Develop, Displace, Forget The Poor

"What else did you expect me to do?" was her reply when I asked her why she had pulled her son out of school to turn him into a child labourer. She is one of four lakh parents to have done so in Assam alone, all of them displaced in the name of national development and left to fend for themselves. Assam claims to have displaced 4,51,252 people from 3,91,773 acres between 1947 and 2000. The real figures stand at 19,09,368 people from 14,01,186 acres. West Bengal has done the same to 7 million people from 4.7 million acres in the same period. Similar numbers are found in other states .

Leave alone rehabilitation, most of them are not even seen as displaced. Assam has rehabilitated those displaced by just about 10 projects out of 3,000 and West Bengal has partially resettled around 10 percent of them. Fifty-six percent of the displaced in Assam and 49 percent in Bengal have turned their children into child labourers. When that is not possible, women sell their bodies to keep the hearth fires burning. Crime is another option.

Studies indicate that India has deprived some 60 million people of their livelihood in the name of national development. Fewer than 20 percent have been rehabilitated. Since colonial land laws continue and recognise only individual ownership, Assam has not counted the 1 million acres of common land from which it displaced 14.5 lakh tribals, Dalits and others. It has been their sustenance for centuries but the colonial laws declare it State property. The official claim that compensation is rehabilitation is untenable. But the ruling class does not have to worry about them because they are powerless. Tribals are more than 20 million of these 60 million, Dalits are 12 millions and other rural poor are some 10 million. They can be displaced and forgotten.

That is the future trend too. Nandigram and Singur hog headlines but not Navi Mumbai, other SEZs and the 2.26 lakh acres that West Bengal has committed to industries with private profit as the only criterion. One hundred and sixty eight massive dams are being planned in the Northeast. Former PM Vajpayee declared in May 2002 the dams will turn the Northeast into the powerhouse of India. Many more lakhs of people who will be impoverished by them were ignored.

Greater poverty is intrinsic to this Shining India approach. Crime for survival, prostitution and child labour are its result. Is this the only alternative or is development with a human face possible?

By WALTER FERNANDES
Fernandes is director, North Eastern Social Research Centre

Join the solidarity fast in support of Irom Sharmila

In this age of donor-driven programmes and agendas, and 'career' oriented 'professionals' working on development issues, there is a person like Irom Sharmila, who has been waging a singular battle against the state to repeal AFSPA - she has been fasting since past 7 years now. She has no NGO, no 'strategy', no media/PR liaison, no press release, no banner, and nothing conventional - like no institutional or political or ideological backing, except a STRONG STEELY WILL AND RESOLVE to be true to her own strongest convictions. Join the solidarity fast... from 13 September 2007 onwards...

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Irom Chanu Sharmila, who has been fasting since last 7 years, and government has been forcibly keeping her in hospital confinement for most of the period, has a clear demand: repeal the amended 1972 Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA).

The Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) which is operative at the time of a ‘suspected’ riot(s) in order to ‘maintain public order’, allows killing by shooting, entering and search of property, and arbitrary detention, etc., its abuse is currently spawning grave human rights violations in some parts of India. Under the powers of AFSPA, on 2 November 2000, the Indian military opened fire on its own citizens in the state of Manipur. Since then, Irom Sharmila, a resident of the tragic state, has refused to eat and drink anything in resistance to indiscriminate use of the AFSPA against civilians. The response of the Indian government to her resistance has been repetitively evasive: the government has repeatedly arrested her on a charge of ‘attempted suicide’, confined her in hospitals, and then freed her under applicable law, but, up until now, has failed to provide any fundamental alternative to the law in question.

North-East India abounds with sordid sagas of rape and molestation of women with alleged involvement of Armed Forces personnel. Who can forget the stunning sight three years back, of about three dozen naked women protesting on the street outside the then Assam Rifles headquarters at Kangla Fort in Imphal carrying placards saying ‘Indian Army rape us,’outraged by the rape, torture and murder of 32 year old unmarried Thangjam Manorama?

