Indian official democracy kneels down in Orissa

Like dogs that run after the pigs to satisfy their master police put the Indian official democracy to new low in Orissa. Police charged at peacefully protesting villagers in Balituta and other neighboring villages in Jagatsingpur district of Orissa today. And just who are the masters this time? One South Korean company named POSCO. The company has been expecting to take mineral rich forest area and make a whopping profits of 96,000 crores. Indian government first buckled down. Then Orissa government did the rest: sent the police to hound out the protesting villagers from their own village square.

It is indeed a very sad day for experiment in democracy in India. It is even sad day for all the official machinery of the government of India that virtually threw out even the its pretentious character to the winds and carried on invasion of its stubborn defendants of land as well as democracy in most peaceful manner.

Few of us from Goa had a occasion to visit this site of struggle in 2007 and we had first hand experience of the situation there. This has also inspired us to open up special section on Orissa and document as momentous events unfold in Orissa to benefit Tata and POSCO, the two industrial giants - one from India and second from South Korea.

These villages has cash rich economy of export of their village high quality leaves to middle east. No one here is stark poor. Everyone is self sustaining in its leaves plantations.

It is a such a paradox of our times that the country that officially treats everyone as their equals decides to raid its citizens in such a medieval fashion to confiscate their land and impoverish them. I find this disgustingly sick. It is sick to know what tatas have done in Kalinganar and it is equally sickening to know what has been done at Jagatsingpur people's struggle.

It is such a loathing insensitivity and arrogance of the State of Orissa to have a chief minister who feigns ignorance while the police force engage in trigger joy pastimes at these sites in virtually cowboy style.

The state apparatus in India no longer remains at the service of its citizens. This is what the impression I get from the way events have unfolded in Orissa over the past few days. In fact the entire official machinery has been brought over by corporate interests.

The people are now orphaned with absence of state protection. Last rites were performed at Puri in such a sheepish manner over the body of tribal man killed two days ago in Kaliganar in Police firing. Perhaps these are last rites of the State apparatus meant for protecting the State that has been killed. The new state with a Navin face is brand that listen only to corporates, speaks only corporate language and acts corporate intentions to the precision. People are overwhelmingly absent. Even if they are present, they are merely of nuisance value that needs to be shunned away with police platoons.

I feel so helpless that I had to draw these conclusions from the events that unfolded in the past few days. We need to go backward in our calendar year by at least few centuries in order to make sense to our minds - nude land gobbling orgy performed by beasts of nihilism.

I always stood firm in my row in school and repeated the pledge countless time - "all Indians are my brothers and sisters". Today first time I am forced to rethink if all that I recited thousands of times was fraud on my innocence. Brother and Sisterly relations has no element of loot and plunder that we have witnessed over the past while in Orissa. The relations are more akin to chicken and fox wherein fox carries on his wild adventures in the house full of chickens. It is pleasure for fox on hunt and loss life chicken. Fox has become totally greedy and goes on attacking chickens to no end. Indulges in mayhem.

When citizens get the bunch of thieves as their rulers declaring their decree in the centre of the town what legitimacy such system of governance holds? It is completely disgusting to note that such is a state of affairs of my country today. It is not just rampant financial corruption but the mindset of aggression that has gripped the rulers in India today. Orissa is only the tip of iceberg in this regard. It is indeed very hard for me to arrive at this conclusion but hard facts do not point anywhere else that I wish to.

My solidarity with struggles in Kalinganar as well as Jagatsingpur in Orissa. Geographically they are very far but mentally they are so close. Perhaps as close as late Dr. Bikram Dasgupta who hailed from Sudergarh in Orissa.

Sebastian Rodrigues

Picture credits to Neikesanuo Sorhie