Heed the Protester Or:

May 15/2013: The democratic intellect internationally felt that any government created out of that process had to be of, by and for the people. This thought was not limited to any geographical boundary of a country in particular. It is the universal idea that drives free thought globally.  In democratic India, however, it is God alone who knows if the makers of this nation’s constitution were aware, in their optimistic rush that probably would have taken over their minds post independence, that they would be creating a huge overstatement which for most countries would be difficult to live up to, let alone India. Of and by the people may be reasonably pointing to the election process and the right to choose. The word ‘for’, however, is the one that misses the mark by the hugest margin. There has hardly been any government that has come by in the past decades that has done justice to this word and helped create a system that is truly ‘for’ the people. 

People have become either pools of vote banks to be seduced or schools of resources to be used for most wheels of the system to rotate. This has been possible because Indians are, by nature, passive when it comes to owning responsibility and active while asserting their rights. Plus, in our eagerness to come to conclusions too fast, we sometimes get caught in fast currents instead of finding ways to catch the steady draft. That is why most political leaders bank on material means and dole out alms to create and retain vote banks. In the process, long term goals get sidelined, both by the Government and its people. This could also be the reason why even the most intense of street protests on sensitive issues die out as fiercely as they germinate. Our street protests do not carry the strength to trouble the government enough due to an innate detachment from the burning issue. We protest not because we are concerned but because everyone else is doing it and it is the done thing. We find someone other than ourselves to blame in the process and then look for yet another inpidual or institution to agree with and give our support to. This is how shifting of trust or shift of vote bank takes place. This is where an urban street protest spearheaded by the middle class and educated lot in India differs from a genuine farmers’ stir. 

Farmers’ movements have cried for justice for one’s own land which is the farmer’s love as well as responsibility. That is why the might of the Tatas had to bow before the right of the people of Singur and Nandigram. In Noida, the booming urban centre of Uttar Pradesh, Mayawati had to buckle and return usurped lands to rightful owners, with a huge nudge from the Supreme Court of course. But that anti people move cost her the next elections just as the CPI (M) had to bow out in West Bengal. 

Land has become the most coveted possession in today’s greed fuelled world. With one airport contract, GMR has happily taken over construction projects all around the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi, with sprawling malls and hotels waiting to open up to eager guests and consumers. Bigwigs in the education sector aim for the biggest chunks of land instead of the best faculty for their students. God men lord over acres of prime land in their ashrams located in coveted spots all over the country with many branches to follow. Real estate agents look for the very best properties at good deals while top retail giants snap up great land slots to create land banks, if nothing else. In this competition for land, the most unabashed are the big corporate houses who take the cake with promises of a bright future for the locals which in fact are promises made to their own selves. The prominent IT companies of India, like Infosys, are examples of the first order in land grab initiatives in most capital cities across the nation. And the biggest losers are farmers who find no one to back them up. 

Orissa has seen a host of such promises vanish into thin air, of landless farmers and profit making companies. The bureaucracy in this state has sold itself to the corporates. A Posco, JSPL, Tata or Kumarmangalam Birla does not bother about people, their future or needs. District Magistrates, Superintendents of Police, Magistrates and even Judges are at standby to safeguard corporate interests. These ground level officers are getting frighteningly corporatized and that is a matter that should start disturbing politicians and people’s representatives who alone can address the issue. Both ruling party and opposition activists are equally responsible for these misfortunes that are hitting people in general.  Unfortunately, people’s protests as seen against Posco at Jagatsingpur or JSPL at Angul are not being deliberated upon as problems of a grave nature. The farmer in Orissa is downright despondent. He feels there is no window open for his grievances.

Votes apart, the feeling of complete neglect is growing. Some representatives do benefit from this kind of a situation, no doubt. Getting contracts for their family or friends and other benefits not so obvious, affects their judgement in matters pertaining to the problems of the farmer. The farmer seems distant from their immediate concerns. But history shows that once the farmer gets really desperate, it can create a situation of desperation for the people in power. The US has proven that one can grow and prosper while giving enough space to farmers. It is time the Indian leadership at every level gets this simple fact before it is too late for this stumbling agricultural economy.