Khajan is in prison once again. The inevitable happened as the state cracked down on the latest act of rebellion of his and a posse of five hundred policemen raided the government farm land site which Khajan and his comrades along with Medha Patkar were forcibly cultivating to protest against their not being given land in compensation for the land they have lost in the reservoir of the Sardar Sarovar dam on the Narmada river. The police beat up everybody including women, children and the bullocks and arrested the protesters and carted them off to prison. They have been jailed under various sections of the Indian Penal Code which means that after their eventual release on bail they will all have to attend court cases indefinitely. So instead of getting land they are once again saddled with a new set of cases. The saddest part of the whole story is that the newspapers did not carry anything about this action by the state. Only today three days later is their something in the newspaper based on a press release of the Narmada Bachao Andolan. Medha and the women are in jail in Indore while Khajan and the men are in jail in Barwani. Despite a clear order from the Supreme Court that Khajan and his clan must be rehabilitated with land for land in Madhya Pradesh the government refuses to heed it in blatant contempt and when the oustees take unilateral action they are beaten up and put in jail.
As long as the police and the prisons are there Khajan and his tribe will be forced to remain tragic heroes.
I cant help remembering that Khajan now lives on top of a high hill which is a steep climb surrounded by the reservoir of the Sardar Sarovar dam. Its a breathtaking view from on top of that hill but I doubt whether Khajan is in the mood these days to enjoy this view.
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