[Reader-list] SAGARIKA GHOSE INTERVIEWED ARUNDHATI ROY

[Rakesh Iyer]

Dear Bipin

How many journalists have dared to go to the jungles of Dantewada where the
Naxalites reside and tell their story as to why the tribals are now
increasingly joining the Naxals? Arundhati Roy has been one of the very few
to do so.

And I have seen this interview. She is against the state, but I feel in this
interview at least, she has been less a Maoist sympathizer than a critic of
state-led development paradigm.

The reason why there is violence is simple. That's how our governments tend
to take notice. Look at the Narmada Bachao Andolan. What happened? Nothing.
Why? Because they didnt' resort to violence. If they would have done so, the
politicians would have been forced to stop the Sardar Sarovar dam project
and think about the tribals. But since this has not been done, nobody
bothers and the rights of tribals are trampled upon as if tribals were
insects, not human beings.

Look at the Gujjar-reservation issue. The Gujjars were agitating peacefully,
yet nobody bothered even to explain to them why reservation was not being
done to them. It's only when they unleashed violence that suddenly the
entire nation saw them and decided to solve the issue.

The fact is that in this country, unless you don't organize violence, nobody
hears you or even bothers about you. Indians have a great tendency of
working only at the last minute, when the fire reaches the ass. Till it has
burnt your legs, nobody cares.

Change this tendency and fight it, and automatically things will move for
the better. This means ensuring that NREGA, Forest Rights Bill are properly
implemented, the Right to Food is enacted soon in its' comprehensive form
and implemented well, and most importantly, development as sought by the
tribals is given to them, not introducing mining which is unsustainable as
being done in Bellary. Don't turn Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand into another
Bellary.

Rakesh