The AFSPA has been used in the north-east of India, to carry out extra judicial killings, extra judicial deprivation of liberty to people by illegal imposition of curfew, long periods of detention at army posts and camps and use of churches and school as detention or interrogation centers. Torture, with a view to extract confessions, includes beating with rifle butts, kicking with boots and hitting with blunt weapons, giving electric shocks, breaking limbs, depriving persons of food, drink and sleep, hanging persons upside down and beating on soles, burying persons alive, stripping, stuffing chilli powder in nose, eyes and private parts, hands and feet tied, and the whole body suspended over fire with a bamboo in between the hands and legs and threat to shoot, interrogation at gun point. Most of these would be considered a serious offence under sections 330 and 331 of the IPC. Provisions of AFSPA make it extremely difficult for a person to seek any legal recourse for justice.

She has no banner, no organization, no vested interest, no press-release, no statement â€" except a compulsive singular demand to repeal AFSPA.

She hasn’t resorted to violence, rather has sacrificed her life to her strongest conviction â€" repeal AFSPA for the larger benefit to humankind, especially to women in conflict-stricken areas.

This is indeed one of the most peaceful non-violent struggles one can come across, and as Dr Pandey noted “I am an atheist. But if there is any divinity it is this. If this is not spiritualism then what is? She is the epitome of purity."

The protest of Irom Sharmila represents the most ideal form of peaceful struggle for a democratic demand. Her victory is essential for the strengthening of democracy in India and for the respect for human rights around the world. Her victory will determine whether the voice of common citizen will be heard or the state will trample over people's rights with anti-people laws and policies. A fast in solidarity, from wherever-you-are in the world, is just one of the easy ways to express your solidarity and strengthen Irom’s voice.

JOIN HANDS... __._,_.___

Irom Sharmila Chanu - Repeal Of AFSPA Update:

Irom Sharmila continues to fast in the Security Ward, J.N. Hospital, Imphal. Confined to a solitary existence!

Dear friends,
It is now almost five months since Irom Sharmila returned to Imphal on 5th March 2007, to continue her hunger fast against the draconian Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA). The situation continues to be grim - both for Sharmila as well for all those suffering under the prolonged implication of AFSPA.
For those of you reading about Sharmila's epic struggle for the first time - on 4th November 2000, 28 year old Irom Sharmila Chanu started her hunger fast seeking repeal of the draconian AFSPA. This was her response to one among countless incidents of arbitrary killing by the Armed Forces in the north east when on 2 nd November 2000, 10 innocent civilians were killed at Malom near Imphal, Manipur.
Sharmila has since been incarcerated at J.N. Hospital Imphal. Over the years she has been repeatedly arrested and detained under Section 309 IPC (attempt to commit suicide). In October 2006, for the first time Sharmila left Manipur and continued her protest fast at Jantar Mantar, and then at AIIMS and RML hospitals in New Delhi where she was kept under constant police vigil.

Sentenced to solitary confinement?
Now in her 7th year of the fast, Sharmila's health is deteriorating. Far from responding to her demand of Repeal of AFSPA, the state is doing everything it can to isolate her and her peaceful struggle.
At the hospital, Sharmila is not allowed visitors on a regular basis. This is in complete violation of the law, which permits anyone in custody, be they an undertrial prisoner or a convict in a high security prison regular visits by his or her family members, friends, supporters and/or lawyers. And yet, Sharmila does not even this basic freedom, despite the fact that there is no court order commanding her isolation. Her family, friends and supporters are put through an arduous and cumbersome process to meet her.
The 'Special' process takes to meet Sharmila can take up to 20 days and involves an application to the Joint Secretary Home Department, Government of Manipur; the DGP, Prison, Central Jail, Manipur; the Additional Superintendent, Sajiwa Jail, Manipur and the SI, Sajiwa Jail - who if the application gets all the due clearances, then 'accompanies' the visitor to meet Sharmila!
What are we to surmise except that the Government is attempting to isolate her from all contact with the outside world in the hope of weakening her struggle?

