The National Forum of India
| Anna Hazare's Comments about Development of Rural Gujarat |
i) Response by Mallika Sarabhai
Dear Annaji
We are deeply shocked by your endorsement of Narendra Modi's rural development. There has been little or no rural development in this state. In fact gauchar lands and irrigated farmlands have been stealthily taken by the government and sold off at ridiculous prices to a small club of industrialists. There has been no Lokayukta in Gujarat for nearly seven years so hundreds of complaints against corruption are lying unheard. From the Sujalam Sufalam scam of 1700 crores to the NREGS boribund scam of 109 crores, the fisheries scam of 600 crores, every department is involved in thousands of crores of scams. The poor and rural people are being sold to Modi's friends the industrialists. The state is in terrible debt because of his largess to industry while 21 lakh farmers wait for compensation.
Your endorsement is apalling and we will be forced to distance ourselves from
the Lokpal movement unless it is irrevocably retracted.
Sincerely
Mallika Sarabhai
11.4.2011
ii) Response by Rohit Prajapati and Trupti Shah
Rohit Prajapati and Trupti Shah
Date: 12th April 2011
Dear Annaji,
We received your reply in the form of your 'press release' to media in which you have once again retreated that "I praised only the developmental work done by Shri Narendra Modi and Shri Nitish Kumar in rural areas." That is what we are questioning - the "rural development model" of Mr. Narendra Modi based on the ground realities in Gujarat.
Our letter dated April 11 highlighted the ground reality of downtrodden masses of Gujarat from farmers to fishing communities, tribals and salt pan workers. Please read it carefully. Most of us in Gujarat working for the working class, women, farmers, dalits, tribals, landless laborers and the downtrodden who wrote to you on April 11, have focused on the development that Modi claims has happened, but is a contrast in reality.
Your endorsement of Modi's development led to Modi writing an open letter to you minding you of a "vilification campaign". We hope you realise the implications of endorsement now.
For a chief minister who turned his backs on scores of farmers who demand their right to farming (the Mahuva agitation), on tribals who seek forest land, of turning blind eye to pollution in towns and villages (Ankleshwar, Vapi, Nandesari, Vatva, Saurashtra and Kutch). Fishing communities being deprived of their livelihood in Kutch, the instances are numerous - will you call it development Annaji.
Your vague clarification is only related to communal harmony and politics - which is not we in Gujarat raised to you in our letter on Monday, while pointing out your praise of Modi's development model is misplaced.
You could either visit the state to have a first hand look or could reach out to those affected and working in the state. We hope that you will relay on the facts and not 'false propaganda of the Government'.
Even your mention about communalism is very vague and you had not said anything about the role of Mr. Modi's Government in 2002 and the continuation of the worsening of the plight of most affected people particularly poor Muslim women and men.
We need to look at the situation holistically and not in isolation as the rise of fascist communal forces in Gujarat who use ``development claims'' to mask all their shortcomings. The rise of fascist communalist forces in Gujarat is closely liked with the neo-liberal globalised development model.
We hope for a suitable and prompt clarification on your comments now.
Rohit Prajapati & Trupti Shah
(Social Activists of Gujarat)
37, Patrakar Colony, Tandalja Road, Post-Akota, Vadodara - 390 020
Phone No: + 91 - 265 – 2320399,
iii) The Reply – Email received in the form of Press Release.
Press statement by Anna Hazare
I am issuing this statement to clarify one of my statements which has been misinterpreted.
On a question asked in my press conference today, I praised only the developmental work done by Shri Narendra Modi and Shri Nitish Kumar in rural areas. Alongside I clarified that I am equally opposed to any form of communal disharmony. I am completely opposed to any kind of communalism or discrimination on religious or caste lines. I strongly condemn and oppose any kind of communal violence. People from all faiths and religions are founders, supporters and participants in this movement. This includes, Arch Bishop of Delhi, Mufti Shamoom Kashmi and others. I strongly believe in Gandhian values and principles of communal harmony.
I also wish to clarify that we are not attached to any political party. The movement is completely non-partisan and will remain so.
I sincerely urge the press to understand my intentions, which is to save this country from corruption by taking people of all faiths and religions along.
