Toruk Makto has called you!

The Sky People have sent us a message... that they can take whatever they want. That no one can stop them. Well, we will send them a message. You ride out as fast as the wind can carry you. You tell the other clans to come. Tell them Toruk Makto calls to them! You fly now, with me! My brothers! Sisters! And we will show the Sky People... that they can not take whatever they want! And that this... this is our land!

The people of the Dongria Kondh - an ages old tribal group has been given the rights to what is theirs. After five long years of court hearings, violent public protests, Centre-state wrangling and media coverage, the government denied permission for bauxite mining at Niyamgiri in Orissa, settling the dispute in favour of the tribe that’s indigenous to the area. The corporation involved in the lawsuit, a London listed company, called Vedanta Aluminum has been accused of “... serious violations of the Forest Rights Act (FRA), the Environment Protection Act (EPA) and the Forest Conservation Act (FCA).” Show cause notices has been issued to this company for flouting the law for many years. Vedanta has already setup the bauxite refinery plant at Niyamgiri.


The Orissa State Government (led by Mr Naveen Patnaik) is upset and has sought the prime minister's assurance that such industrial projects will not be hampered in the future. Mr Patnaik has remained quiet about the gross violations of the law that was going on right under his nose for 5 years. He is also unreachable by the press at the moment. Of course we understand. It will be very disadvantageous on his part to face questions about his government's actions of all these years. But that's not the only reason why he can't be reached. He is a very busy man now. He is working out a plan to feed "outsourced bauxite at a compensated price" so that the small dents in Vedanta's market value can be quickly fixed. Not to mention his other worry of starting another illegal steel refinery by POSCO (Asia's most profitable and World's largest by market value). This POSCO project if started will displace 6 times more people than it will employ and upset the environment for ever. It is in gross violation of the same FRA for very similar actions like taken by Vedanta.


That Vedanta has lost is not a hope against hope. Just hope doesn't get anybody anywhere. It is a small step towards restoring natural harmony and a small step towards lesser consumption. Aluminium, Steel, Automobiles, Aircrafts have gotten us where we are. But where are we anyway? Even today there is not enough food in West Bengal and no more than quack medicine for the poor in India. The very Kalahandi (where Niyamgiri sits) district boasts of the highest number of rice-mills in Orissa and has highest number of people dieing of starvation and children are sold for food.


The POSCOs and the Vedantas will continue their greed, will want to feed their machines of profit with more bauxite and hematite and the likes of Naveen Patnaik will help with a hand till we the children of Toruk Makto pledge that ... this is our land.

Not just neck pain

Each evening on my way back to home I cross the Ruby-Golpark circle. A gigantic billboard forces you to look up almost causing neck pain. This particular one is carrying advertisement from no other than the government - The Government Of West Bengal. Today it was a new one with a picture of high-rising, under-construction building in the background and a head and shoulder shot of what appears to be three slum kids (i will append a picture of this tomorrow). The poster hails the programs of the government claiming huge investments in improving the conditions of slums in Kolkata. Though I am fortunate enough to not live in a slum and this post is not about the government's real eagerness to improve the slum conditions - that picture itself evokes the bitter experience of a city dweller trying to find a place in the city to call it home.

The background; not of any grave matter - but of the picture is what concerns me. The seven story modern flat that serves as a background of that image and will serve as home for its future inhabitants tells a bigger story than it appears to the unsuspecting eye. These flats are invariably built by some promoter (these guys come in all sizes) and sold to people like me at prices that are at least 3 times their true construction cost. Part of this bloating comes from the demand-supply equation and the other part comes from the invisible land / real estate mafia that operates at the aegis of the advertiser namely the Government Of West Bengal. This government is really what remains of the so called Communist Party Of India (Marxists). The party is the government and vice versa. The promoter of the flat in which I stay just alike the one pictured in the billboard paid upfront price equivalent to the price of about 10 flats to the local party men. And then came the suppliers for all the raw materials; these suppliers were again chosen by the party (because the suppliers themselves probably came from nearby slums - at least the party does actually help the poor slum dweller!) and the promoter has to procure the raw materials at whatever price the supplier (party) decides. Result; additional impact on the cost and what's more dreadful  - poor quality of raw material. I have had to change the electrical switches and sockets of the almost the entire house within the first year of starting to live in it. And coming to the question of living in the flat, the party still decides who you are going to employ as the security guards and how much you must contribute to the local party office each year as a price towards 'living in peace'. Or Else...The party will deter you from entering your own house, they will post their cadres with their motorbikes and completely block your main entrance. This is the city where the party can decide who will marry who and what would be the price of a piece of concrete you call home. The list goes on and on and on and enough is enough. And party comrades listen up, it is not just neck pain anymore.