Matter of honour.
It is unlikely that the Government of India will acknowledge or respect, let alone honour Sharmila for her determined struggle for justice and peace. Satyagraha, after all, has been disregarded repeatedly in these times.
On 18th May 2007, Sharmila was awarded the Gwangju Prize for Human Rights in Seoul, Korea. Her brother Singhjit received the award on her behalf and returned to Manipur only to be told that the certificate would not be shown to Sharmila. He had to wait till 30 June to get 'permission' to visit Sharmila and give her an update of the events surrounding the award.
The Gwanju Prize includes a cash award of $25,000 (approx. Rs. 12 lakhs). Sharmila and her family have decided that this money will go towards assisting the victims of the human rights violations in Manipur. The Ministry of Home Affairs (FCRA department) claims it has 'lost' the FC-5 application required to facilitate transfer of the award amount. What will it take for the Government to expedite and release it without any further game playing?

AFSPA - No response to the demand for repeal.
At both, the Central and State level, the government is simply refusing to address the peoples' demand for repeal of AFSPA - despite the voices against it being raised against it from Kashmir to Kerala to Delhi to Manipur and Nagaland, for over two decades now. In addition of course, have been the recommendations for Repeal of the Act by the Justice Jeevan Reddy Committee set up by the government as well as the Administrative Reforms Commission headed by Mr. Veerappa Moily.
Meanwhile in the shadow of this draconian Act, and the impunity it offers the armed forces, everyday the people of Manipur are disappearing, being killed and tortured. Mr. Nongmaithem Tomba alias Chinung (37 years), Miss. Soniya alias Najama Latif (15 years), Mr. Moirangthem Gandhi Singh (24 years) everyday AFSPA continues to claim new victims.

Need for urgent action
It is imperative that as individuals and groups who believe in democracy and justice, we raise our voice against the continued injustice under AFSPA and the continued harassment of Irom Sharmila.

1. Send a statement. Let's be heard this time!
Here is a draft statement you could use to lend your support:
We, the undersigned, as individuals and groups who believe in democracy and justice, demand that the government of India:
· Respect the peaceful struggle of people like Irom Sharmila and immediately withdraw all restrictions on her mobility as well as her freedom to meet and interact with people
· Release her from custody without any further delay
· Drop all facetious cases against her

Moreover, the government must:
· Repeal the AFSPA with immediate effect
· Implement the recommendations of the Justive Jeevan Reddy Committee and the Administrative Reforms Commission.
· B ring the armed forces within the democratic framework of accountability and justice without any further delay.
Only then can the people of the north-east and J&K have any chance or hope to live with security and dignity.

Sd/-

Please email the Statement to the following (and copy us in so we know how much support the campaign is getting):
President of India, Sushri Pratibha Patil, Prime Minister of India, Dr. Manmohan Singh, Minister of Home Affairs, Mr. Shivraj V. Patil, Minister of Defence, Mr. A. K. Antony, Minister of State for Labour & Employment, Mr. Oscar Fernandes,
Chairperson, National Human Rights Commission of India, Chief Minister of Manipur, Mr. O. Ibobi Singh, Governor of Manipur, Shri Ved Marwah.
Compiled email list: presidentofindia@rb.nic.in, pmosb@pmo.nic.in, svpatil@sansad.nic.in, ak.antony@sansad.nic.in, oscar@sansad.nic.in, chairnhrc@nic.in , cmmani@hub.nic.in , govmani@hub.nic.in
Copy to: onilrights@gmail.com, preetiverma10@yahoo.com , saheliwomen@hotmail.com

2. Sign the petition!
· Please forward this to as many people as you can on your mailing list and various list serves, and sign the online petition against Armed Forces Special Powers Act 1958 at this link: http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?afspa

3. Stay in touch with Sharmila!
· You can also write directly to Sharmila and send her messages of solidarity at:- Irom Sharmila Chanu Security WardJawaharlal Nehru HospitalPorompat Imphal - 795001Manipur

This update is an attempt to keep informed all those in solidarity with Sharmila, who resolutely persists in her demand for the repeal of an anti-people law.

