[Reader-list] A letter from an activist of the Narmada Andolan

[Tapas Ray]

I have no first-hand knowledge of the Narmada movement, but would like 
to put in perspective this exchange between Shruti and Prakash for the 
understanding of those members who, I know, are not closely acquainted 
with Indian politics.

The message Sruti has responded to, was posted by a member ("Prakash 
Ray") who has been propagating the official line of the CPI-M (India's 
largest communist party, ruling the state of West Bengal as head of a 
left coalition since 1977) on issues of its interest for some time, just 
as certain other members have taken it upon themselves to propagate the 
"Hindu nationalist" line on issues of their concern.

Movements like the NBA (Narmada Bachao Andolan or Save Narmada Movement) 
are inconvenient for the Left, especially the CPI-M, for at least two 
reasons. One, they have taken a stand against the CPI-M's line on, and 
the West Bengal Government's handling of, large industrial projects that 
deprive tens of thousands of farmers and other villagers of their land, 
livelihood, and traditional way of life. The two most prominent 
instances of this phenomenon in West Bengal are Singur and Nandigram, 
where a number of people have died (14 in a single incident of police 
firing at Nandigram in March) as a result of a sustained resistance to 
the government's plans.

The second reason, I feel, is that the CPI(M) sees itself as the only 
legitimate organization of the poor. Others like the NBA pose a direct 
challenge to this thesis, as they have been mobolizing the poor, 
sometimes (as in Nandigram and Singur) in direct conflict with the 
CPI(M). The NBA has built up considerable credibility internationally - 
largely because of its intervention, the World Bank pulled out of the 
Sardar Sarovar dam project on the Narmada. Hence, it is in the CPI(M)'s 
interest to discredit organizations such as the NBA, and one way of 
doing so - in keeping with its own self-image as the only legitimate 
organization of the poor - is to paint them as (petty) bourgeois in 
character.

It is another matter that the CPI(M) itself is almost entirely led by 
members of this very social group.

One interesting point to note here is the convergence of interests 
between the CPI(M) and the BJP (the major Hindu nationalist party) on 
issues like the Narmada movement. The Sardar Sarovar project on the 
Narmada, of which the NBA is the bane, is in direct conflict with the 
BJP, which rules the state of Gujarat.

Tapas



shruti wrote:
> Dear Prakash,
> I am living and working in the Narmada valley. All the facts are completely
> false and untrue. Jagadeesh is not even an activist of the Narmada Bachao
> Andolan.Please do check you facts before you post stuff.
> Best
> Shruti
> 
> 
> On 10/10/07, prakash ray <pkray11 at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Dear friends,
>> I am posting a letter from a well-known activist of the Narmada Andolan. A
>> verson of the text has also been published in *Pratham Prawakta, a
>> Hindi *journal
>> published from Delhi (1-15 Oct,2007). I urge all of you to ponder over the
>> questions raised.
>> Thanks,
>> Prakash*  *
>> *LETTER from JAGADEESH B N
>> *Dear All
>>
>> Many things are unquestioned or ignored just because it is a
>> "Non-violent, Non-funded people movement" working for peoples' right,
>> and also since people like me who have left the movement without much
>> protest ('an easy escape'), has ended in the boycotting of people in
>> their villages and the banning them form their own movement.

<snip>