Wednesday, July 18, 2007

SamirSpeak: Ram Naam Sat Hai

By *Samir Acharya*
Arson and attempt to murder
On 2nd July 07, Nu, a Great Andamanese woman was set on fire by a miscreant at Adi Basera, the Guest House for the primitive tribal groups. It can be called a custodial attempt to murder. No less serious than the incident of a rape/near rape of a Jarawa female while she was undergoing treatment in GB Pant Hospital which was a case of custodial rape.
Mr. Jaipal Singh, a Member of the Constitutional Assembly of India that gave us our Constitution is on record having told the assembly as a " jungli as an adivasi" that Sir, if there is any group of Indian people that has been shabbily treated, it is my people. They have been disgracefully treated, neglected for the last 6,000 years. The history of the Indus Valley civilization, a child of which I am, shows quite clearly that it is the newcomers - most of you here are intruders, as far as I am concerned - it is the newcomers who have driven away my people from the Indus Valley to
the jungle fastness…. The whole history of my people is one of continuous exploitation and dispossession by the non-aboriginals of India punctuated by rebellions and disorder, and yet I take Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru at his word. I take you all at your word that now we are going to start a new chapter, a new chapter of independent India where there is equality of opportunity, where no one would be neglected.
If Nu were articulate, she would have said the same thing. Having driven us out from our homeland with drugs and disease, you have resettled us in one tiny Island, the Strait Island and created a protected area for us at Port Blair (Adi Basera, the guest house for the PTGs) where a miscreant entered and set me on fire. The hopes of Jaipal Singh, even after 57 years, have not been fruitful.

Quarries, money and politicians
Bhakta the great, Bhakta the lovable, Bhakta the champion of the
marginalized! Bhakta came forward and demanded permitting the closed down quarries to operate in South Andamans within 72 hours of the closure.
Fantastic!!! He is so concerned about the loss of livelihood of the quarry workers…………!! Quarry workers? I always thought that the quarries today are highly automated. Unlike the yesteryear's painstaking breaking of boulders/rocks, today, we blast, put the boulders in a crusher and load the products with a mechanical shovel on trucks to transport the material. How many workers
are employed?
Mr. Bhakta, at his age, must be shortsighted. The crushers in the
Brichgunj- Corbyn"s Cove axis destroyed and will continue to destroy the farmer's fields and plantations (refuge and over burden from the quarries), the health of the citizens with airborne dust particles, (no quarry use a sprayer to contain this. Anyway, where is the water to spray?). The water security, not only of the local inhabitants, but also of the citizens of South Andaman in general is in shambles.
Has not Mr. Bhakta read the statement of the Prime Minister that not only Andamans, but the whole Country is going to suffer from water-scarcity in times to come? Come to think of it, not only India, but also the whole world is facing a crisis of availability of fresh water. But Mr. Bhakta had given up reading a long time ago; we do not expect him to know.
Great news! If winter comes, can spring be far behind? So, Lord Vishnu has come to the rescue of his Bhakta. He came, embraced his Bhakta and pledged his wholehearted support to the cause of the quarry operators.
A former mandarin of the White House had said (regarding the Middle East situation in the sixties), "Only the kingdom of heaven is run on righteousness. The kingdoms on earth are run on oil". The political parties are run on grafts from contractors including quarry operators. So, RAM NAAM SAT HAI !!


Contact Samir Acharya. Email: samiracharya.sane@gmail.com

1 comment:

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