In Solidarity
Kshetrimayum Onil (Reachout) - onilrights@gmail.com
Preeti Verma (Human Rights Law Network) - preetiverma10@yahoo.com
Vani Subramanian (Saheli) - saheliwomen@hotmail.com

Open Letter for Release to the Press

We are deeply troubled at the repression unleashed by the MeghalayaGovernment against activists of a movement against the proposed UraniumMining by the Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL) in theDomisiat/Wahkaji area of West Khasi Hills district of MeghalayaThis popular non-violent movement has from the mid nineties opposed thesecretive anti-people behaviour of the Indian Nuclear establishment, andwith considerable courage and popular participation managed to stop themining of Uranium from the area. Instead of respecting the people'sopinions, UCIL, supported by the State Government has tried to split theindigenous community's solidarity through bribes, and attempted tosilence any dissent through use of the draconian Meghalaya PreventiveDetention Act (MPDA).On 12th June, 2007 after announcing a Public Hearing on the issue,without sharing any independent environmental assessment of UraniumMining, a hearing which the movement opposed as flawed, the governmentmade all attempts to get a farcical assent to its plans through riggingthe public hearing by creating a situation of police terror in the area.Although the movement , led by the Khasi Students Union and LangrinYouth Welfare Association had opposed the hearing in principle, itdecided to break through the security blanket, and attend the hearing.Even this rigged Public Hearing had a surprise for the government: morethan three-fourth of the villagers opposed the project . Rather thanaccept the people's verdict, the government has since unleashed avindictive campaign against the activists.Following the hearing, 16 activists have been arrested so far (many ofthem have reported torture), and 7 of them have been booked under theMeghalaya Preventive Detection Act (MPDA), which allows the governmentto hold them under custody for six months without bail or judicialtrial. Most of the other activists have been forced to go underground.We demand that these activist be released, and Governments heed to thevoices of people who do not want Uranium Mining in the state of Meghalaya, or indeed anywhere else.

