Anarcho-environmentalism allegorised

The name Anaarkali in the present context has many meanings - Anaar symbolises the anarchism of the Bhils and kali which means flower bud in Hindi stands for their traditional environmentalism. Anaar in Hindi can also mean the fruit pomegranate which is said to be a panacea for many ills as in the Hindi idiom - "Ek anar sou bimar - One pomegranate for a hundred ill people"! - which describes a situation in which there is only one remedy available for giving to a hundred ill people and so the problem is who to give it to. Thus this name indicates that anarcho-environmentalism is the only cure for the many diseases of modern development! Similarly kali can also imply a budding anarcho-environmentalist movement. Finally according to a legend that is considered to be apocryphal by historians Anarkali was the lover of Prince Salim who was later to become the Mughal emperor Jehangir. Emperor Akbar did not approve of this romance of his son and ordered Anarkali to be bricked in alive into a wall in Lahore in Pakistan but she escaped. Allegorically this means that anarcho-environmentalists can succeed in bringing about the escape of humankind from the self-destructive love of modern development that it is enamoured of at the moment and they will do this by simultaneously supporting women's struggles for their rights.

Friday, June 14, 2013

Land Land everywhere but not for the Dalits and Adivasis!!

The National Confederation of Dalit Organisations (NACDOR) reports on a recent unique Long March conducted by Dalits and Adivasis in Madhya Pradesh demanding land -
Bhopal is the capital of India's centrally located state Madhya Pradesh, home to 15.6 percent of Dalits and 21.1 percent of Adivasis from the total population and totaling 26.6 million. Every fifth of the Adivasis and every seventh of the Dalits in the county live in Madhya Pradesh.
 On 9th June, 2013, thousands of Dalit-Adivasi men and women from all over Madhya Pradesh converged in the city's ShahJahani Park, about 1km from Bhopal Railway station. Adivasis marching under the banner of Adivasi Adhikar Andolan led by Dadulal Kole and Dalits under the banner of Rashtriya Dalit Mahasabha led by its General Secretary Sanjay Kumar Bharti joined together demanding from the Government the implementation of Land Reforms in Madhya Pradesh, enabling every land less - Dalit, Adivasi or of any caste and creed to get 5 acres of land.
Bhoomi Adhikar Yatra Converges on Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh in India!
Thousands of Landless Dalits and Advasis Demand Land for Livelihood and Dignity!!
 The Bhoomi Adhikar Yatra leaders had no media machinery, no laptop carrying middle or elite class activists supporting them. Leaders of this Yatra could neither read or write English - the main language of discourse, communication or propagation of thoughts of Indian Civil Society. But the Yatra evoked a good response and thousands of the Dalits and Adivasis and other landless people reached Bhopal demanding five acres land for all the landless people in Madhya Pradesh.
 It was interesting that most of the men and women who joined this Bhoomi Adhikar Yatra from its starting point at Hanumana in district Rewa  and reached Bhopal on 9th June fall short of speaking, reading or writing fluent Hindi, the state language of Madhya Pradesh. But this lack of command over Hindi or English was a non-issue for them. They knew only one thing, that they were land less and they declared their need and demanded land. Unlike underground movements and so called radicals, these Dalits, Adivasis and Landless and their representatives were clear about their expectation from the Government and they believed that it was the duty of the state to fulfill their demand of 5 acres of land. 
Bhoomi Adhikar Yatra, which Dalit-Adivasis launched and dared to walk by foot for the cause of land indicated their courage and determination. The Bhoomi Adhikar Yatra began on 1st January 2013 and covered more than 646 villages spread from Rewa on Uttar Pradesh-Madhya Pradesh border, covering the whole Madhya Pradesh part of Bundelkhand and then to Vidisha, Raisen and finally the state capital Bhopal traversing more than 2200 kms.

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