Gujarat grassroots leaders "amend" negative perception towards Medha Patkar, NBA

NBA-led satyagraha in Madhya Pradesh finds supported in Gujarat

In an unusual development, some of the most well known Gujarat's grassroots leaders, many of whom were till now known for their inimical hatred towards the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) and its leader Medha Patkar, is beginning to change its perception. So far characterizing NBA and Parkar as "anti-Gujarat" because of their opposition to the construction of the Narmada dam, these activists have now given enough indication to suggest that, as times have change, so should the perceptions.
In a significant reply to a query on the social media site Facebook, Sagar Rabari, who has led several successful land rights struggles across Gujarat, has suggested that, since the country's situation has changed, there is a need for fresh thinking, and it no more necessary to share the past perception on NBA and Medha Parkar.
Rabari and his colleagues of the Gujarat Khedut Samaj and the Jameen Adhikar Andolan Gujarat (JAAG) led major struggles against the special investment regions (SIRs) in North Gujarat's Mandal-Bhechraji area, Bharuch district in South Gujarat, and Dholera area in Ahmedabad district.
While in Mandal-Bhechraji the Gujarat government was forced to downsize the SIR, in Bharuch it was forced to cancel it. As for Dholera, where the SIR is being proposed to be developed in order to implement Prime Minister Narendra Modi's dream project of a smart city, the struggle is still on. A rally is already being planned against Dholera SIR as part of the fight against the anti-land acquisition Act.
Indicating that he would not hesitate in taking support from the NBA and Parkar, Rabari says, now that the Narmada dam has already been built, and water is flowing down the canals, "it is the collective duty to help the people who have suffered for sake of Gujarat farmers." Finding this an important development, Wilfred D'Costa of NGO Insaf, has commented on social media that Rabari's comment was "well said."

Sagar Rabari

Rabari says, so far, if anything has gone wrong in providing Narmada water to the farmers, it "is politicians' fault", and not of "the farmers or villagers." He underlines, "I have had good terms with Medha Parkar", even when the NBA was "high" in the agenda of those who opposed it.
"We have met many times in and outside Ahmedabad", Rabari says in his social media revelation, adding, though, he cannot vouch for a similar stance of leaders like Sanat Mehta, but as far as he is concerned, "differences do not mean separation." Hence, the "questions" related with continuing to oppose "Patkar or others", he suggests, are out of place.
Notably, Gujarat Khedut Samaj, led by Rabari, is being strongly supported by one of Gujarat's most well known opponents of the NBA and Patkar, veteran leader Sanat Mehta, former chairman of the Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Ltd (SSNNL), and an erstwhile Congress strongman.
Rabari's view about the need to take the support of NBA and Parkar in the "common fight" for farmers comes after he shared a photograph of NBA's satyagraha against submergence of Narmada oustees in Madhya Pradesh at Ghogal village in Khandva district. He was asked whether it means a "support to the NBA agitation" and if there is a change in favour of Patkar.

Comments

Patriot, Link: How Soviet imbroglio post-1968 crucially influenced alternative media platforms

Adatata Narayanan, Aruna Asaf Ali Alternative media, as we know it today in the age of information and communication technology (ICT), didn't exist in the form it does today during or around the time I joined formal journalism at Link Newsweekly as a sub-editor in January 1979. However, Link, and its sister publication Patriot, a daily—both published from Delhi—were known to have provided what could be called an alternative media platform at a time when major Delhi-based dailies were controlled by media barons.

Morari Bapu echoes misleading figures to support the BJP's anti-conversion agenda

A senior Gujarat activist phoned me today to inform me that the well-known storyteller on Lord Ram, Morari Bapu, has made an "unsubstantiated" and "preposterous" statement in Songadh town, located in the tribal-dominated Tapi district. He claimed that while the Gujarat government wants the Bhagavad Gita to be taught in schools, the "problem is" that 75% of government teachers "are Christians who do not let this happen" and are “involved in religious conversions.”

60 crore in Mahakumbh? It's all hype with an eye on UP polls, asserts keen BJP supporter in Amit Shah's constituency

As the Mahakumbh drew to a close, during my daily walk, I met a veteran BJP supporter—a neighbor with whom we would often share dinner in a group. An amicable person, the first thing he asked me, as he was about to take the lift to his flat, was, "How many people do you think must have participated in the holy dip?" He then stopped by to talk—which we did for a full half-hour, cutting into my walk time.

Breaking news? Top Hindu builder ties up with Muslim investor for a huge minority housing society in Ahmedabad

There is a flutter in Ahmedabad's Vejalpur area, derogatorily referred to as the "border" because, on its eastern side, there is a sprawling minority area called Juhapura, where around five lakh Muslims live. The segregation is so stark that virtually no Muslim lives in Vejalpur, populated by around four lakh Hindus, and no Hindu lives in Juhapura.

An untold story? Still elusive: Gujarati language studies on social history of Gujarat's caste and class evolution

This is a follow-up to my earlier blog , where I mentioned that veteran scholar Prof. Ghanshyam Shah has just completed a book for publication on a topic no academic seems to have dealt with—caste and class relations in Gujarat’s social history. He forwarded me a chapter of the book, published as an "Economic & Political Weekly" article last year, which deals with the 2015 Patidar agitation in the context of how this now-powerful caste originated in the Middle Ages and how it has evolved in the post-independence era.

Justifying social divisions? 'Dogs too have caste system like we humans, it's natural'

I have never had any pets, nor am I very comfortable with them. Frankly, I don't know how to play with a pet dog. I just sit quietly whenever I visit someone and see their pet dog trying to lick my feet. While I am told not to worry, I still choose to be a little careful, avoiding touching the pet.

Caste, class, and Patidar agitation: Veteran academic 'unearths' Gujarat’s social history

Recently, I was talking with a veteran Gujarat-based academic who is the author of several books, including "Social Movements in India: A Review of Literature", "Untouchability in Rural India", "Public Health and Urban Development: The Study of Surat Plague", and "Dalit Identity and Politics", apart from many erudite articles and papers in research and popular journals.

New York-based digital company traces Modi's meteoric rise to global Hindutva ecosystem over several decades

A recent document, released by the Polis Project Inc.—a New York-based digital magazine and hybrid research and journalism organization—even as seeking to highlight the alleged rise of authoritarianism in India, has sought to trace Prime Minister Narendra Modi's meteoric rise since 2014 to the ever-expanding global Hindutva ecosystem over the last several decades.

Behind the scene? Ex-IAS, now Modi man in Yogi Cabinet, who lined up Mahakumbh VVIP comforts for Gujarat colleagues

The other day, I was talking to a senior IAS official about whether he or his colleagues had traveled to the recently concluded Mahakumbh in Allahabad, which was renamed Prayagraj by UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath as part of his intense Hindutva drive. He refused to reveal any names but said he had not gone there "despite arrangements for Gujarat cadre IAS officials" at the Mahakumbh VVIP site. "The water is too dirty—why take the risk?" he asked.

Search This Blog