Signed
Tarun Bhartiya
Sanjay Kak
Himanshu Thakkar __._,_.__

Taming the Teesta

“ … anyone who diverts streams or who amuses himself by damming them up… to be strenuously excluded.” – The Law of Manu.
The importance of power and water in the economic development of a country is undeniable. As a nation, India is currently going through a period of fierce debate on the issue of the mode of power generation and water storage. The proponents of hydel projects and big dams who claim to be champions of ‘development’ label their opponents as being anti-development, while the latter, belonging to the weaker lobby, search for alternatives. The spatial and temporal inequality of rainfall has compelled human society, since the dawn of civilisation, to explore means of water storage and transfer to areas that suffer from a paucity of the life-giving liquid.
Human history has been and continues to be an ongoing relationship between the human race and the natural world, each moulding and remoulding the other. The first precondition of agriculture was the ruthless destruction of native biodiversity and the introduction of new species. Today, human modification of nature continues with the application of chemical fertilisers, pesticides, crossbreeding, genetic modification of plants and the expansion of irrigation.
During the second half of the 20th century, dams were synonyms for development. Only recently has it been widely acknowledged that the communities bearing the social and environmental cost are invariably tribals or other disadvantaged sections of society, who rarely receive water, electricity or any of the other benefits from the project. President K.R. Narayan expressed his concern on Republic Day, 2001 when he said, “Let it not be said by future generations that the Indian Republic was built on the destruction of the green earth and innocent tribals who have been living there for centuries.” In the post-Independence period, the number of victims who have been displaced from their homeland due to the construction of large reservoirs is, at a conservative estimate, 50 million. Many more are, at this very moment, being rendered homeless due to ongoing and proposed projects.
India’s dam-building spree owes its origin to Pandit Nehru who once described big dams as the ‘temples of modern India’. He later lamented that as a nation we suffered from the ‘disease of gigantism’. But unfortunately, modern day planners mostly forgot this. Nehru, in the 29th annual meeting of the Central Board of Irrigation and Power (held on the November 17, 1958) advocated for a multitude of smaller projects, but his successors remained fixated on gigantic projects. An inclusion in this series is the ongoing Teesta Barrage Project (TBP) in Jalpaiguri district and hydro power projects of the National Hydro Power Corporation (NHPC) (stage III and IV) in Darjeeling district of West Bengal.
In all the hydel projects built thus far, siltation has been a major problem, with projected capacities decreasing at alarming rates, often before the entire project is completed! Evaporation from the reservoirs and seepage of water from canals deprived the marginal land of the command area from the water that it was assured during the planning of the project. The dams that were designed to moderate floods have created floods by releasing excess water at the peak of the monsoon.
The snow-capped peaks, precipitous cliffs, fast-flowing rivers and green slopes of the Himalaya attract tourists from across the world. The road journey to north Sikkim holds one enthralled with the beauty of the dancing and roaring Teesta as it flows through deep valleys with thick green cover. But if the eight hydroelectric dams proposed on the Teesta (six in Sikkim, two in West Bengal) are to be built, the dancing river will be silenced. Further downstream, a mighty barrage at Gajoldoba in Jalpaiguri district already exists.
While the project proponents and the government paint a rosy picture, there are many questions about the project and its potential impacts that need to be answered. How will these projects upgrade the standard of living of the local people? Will the tectonically fragile area be able to support such massive structures and the reservoirs they create? What will be the effects on the region’s rich biodiversity? Can the security of the livelihoods of people in both the upstream and downstream regions be guaranteed? These and several other valid questions raised on issues of social justification, ecological sustainability and economic viability of this project remain unanswered.
Dams on the Teesta
The Teesta descends from a height of about 6,200 m. at its source in Sikkim to the coast of Bangladesh in the course of its 414 km. journey to the sea. This descent offers huge potential for hydro power generation, especially before it debouches on the terai plains at Sevoke. The slope of the river in this stretch varies between 4 to 35 m./ km. and the velocity is about 6 m./second. The NHPC has proposed the establishment of eight hydro power stations in Sikkim and West Bengal. This article deals with the possible impacts of two proposed dams and the ongoing giant Teesta barrage project in West Bengal.
Feasibility and risks