K B Hazare
iv) Teesta Setalvad
| W |
e, academics, activists, artists and intellectuals strongly condemn the recently reported statement made by Anna Hazareji in which he has brazenly endorsed Narendra Modi, a politician who not only symbolizes the politics of division but unconstitutional governance. For the veteran anti-corruption social activist, Hazare to endorse a politician against whom a Supreme Court led investigation into conspiracy to commit mass murder and rape, subversion of evidence and pressure and intimidation of key witnesses is still underway reveals a narrow and mercenary understanding of the meaning of corruption. Worse, given the support base of the recent high profile and highly televised event agitation, that included open support from Ram Madhav and the RSS as also Baba Ramdev, Hazare's move could be construed as a bid to actually influence this SC-driven criminal investigation.
Modi stands accused, and has not been yet cleared of serious charges of actively masterminding mass murder, loot and rape of 2,500 of Gujarat's innocent citizens consciously perverting his position and power as chief minister in 2002. This and other investigations have been rigorously pursued by victim survivors of these gruesome massacres and Hazare's statement, more than anything else rubs salt on deep wounds. Not once in the nine years since the state sponsored carnage has Modi, who has written a tear-filled communication to Hazare wiped tears from the heavy hearts of Muslim victim survivors in Gujarat. Nor has Modi even apologized for failing to perform his Constitutional duty.
On the issue of corruption and good governance too, Modi may yet fail the exemplary test. Allegations of serious corruption in state government schemes have been steadily documented and printed within Gujarat but have rarely made it to the headlines of national television. There has been little or no rural development in this state. In fact gauchar lands and irrigated farmlands have been stealthily taken by the government and sold off at ridiculous prices to a small club of industrialists. The ridiculously low interest loan given at the expense of five crore Gujarati taxpayers to Tata's Nano project suggests a corrupt loan write off f public finances.
The irony of Modi being hailed by the leader of the National Lok Pal movement is cruel since there has been no Lokayukta in Gujarat for nearly seven years! Hundreds of complaints against corruption are lying unheard in that state as the common Gujarati reels under his mercenary dictatorship. From the Sujalam Sufalam scam of 1700 crores to the NREGS boribund scam of 109 crores, the fisheries scam of 600 crores, every department has been accused of being involved in thousands of crores worth of scams. The poor and rural people of Gujarat are being sold to Modi's small coterie of friends, the industrialists. The state is in terrible debt because of his largesse to industry while 21 lakh farmers wait for compensation for the land seized from them. How hen can Haraeji call Modi non-corrupt or hail his model of development?
Little or no funds have been released by the GOG to the Minority Finance Development Corporation, even less to the Gujarat State Wakf Board. No figures are provided by the state government for funds allotted to the religious minorities.
The corrosion and corruption in our system is not merely monetary but the subversion of the Indian Constitution and Constitutional Governance has been in large measure due to the unbridled and unchecked growth of state and non state actors who are sworn to partisan politics, ideology and governance. While their was more than some discomfiture felt by many of us when we saw this worthy anti-corruption movement being supported by RSS cadres and Baba Ramdev, guilty of amassing crores of money and property himself, this discomfiture increased as accusation of bus loads of supporters arriving to Jantar Mantar from Gujarat came in and finally dues were extracted by the ruler of that state, Narendra Modi, in the form of praise from Anna Hazareji.
v) Mallika Sarabhai on Hazare's Comments
Modi thanks Hazare for praise
New Delhi: Social activist Anna Hazare's praise of Narendra Modi Monday fetched a prompt 'thank you' from the Gujarat chief minister himself but danseuse-activist Mallika Sarabhai, a vocal supporter of the anti-graft movement, expressed her disapproval and asked Hazare to retract.
The Congress, in a guarded reaction, said that no secular person can condone the "black events" of 2002 in Gujarat.
Sarabhai, one of the prominent supporters of Anna Hazare's anti-corruption crusade, Monday asked the social reformer to retract his praise of Narendra Modi for development work.
Sarabhai, who spearheaded support for Hazare in the state, said she will distance herself from the Lokpal Bill movement if he does not take back his endorsement of Modi.
