Waning democracy in Gujarat

Dear Friends:

The ban imposed on Fanaa in Gujarat, is yet another example of rising intolerance of the mass towards democratic rights of an individual in the Indian society. The issue of Narmada Dam has ever been made a political battlefield by respective governments in Gujarat. It has been major singular votes bank for the two major political outfits namely the BJP and the Congress, who have been effectively using the platform since more than a decade now.

Every individual in a society has a right of expressing displeasure at what he perceives as a failure of the state to protect the interests of its own people. In case of Narmada dam, even today, innumerable cases of displacement of people have not been attended to and they have simple been left to fend for themselves. Further still, these people are at the lowest end of the economic ladder and have no one else but the government to look upon. In such a scenario, if a responsible citizen of a prominent stature raises his/her concerns in public, should that person be brandished as anti state?

World over Indians are perceived as one of the most hypocrite clan and none but we ourselves are to blame for this perception of the world. We almost never mean what we say and certainly do things that are quite contrary to what we promise to do. Unfortunately, this practice has become deep rooted and well imbedded in our mind sets and that we need to try and be honest in our assessment of self and our state of affairs. Gujarat is a major contributor to the National exchequer in terms of business and tax payments. We, the people of Gujarat must realize that those displaced by such big dams as that of Narmada, are our own kin. It is in fact our duty to remind and pressurize the state and central government to rehabilitate these people.

Instead, sadly, we are more interested in picking up fights with anybody and everybody who may just even sympathize with these displaced people. While we may not agree to the opposition by Medha Patkar against the dam, we might as well understand our responsibility to get justice to the downtrodden people affected by such huge projects. We must remember that injustice meted out over a long period, invariably results in violent opposition from the oppressed populace and this is nothing short of civil war wherein the affluent will also be drawn in to it. It is therefore in the larger interest of State that we as Gujaratis must question the government on the measures taken by them to rehabilitate the people at the affected sites.

Over last few years, we are being systematically made to believe that none except a Gujarati has the right to voice concern on the affairs in our state. This is leading to isolation of our state and creating a hardliner image of its population. We must remember that aggression and violence has never ever yielded beneficial results and that the perpetrators are the ones, who suffer the most.

We must therefore give up the habit of blindly supporting vested political campaigns and must rather try to evaluate the situation in its true merit.