The NHPC has declared that the two proposed dams, stage III at Samco ropeway and stage IV at Coronation bridge are ‘low and run-of-the-river dams’. However, as both are more than 15 m. in height, they cannot be categorised as ‘low’ since the International Commission on Large Dams (ICOLD) criteria for a large dam is anything above 15 m. in height. Dams between 5-15 m. with a storage capacity of more than three million cubic metres are also considered to be large dams. To classify these two projects as ‘run-of-the-river’ is also a misnomer, as both projects will submerge riverine forests.
Together, these projects are expected to generate 332 MW of power. This amounts to less than five per cent of the installed generation capacity of existing power plants in West Bengal. The total installed capacity of all power plants in West Bengal is 6797.29 MW and the transmission and distribution loss of power was estimated to be 28% in 2000-2001. A substantial reduction in these losses is possible, which will negate the need for these additional projects and would cost much less.
The Teesta is a rain and snow-fed river. The permanently snow-covered area of the basin is about 158.40 sq. km. The upper catchment receives a total annual rainfall of 1,328 mm. while the middle of the basin receives 2,619 mm. It has been recorded that about 77-84% of the annual rainfall is received between June and September. The heavy concentration of rainfall within a short period is common in the eastern Himalaya. Gangtok recorded 1,500 mm. rainfall between October 2 to 5, 1968. The highest one-day rainfall recorded at Darjeeling was 521 mm. The mountains have been extensively deforested with increasing population since the mid-19th century. This has altered the infiltration run-off ratio (the amount of rainwater absorbed by the soil relative to the amount which runs off) and slope failure has become a menace. Infiltration is generally high and run-off little in a forested tract. The Teesta basin is now one of the most landslide prone areas of the country, contributing a huge sediment load to the river. The mean annual discharge of the Teesta at Anderson bridge is about 580 cumecs and it declines to 90 cumecs in the lean months. The peak discharge may be as much as 4,000-5,000 cumecs. It was estimated that the peak discharge of the river at Jalpaiguri during the devastating flood of 1968 was 19,800 cumecs. The sediment load in the river increases with high monsoon discharge. It was observed that 72% of the suspended load is transported between July and August when the bulk of discharge flows through the river (Starkel et al, 1998).
It seems certain that the dynamic equilibrium of the river will be impaired with the construction of a series of dams and the sediment load will be trapped within the reservoirs, reducing their capacity. This, in turn, could compel dam managers to release water during heavy rainfall, causing sudden flash floods downstream. On July 20, 1993, a severe cloudburst in and around Kathmandu generated 540 mm. of rainfall within 24 hours and brought down five million cubic metres of sediment into the reservoir of the Kulekhani dam (Dixit and Ahmed, 1998). This risk will exist for any dam constructed in the Himalayas.
The entire Himalaya is tectonically unstable. The Indian plate continues to subduct under the north Asian plate and rocks lying in between are severely compressed. The crust has broken up in a series of faults along the southern front of the Himalaya. These thrust faults are collectively termed the Main Boundary Thrust (Valdiya, 1998). The stretch between the two dam sites selected for stage III and stage IV is geologically fragile and already identified as seismic zone IV. There is a very real fear that the massive construction works and the reservoirs created would increase the risk of seismicity.
The estimated life-span of the dam is 50 years only as admitted by the Chief Engineer of the project. The total cost at September 2001 price levels amounts to Rs. 2,173 crores. While further reduction of the life-span and cost escalation cannot be ruled out (in fact, such escalations are to be expected), the cost-benefit justification of the project becomes questionable taking into account the recurrent maintenance cost.
The eastern Himalaya is endowed with rich biodiversity and is a botanical wonderland. The stage III and IV reservoirs would submerge 156.41 ha. and 359.89 ha. of forest respectively. Moreover, the stage IV project would cause the realignment of NH 31A through the Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary for about 2.50 km. As per Supreme Court orders in an ongoing case on protected areas, the Indian Board for Wildlife will have to be consulted. The proposal prepared by the project proponents to ‘compensate’ for the loss of biodiversity is theoretical and, quite simply, absurd.
The Teesta projects will add to the 50 milllion environmental refugees already created in post-Independent India. The Kalijhora village with 115 families is threatened with submergence by the stage IV reservoir, yet the NHPC is silent about any rehabilitation programme.Teesta barrage project