In her e-mail to Hazare, Sarabhai said: "We are deeply shocked by your endorsement of Narendra Modi's rural development. There has been little or no rural development in this state. In fact, village grazing lands and irrigated farmlands have been stealthily taken by the government and sold off at ridiculous prices to a small club of industrialists."
Sarabhai said there had been no Lokayukta (ombudsman) in Gujarat for nearly seven years, so hundreds of complaints against corruption are lying unheard.
vi) Social Activists' Response to Hazare's comments on Gujarat
12th April, 2011
Anna Hazare's statement endorsing and appreciating the 'Modi-Raj' is
unfortunate and unacceptable
It was shocking to find that Anna Hazareji after receiving support by all of us, with millions, publicly appreciated the rule as well rural development work by the Chief Minister of Gujarat, Mr. Narendra Modi. The entire world knows the role played by him and his administration in the Gujarat's communal riots. His government has only indicated callousness and contempt for the farmers and other natural resource based communities in Gujarat, including those fighting against displacement from their land and livelihood or for rehabilitation.
On the issue of corruption, Modi's response to the initiative to bring in a strong enactment or to wipe out corruption is, to say the least, only politically motivated. If only he was committed to an institution like the Jan Lokpal, how could the Lokpal's post be vacant in Gujarat since 2005? His government has suppressed massive corruption in the land purchases while submitted exaggerated data on benefits to the drought areas of Kutch and Saurashtra and the rural population.
In Narmada, we have seen how the adivasis in Gujarat, screaming against the legal violations and deprivation in the rehabilitation work do not receive any response and the Modi Government is ready to submerge the best of agricultural land and generations old villages and township in the dam reservoir in three states.
As a shrewd politician, Mr. Modi knows how to divide the secular force and seek advantage for himself and his party. We shouldn't however fall prey to this. Anna too must hear and heed to the serious grievances and charges coming from the activists and people in Gujarat against Mr. Modi and his government. Gujarat is growing only for and with the industrialists at the cost of those contributing their land or human labour and now the local communities in Gujarat have also stood up to the challenge the injustices.
All of this clearly indicate a betrayal of rural needy population for his corporate vision. We surely would join many of Gujarat's progressive activists who know the ground reality and the atrocities against the dalits, adivasis, minorities and other downtrodden population to tell Anna that he should stay away from supporting politicians until and unless they prove their mettle and commitment to people's causes. We agree with the letters written by activists Rohit Prajapati and Trupti Shah to Anna, seeking an explanation. The common people of India have supported the battle against corruption with faith in our campaign and credibility as people's movements based on the core values of equity, justice, democracy, secularism and plurality. This should not be compromised at any cost.
Endorsed by:
| Medha Patkar | Saraswati Kavula | Kavita Srivastava | Maj Genl. (Retd.) Sudhir Vombatkere | |
| Vimalbhai | Sandeep Pandey | Anand Mazgaonkar | Madhuresh Kumar | Thomas Kochhery |
| Kamayani | Sister Celia | Simpreet Singh | Rajendra Ravi | Arundhati Dhuru |
| D. Gabriele | Suniti S.R. | Uma Shankari | Faisal Khan | Ashish Ranjan |
The National Forum of India
| 1. Whose Gujarat is Vibrant? |
Gujarat produces some of India's wealthiest. What is not known widely is that the state has the highest percentage of poor population, a whopping 31.8%
Chief Minister Narendra Modi started Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit in 2003 to attract investors to the state. The first summit attracted proposals worth Rs 69 crore. The figures kept increasing since: Rs 1 lakh crore in 2005, Rs 4 lakh crore in 2007, Rs 12 lakh crore in 2009 and almost Rs 21 lakh crore in 2011. The corporate giants heaped praises on Modi and some even endorsed him for prime minister's job. Gujarat has voted him to power with a landslide majority twice. But is today's Gujarat really an economic model?
Thousands of farmers have been protesting the allotment of land to Nirma by the Gujarat government for a cement plant in Mahuva. According to Kanu Kalsaria, the BJP MLA from the region, the government had granted land rights to Nirma in the heart of a water body created through prolonged efforts of locals over the years. Nirma demanded a total of 4,415 hectares of land on lease for the mining of limestone from nine villages in Bhavnagar district. This includes wet, privately owned agricultural land of 3,583 hectares and "gauchar land" of 232 hectares. The Gujarat government has already given in-principle approval to 3,460 hectares for mining limestone across the coastline.
