Singur, Nandigram et al
I've been following all developments relevant to Singur and Nandigram through the net. Primary contributors to my awareness on these issues are a few blogs - blog on Singur, blog on SEZ and this blog by an activist based out of Kolkata. Have been going over many of the posts in these blogs for the past hour and found some very poignant words. Am reproducing some of those that rang a bell in me...
'They also suffer from “modernity-fetishism”, which is simply another form of wearing fine suits and boots and sneering at the rustic peasant in his loincloth for his lack of finesse!'
'The poor do not wish to stay poor. They know what poverty is, like the self-proclaimed pundits will never know. They want economic growth, which will bring greater opportunities for improved quality of life. However, to assume that economic growth of any hue – through real estate development, through dubious international capitalists (recall Enron) – will automatically translate into removal of poverty is plaintively disingenuous.'
'I shout at all of you with rage, because I refuse to accept a haven for me that is a nightmare for others.'
As I was reading many such posts on the violence unleashed by the government of West Bengal in Nandigram and the cover up that followed in the messages posted in the google groups youthforsocialchange, viral nuniyil kural software popped up this kural.
கொலைமேற்கொண் டாரிற் கொடிதே அலைமேற்கொண்டு
அல்ல்வை சைதொழுகும் வேந்து
Literally translates to, 'An unjust ruler is worse than a professional murderer'. Coincidence? Mayhap, but germane nevertheless. If this is the case, how do you rank a government that employs professional killers to suppress the voice of its people?
I've been following all developments relevant to Singur and Nandigram through the net. Primary contributors to my awareness on these issues are a few blogs - blog on Singur, blog on SEZ and this blog by an activist based out of Kolkata. Have been going over many of the posts in these blogs for the past hour and found some very poignant words. Am reproducing some of those that rang a bell in me...
'They also suffer from “modernity-fetishism”, which is simply another form of wearing fine suits and boots and sneering at the rustic peasant in his loincloth for his lack of finesse!'
'The poor do not wish to stay poor. They know what poverty is, like the self-proclaimed pundits will never know. They want economic growth, which will bring greater opportunities for improved quality of life. However, to assume that economic growth of any hue – through real estate development, through dubious international capitalists (recall Enron) – will automatically translate into removal of poverty is plaintively disingenuous.'
'I shout at all of you with rage, because I refuse to accept a haven for me that is a nightmare for others.'
As I was reading many such posts on the violence unleashed by the government of West Bengal in Nandigram and the cover up that followed in the messages posted in the google groups youthforsocialchange, viral nuniyil kural software popped up this kural.
கொலைமேற்கொண் டாரிற் கொடிதே அலைமேற்கொண்டு
அல்ல்வை சைதொழுகும் வேந்து
Literally translates to, 'An unjust ruler is worse than a professional murderer'. Coincidence? Mayhap, but germane nevertheless. If this is the case, how do you rank a government that employs professional killers to suppress the voice of its people?
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