“We construct reservoirs to store water and we abstract water from streams and apply it to the irrigation of land without any regard to the apparent intention of nature. We protect the banks of rivers from natural erosion and we dredge up sand and mud from places in which nature intended it to remain. There are, of course, limits within which we must confine our efforts, and success depends on a due apprehension of these limits, and on a just sense of proportion.” – W.A. Inglis (1909).North Bengal is endowed with 60% of the state’s water resources but this remained ‘unexploited’ until the construction of a barrage across the Teesta at Gajoldoba of Jalpaiguri district. The Teesta barrage project is designed to bring many of north Bengal’s rivers into a single network.
Critical appraisal
The ongoing TBP is an overtly ambitious multipurpose project. It plans to irrigate 9.22 lakh ha. of land in six districts of north Bengal without any storage system. Three pick-up barrages are to divert river water towards agricultural land. The system may be successful for kharif cultivation when the soil is naturally wet and rivers are full. Since the rivers of north Bengal are much reduced in the lean months, it would be impossible to ensure water to dry variety paddy over 90,000 ha. The cumulative irrigation potential achieved by the project till June 2001 from its inception in 1976 was 12,6110 ha., which is less than 14% of the ultimate target (Ray, 2001).The TBP is excessively optimistic in its projections, especially considering that it has no reservoir and depends exclusively on diversion barrages with no storage capacity.The Teesta was untamed in its upper catchment when the TBP was formulated. The series of proposed dams in the upper reaches will reduce the available discharge for irrigation as each hydro power project is expected to consume at least five per cent of the running water in the river. The lack of coordination between NHPC and TBP has further complicated the situation.The time taken for the project to get off the ground and delays due to problems such as non-availability of land, land acquisition disputes and clearances from the environment and forest departments have caused cost escalations and the spillover cost during the ninth plan was estimated to be Rs. 502 crores.
The reservoir that was planned to be constructed during the second phase of the Teesta irrigation project cannot be now undertaken since the NHPC has already started working towards the implementation of the ‘low dam’ just 400 m. upstream of the Coronation bridge. So the plan to generate an additional 600 MW power under the TBP will probably never take off.The proposed Ganga-Brahmaputra navigation canal is a further indication of the government’s preoccupation with gigantic schemes. This envisages damming the Manas and Sankosh rivers in Bhutan (no agreement has yet been signed between India and Bhutan). The Indo-Bangladesh treaty (1996) over the sharing of the Ganga waters accepted a proposal to connect the Sankosh with the Ganga at Farakka by a 300 km. long canal. But such a canal along an east-west alignment, if excavated, would have to negotiate a large number of south-flowing rivers and will severely impair the delicate hydrological balance of north Bengal. Additionally, 770 ha. of forest and 530 ha. of tea estates would be destroyed.
The evaporation and seepage losses of water in other major irrigation projects of West Bengal is very high.1 In the canal network of the Kanshabati project in southern West Bengal, for example, the seepage loss varies between 11 to 66% depending on the texture and structure of the soil. So the land lying at the tail end of the command area hardly receives any water during lean months. There is no reason to believe that the experience of the TBP would be otherwise.Irrigation projects in West Bengal have suffered from the ‘disease of gigantism’. If the monumental cost of construction and maintenance, environmental impacts and efficiency are taken into account, the justification for such mega-projects is doubtful.
Alternatives ignored
The Planning Commission of India and its counterpart in West Bengal – the Irrigation and Waterways Directorate – have never seriously considered the option of smaller, decentralised reservoirs. Such projects would be farmer-centred, less destructive from the environmental point of view and cost-effective. Mathematician and scholar Professor D.D. Kosambi (1972) put this best when he stated: “Neither the engineers nor the Commission would consider a more important suggestion, namely, that many cheap small dams should be located by plan and built from local materials with local labour. Monsoon water would be conserved and two or three crops raised annually on good soil that now yields only one.”Similarly, the installation of a multitude of mini hydro power projects and the utilisation of solar and wind power would help meet local needs. At a time when western countries are moving to such renewable energy options, Indian planners need to realise that with the abundance of sunshine in the tropics, we have a unique opportunity to avoid repeating the mistakes of the ‘developed’ world. Ironically, when ‘small is beautiful’ is becoming a paradigm adopted in the west, the disease of gigantism still occupies the minds of the Marxists of West Bengal. Perhaps the words of Fredrick Engels might change their minds “Let us not flatter ourselves overmuch on account of our human victories over nature. For each such victory, nature takes its revenge on us. Each victory, it is true, in the first place brings about the results we expected, but in the second and third places it has quite different, unforeseen effects which too often cancel the first.”