The farmers said that the upcoming plant would destroy their agriculture and livestock and cause irreparable damage to the environment. Five thousand people, including women and children, travelled 350 km on foot to Gandhinagar in protest against the cement plant demanding cancellation of the land lease to Nirma. Their demand was rejected by the chief minister.
While this was happening, acres of land were granted to Orpat Limited at Rs 40 per sq metre to construct a tourist resort in Wankaner taluka. Shockingly, a water body, the only source in the area for drinking and irrigation was blocked by 20 feet high surrounding walls. The desperate farmers knocked the doors of Gujarat High Court. The court has stayed all the activities in the ill-gotten land and has ordered the reconstruction of the irrigation channel by demolishing the walls. Was the prime concern for the government creating of a resort at the cost of depriving thousands of villagers of drinking water?
A good investment climate demands cheap labour and a freehand in exploiting the natural resources. But the third requirement, land, is not an easy proposition. The super-inflated MoUs give the government tremendous political mileage. For the corporate, the priceless land comes free or dirt cheap with no deadlines of the promised investment. The adivasi farmers who are dependent on the forests and agricultural land are pushed away. These thousands of landless farmers have no option but to sell their labour for cheap to survive. Some do not survive.
Sixteen thousand Gujarati workforce committed suicide during Modi's tenure. The number consists of 9,829 workers, 5,447 farmers and 919 farm labourers. The 'rich' government of a 'vibrant' state cannot save lives of its own people who kill themselves because they are unable to survive. State Congress president Arjun Modhwadia said that these figures were from the state government statistics.
That Gujarat produces some of India's wealthiest is well known. What is not known so widely is that Gujarat also has the highest percentage of poor population, a whopping 31.8 per cent, as per a Planning Commission data. The vibrant face of the state is full of thick makeup where the real face is no more traceable.
The plight of the marginalised is not heard in the deafening decibel of vibrant Gujarat celebrations. Millions of Gujaratis cannot even have two square meals a day whereas our home-made billionaires plan billions of dollars of investment overseas. While our chief minister attempts to attract more investors to our state, let's look at it through the eyes of those who cannot afford to survive in this 'thriving' state. Let's ask ourselves — who is Modi vibrating for?
ahmedabadmirror.com/article/78/2011032820110328032129511f285d544/Whose-Gujarat-is-vibrant.html
2. Whose Gujarat is Vibrant?
State Congress president Arjun Modhwadia on Wednesday claimed that 9,829 workers,
5,447 farmers and 919 farm labourers have committed suicide in the state during Narendra Modi's tenure as Chief Minister.
During the debate on the supplementary budgetary demands in the state Assembly, he said these figures were provided by the state government.
Modhwadia further claimed that Gujarat has the highest poverty rate in the country as per the Suresh P Tendulkar Committee appointed by the Planning Commission.
He said that 31.8 per cent population of Gujarat is poor followed by Andhra Pradesh (29.9 per cent), Tamil Nadu (29.8 per cent), Himachal Pradesh (22.9 per cent), Punjab (20.9 per cent), Kerala (19.7 %), J-K (13.2 %) and Haryana (2.1 %).
indianexpress.com/news/16-000-farmers-workers-ended-life-during-modis-tenure/763674/
The Gujarat Blog
| From The Underbelly Of Swarnim Gujarat |
10 April 2, 2011 Vol xlvi No 14 EPW Economic & Political Weekly
From The Underbelly Of Swarnim Gujarat
By Anand Teltumbde
Nobody noticed little vibrations on the literal margins of vibrant Gujarat on 24 January 2011 but potentially they could cause significant tremors across the country. In a nondescript village of Joradiary in Vav taluka of Banaskantha district in North Gujarat, practically on the borders of Rajasthan and Pakistan, a procession of 200 odd Dalits accompanied by beats of drum and slogans of "long live Ambedkar" marched into a farm under illegal control of a Rabari to restore its possession to a Dalit. The Ahmedabad based Council for Social Justice (CSJ), who led this struggle to its culmination was justifiably apprehensive of the beneficiaries daring their upper caste tormentors in taking this bold step and had therefore strategized to collect Dalits from all villages in taluka at Vav for a public meeting before taking the victory march. Indeed, the beneficiary Dalit family, the de jure owner of the farm for last 28 years, literally trembled to do a little ritual, to mark the taking of its de facto possession. More such take-overs followed until evening to embolden people to take possession of their own lands, being illegally cultivated by the upper castes. In the Vav taluka itself 35 Dalit families would be benefitted by the ownership of over 150 acres.
