http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?264738-0
The article is about Dantewada and the fight between Government of India and tribals for the control of the forest. Dandakranya , the heart of India with huge mineral wealth is a battleground between a Govt. and the people it governs. Arundhati Roy's interesting journey across this mineral belt.
There have been similar situations in the US, Australia and other colonial settlements where the indigenous people were wiped off the face of earth. They were less aware of their rights or they didn't have enough know-how of countering the gun powder. What's happening in Dandakaranya is a fight for the rights. The debate should throw open important questions as to the rights of adivasis and in general land reforms. We are heading towards the Zamindari system where a Sharad Pawar, YSR, CBN, Devegowda, own quite a piece of the Indian land mass.
An interesting article.
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2 comments:
In the last few days I had been finding several pointers to this article, which seems to have evoked mixed reactions in the media. Mostly, there were criticisms about how Roy's overtly romantic vision is impairing her capacity to judge the situation with objectivity. I shall have to read this to know better.
@Pranab
Yes. Roy has a very romantic description of the journey and the life adivasi's lead. Nevertheless, she is a pointer to the issue at large. She judges in a tone of anger. More questions than answers. Anyway, the main stream (English, Hindi) media doesn't seem to portray operation green hunt often. The scary thing is there are parallel governments run by Naxalites in these forests. They might just be using the rights of Adivasis to destabilize the state. Hence Govt. is using a multi-pronged (development and elimination) to take care of this. The problem is in the elimination of the "innocent villagers". It is a very fluid thing whether one is a Naxalite or just a sympathizer.
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