By weepingsikkim.blogspot.com

Mizoram’s Jews – the lost tribe of Israel

It has been a long-standing contention of a section of Mizos that the people of Mizoram are descendants of the Menashe, one of the lost tribes of Israel. But the claims were quashed several times by Israel where, by the law of return, anyone with proof of Jewish roots can go and settle. It is difficult to ignore the similarities. Till the early 20th century, (when they were converted from head hunters to Christianity by missionaries), the Mizos sacrificed animals on a hillock to Pathian (Jehova) at a sacrificial altar on which a cross, similar to David’s star, was drawn. The Jewish Sabbath starts when the stars appear on a Friday evening and ends with the same on a Saturday evening. During the Cawngpuisial, Mizo villagers are restricted from going out of the village and strangers from entering it, after the stars appear on a Friday. The curfew is lifted on Saturday only after the stars appear. Even the burial rituals are similar. Mizos have a symbolic circumcision ceremony in which no actual cuts are made, a festival similar to Passover in which they eat unleavened bread.

One organisation that backs these Mizo claims, is the Israeli Jewish group Amishav, which has a permanent mission in Mizoram to assist Mizos practising Judaism. In the last 20 years more than 800 have migrated to the Jewish homeland, swapping thatched villages in the steamy tropical hills of North East India for concrete settlements on the West Bank and Gaza or service in the Israeli Defence Force. Right-wing Jewish groups have mostly welcomed them, but some left-wing Israelis question their fervour to return; reasoning that Israel’s comparatively higher standard of living attracts the Mizos. Allenby Sela, principal of the Amishav Hebrew Center in Aizawl, who was one of the 900 Mizos to convert to Judaism and settle down in the Gaza Strip, scoffs in disbelief. He returned to Mizoram to make his people aware of their history. “Faith can’t be proved through blood tests, it is a spiritual thing. Israel recognised the Black Jews of Ethiopia and the Fallasahs of South Africa as lost tribes without any tests (a Y-chromosome genetic marker is found across the Jewish diaspora). Although people from perhaps 100 countries settled in Israel since it was founded, they have not been asked to prove their race scientifically, This is nonsense. We believe firmly in our faith and our roots. “

Fortunately, a recent DNA study has validated the claim. Bhaswar Maity, a research scholar at the Central Forensic Science Laboratory, Kolkata, confirmed their Jewish descent. There are also historical pointers to this claim. Zaithanchhungi, a scholar studying the Mizo claim for over 20 years, is convinced that all Mizos are descendants of the Menashe. “The Menashe were enslaved by the Assyrians and taken to Assyria when Jerusalem fell and migrated to Afghanistan. During Alexander’s invasion they were driven through Kashmir and the Tibet plateau into the Chhinlung region of China and only entered Mizoram about 300 years ago via Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Burma.”

A stroll through Aizawl’s streets with signs like Moses Snack Centre, Nazareth Medical, Israel Stores, Zion Street shows how well assimilated they are. Intermarriages are quite common. The Jewish area in Aizawl, boasts a couple of synagogues, where Mizo men wearing skull caps and orthodox Jewish clothes stitched at Zion Tailors pray. Some got themselves circumcised without anaesthetic to demonstrate their fervour. . All Jew children learn Hebrew; either at the Holy Land High School or through correspondence courses. It has not been easy. The Indian security forces are suspicious of the motives and loyalties of the Mizo Jews in a sensitive border region. No kosher meat is available and pork is the much relished staple among 90% of the local population which is Christian, and treats Judaism more like a passing fad. But the Mizo Jews know otherwise. “The Torah (the Jewish Bible) prophesised that there shall be one Holy Land in the west and one in the east. If you include all the Chhinlung people of Jewish descent spread over Mizoram, Manipur and Burma, you will find the prophecy has come true” says a Jewish man awaiting his visa to the Promised Land.


Rachana Rana Bhattacharya
(Charkha Features)