Unknown even to Dalits, it was a landmark event that could be verily likened to the one that took place in Mahad on 20 March 1927 when the delegates to the Bahishkrit Conference there had marched under the leadership of their new found leader Dr Ambedkar to the chavadar tank and asserted their civil rights to use its water.
Caste Residue of Land Reforms
At the time of transfer of power in 1947, the land ownership was virtually concentrated in the hands of a few landlords, who were erstwhile feudal lords. The ethos of the freedom struggle led the new rulers to announce the policies like abolition of Zamindari and redistribution of surplus land to tillers. It had salutary impact in calming and confusing radical peasant movements that demanded land reforms. The glorious Telangana struggle, for instance, was called off by the communists precisely because of these policy announcements, pushing them onto the parliamentary path that would never reach their cherished goal of revolution. Land reforms did take place but in a calibrated and truncated manner. Some amount of land was taken from the upper caste feudal lords and distributed among the middle caste tenants. No one fully comprehended the far reaching consequences of this innocuous development, which would change the basic complexion of rural India. The capitalist strategy of Green Revolution immediately following it brought in huge enrichment to these middle castes, which leveraged it to hegemonize most spheres of national life.
Speaking of Gujarat, UN Dhebar, the chief minister of the then Saurashtra state had enacted the Saurashtra Land Reforms Act, 1952 , giving occupancy rights to 5 5000 tenant cultivators over 12 lakh acres of land, out of 29 lakh acres held by Girasdars , spread over 1726 villages , the balance being left for their personal cultivation . Girasdars were mainly upper caste Kshatriya, known as Darbars , literally meaning rulers. Tenant cultivators were mainly Patels by caste, who became the owners of this land. The Patels enriched them by undertaking massive cash crop cultivation like groundnut, cotton, cumin and later graduating to set up cotton ginning, oil mills, and other industries. This has been the evolution of the Saurashtra Patel lobby, euphemistically known as Telia Rajas (oil kings), who came to occupy the dominant position in the politics of Gujarat. With their social capital and state backing, they went on acquiring huge tracts of agricultural lands all over the state but most notably in the tribal belt of south Gujarat. Laws were suitably amended to facilitate this acquisition. Two of the most notable changes in Law were: 1. taking away 8 km limit for an agriculturist to own agricultural land from his residence thereby allowing absentee landlordism and 2. changing the order of priorities from ST, SC and OBC to original landlords and then others for the right to cultivate government surplus land.
Through the other Act, (Estate Acquisition Act), the government acquired 'uncultivable' and cultivable wasteland, gochar land (village grassland for cattle grazing) and other assets by compensating Girasdars. The huge land that came in possession of the state became theatre of the land grab struggle in early 1960s by Dalit landless peasants and agricultural laborers, under the leadership of Dalit textile workers of Ahmedabad. In the words of Mr. Somchandbhai Makwana, an influential leader of that movement, estimated 2 lakh acres of land was grabbed by Dalits and other backward castes, which still remains in their possession, albeit without regularization by the government.
In many cases Dalit and OBC peasants and/or their co-operatives, tilling lands under the government's ek-sali (one year renewable tenure) scheme for several decades, were evicted and the land was reverted back to the 'original' upper caste landlords.
Gandhinagar, the capital of Gujarat, has been a meek witness since last three years to many Dalit families (mostly from Saurashtra) offering satyagrahas on the footpath near the Assembly against this intrigue. The amendments to the Acts referred to above emboldened the upper castes and the state machinery to violently evict Dalits from land they have cultivated for decades. This had manifested into a macabre incident on 27 November 1999 in Pankhan village in Saurashtra, in which a mob of 800 upper caste men had attacked Dalits with swords, spears, pipes and fire arms and seriously injured 60 men and women and effectively evicted them from 125 acres of land.
