A short trip to Chhattisgarh in February meant many things. A return to the kind of reporting I yearn for. The pleasure of seeing activists of the soil work - people who grew up in the small town they now work in don't think twice about barging into the collector's office to get some attention to an issue, because the latter was a school junior, or used to write love letters to his sister. But most of all, the field trip was a reminder of the churning in the country today, the tumult of decades that has gone unseen by most, the agony of plans unraveling for millions without notice or conversation, the hoarse voices of protest.
Distant, I tried to be. I had to, so that I could ask myself that question: how will things change, how will we get more electricity, better roads, better infrastructure, how will our needs be fulfilled if something doesn't give? It is not trite to ask this, of course, but often, this question is asked only so that the answer justifies the political decision of the day. If this question is really asked, it is clear there are no easy answers, as there should not be. It should not be easy to decide to evict someone, or equate their life's only asset and security to a mere piece of property. It should not be easy to mow down a forest and then build a bridge for elephants. If we truly care about our future, these decisions must be the last resort. Even then, they must be deliberated upon, agonised over, thought out rationally, predicting real long term consequences.
When I speak to people (not politicians) about ethnic or caste difference, when I hear hate - mild or virulent - I feel dread, helpless dread about the nature of human relationships, and the endless cycle of mistrust, of the emotional need for brandishing difference. The trip to Korba and Raigarh filled me with dread too, but it is somehow not helpless. The ideas here are tangible - their corrosive effect on our lives is measurable, and should make us smarter. I was in Chhattisgarh only four days, but land rights, tribal rights, mining, environment protection, and their complicated interaction with politics and development has become a new frontier to learn about.
Bursting with what I heard and saw, I wrote two stories: for Al Jazeera America on how environment protection is being sidelined in India today, and for Yahoo! Originals, why exactly people are protesting the moves to acquire land from them for industry.
Distant, I tried to be. I had to, so that I could ask myself that question: how will things change, how will we get more electricity, better roads, better infrastructure, how will our needs be fulfilled if something doesn't give? It is not trite to ask this, of course, but often, this question is asked only so that the answer justifies the political decision of the day. If this question is really asked, it is clear there are no easy answers, as there should not be. It should not be easy to decide to evict someone, or equate their life's only asset and security to a mere piece of property. It should not be easy to mow down a forest and then build a bridge for elephants. If we truly care about our future, these decisions must be the last resort. Even then, they must be deliberated upon, agonised over, thought out rationally, predicting real long term consequences.
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| Women farmers say NO to the expansion of a coal mine in Kusmunda, Chhattisgarh, that will render them landless |
When I speak to people (not politicians) about ethnic or caste difference, when I hear hate - mild or virulent - I feel dread, helpless dread about the nature of human relationships, and the endless cycle of mistrust, of the emotional need for brandishing difference. The trip to Korba and Raigarh filled me with dread too, but it is somehow not helpless. The ideas here are tangible - their corrosive effect on our lives is measurable, and should make us smarter. I was in Chhattisgarh only four days, but land rights, tribal rights, mining, environment protection, and their complicated interaction with politics and development has become a new frontier to learn about.
Bursting with what I heard and saw, I wrote two stories: for Al Jazeera America on how environment protection is being sidelined in India today, and for Yahoo! Originals, why exactly people are protesting the moves to acquire land from them for industry.
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