support from
various quarters and yet the kind of turn it has taken is too
ominous to be ignored. We understand that development is an
inevitable process and that in some measure it demands human
cost but it does not entail that even when the process can
take place without demanding huge sacrifices from the weakest
sections of the society should be asked to vacate the lands
where they have lived for generations without the security of
the future. However, who would have thought that this issue
would soon come to be associated with the fundamentalists who
demanded the deportation of Taslima Nasreen, the Bangladeshi
writer from Bengal in the same breath in which they were
demanding the scrapping of the Nandigram project. The
significance of the shift in the focus from purely economic
issue to a primarily fundamentalist demand cannot be ignored
as it is an indicative of the new alliances that are emerging
in the country. When seen in the light of the fact that the
Maoist threat spreads far and wide in the country and has
trans-border connections, the whole problem of Nandigram and
Special Economic Zones in the country assumes different
dimensions that require our immediate attention. He problem of
land rights, dislocation of populations and the need to have a
dispensation in which not only rehabilitation is just but the
displaced have a reasonable stake in the process of
development has to be a first step in this direction. For much
too long we have allowed the rural poor to be exploited in the
name of development making them live as squatters in lands
that once belonged to them. Let the first step in rendering
justice be taken by bestowing land rights on them and ensuring
their partnership in development. |