A Strange Struggle for Land
In 1997, santh (title) orders were given for a total of 150 acres to 40 Dalits of Bharad village in Dhrangadhra taluka of Surendranagar district. Two of these 40, Devjibhai and Kanabhai (a blind agricultural labourer) asked the upper caste Patel to vacate the land allotted to them. Upper caste landlords responded with violence but were met with serious resistance. Violent group clashes ensued and in one such six persons suffered serious injuries. Dalits endured severe social boycott by the upper castes. Devjibhai was apprehended and imprisoned under PASA (Prevention of Anti-Social Activities Act) for daring to enter the land although he was its de jure owner. It was at this stage that the CSJ stepped in. CSJ creatively combined legal and agitational strategies and got Devjibhai released. It organized "Ambedkar Rath" through 28 villages over seven days to mobilize Dalit support, which culminated into a massive rally of over 10000 landless Dalits on 6 December 1999, the death anniversary of Dr Ambedkar. The struggle encompassed all 12438 acres of prime agricultural land declared surplus vide the Agriculture Land Ceiling Act, for which 2398 Dalit families and 50 tribal families were given the santh before 3 to 10 years, but not the actual possession. The land, apart from being very fertile, was potentially valuable because Surendranagar district was to be the biggest beneficiary of the Narmada irrigation scheme.
A parallel struggle was articulated in another village Kaundh, where a young textile mill worker Dungarshibhai of Ahmedabad gave up his job to take cudgels for his people in village. In defiance of one of the biggest and tyrant Darbars in the district, who owned nearly 3000 acres of land, he drove the tractor on the land given to his family in santh but which still was in possession of the Darbar. As the entire dalits stood behind him, the Darbar allowed Dungarshibahai to cultivate but took away the crop. CSJ filed a criminal complaint and put three Darbars behind bars. Dungarshibhai today is revered as an unchallenged Dalit leader in the Surendranagar district.
These struggles were strange as they were waged by the de jure owners of land for its possession from the illegal holders. While the government eagerly publicized distribution of lands to the SC/ST beneficiaries, it intentionally or otherwise ignored their physical handing over. The process for handing over physical possession involved village talathi preparing the records of rights (7/12) and 'farmers' book' along with a rough map of the plot. After receiving these documents from the Collector's office, the District Inspector of Land Records (DILR) had to send surveyors to prepare final map, physically mark it out and hand over its possession to the beneficiary in presence of the collector's representative. This procedure was not carried out in most cases. The beneficiaries were also deprived of Rs 5000 per acre due to them as per rules. The officers responsible for it could be punished as per a government notification of 1989 but no action was taken. In case of the SC/ST beneficiaries, Atrocities Act also could be invoked.
The CSJ struggle set the state machinery into action, enabling Dalits in Vav taluka to take possession of their lands. But alas, this impressive struggle sadly failed to enthuse the reservation-obsessed middle classes of Dalits, revealing the ugly faultline of emerging classes among Dalits.
Anti-Dalit Attitude of the State
Although, like any other Dalit episode, this may also be a pan Indian phenomenon, nevertheless Gujarat strangely comes out as a piece of villain in recent revelations vis-à-vis Dalits. A CSJ study of 400 judgments delivered by the special courts in 16 districts of Gujarat since 1 April 1995 revealed a shocking pattern behind the collapse of cases filed under the Atrocities Act: utterly negligent police investigation at both the higher and lower levels and distinctly hostile role played by the public prosecutors. In over 95 per cent of the cases, acquittals had resulted due to technical lapses by the investigation and prosecution, and in the remaining five per cent, court directives were flouted by the government. The government's casual attitude was underscored by the statement of its chief minister in the Assembly when he stated, contrary to the Rule, that the cases under the Atrocity Act was to be investigated by an officer not above the rank of DSP.
One wonders whether this plight of Dalits at the hands of Gujarat government is because of its ideological adherence to Hindutva or because of its neoliberal vibrancy. As it appears, perhaps it is the result of both these mutually reinforcing factors, a kind of vile resonance!
Anand Teltumbde is a writer, political analyst and civil rights activist with CPDR.