A Green Salute for
Self-Confidence!
Activism proclaims self-confidence as it makes it from
Silent Valley to Athirappilly.
Translated from Civic Chandran’s piece in Malayalam in Patabhedam.
The Kerala electricity minister M.M.Mani still keeps on
reiterating that the Athirappilly hydroelectric project will be accomplished. He gets chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan undiscerning
signature of approval.
Making a case for consensus is the former chief
minister. Amid this a movement which was
spearheading the struggle against the project decides to call off its dissent
and disband the movement.
Contending that no struggles against the dam anymore but,
for river conservation.
What a farce bro? How can activists surrender? Voluntarily
scatter and walk away at a time when the struggle demands augmentation? This
climax puzzles the traditional resistance movements. At the least shouldn’t the
struggle go on till the revolution? Isn’t activists born to intone Inquilab.
It was in this context a recap becomes necessary to
understand the change of tidings beginning from the Save Silent Valley movement
until the Athirapilly anti-dam protests. The old silent valley agitators still grieve
that even struggles that are doomed need foot soldiers.
Meanwhile resistances
in Kerala have seen several successes, and many still continue in a bid to achieve
the purpose for which they were launched. The nuclear power projects in Kothamangalam and
Peringome were shelved. The Coca Cola company dropped its Plachimada operations
and left the place for better. The
Thiruvananthapuram Corporation will not anymore dare to dump wastes at the
heart of Vilappilsala with the help of the army. In the film industry the
monopoly of ‘Amma’ was challenged by a group of smart damsels. Further has
there been a period in contemporary history of the state when women shed self-restraint
thrust upon them by the society and went on to provoke families, streets and
campuses? Similar is the case of movements which sprang up and flourished without
any support from mainstream political parties.
Coming back to Athirappilly struggle, the protesters had
ensured that the falls and the Chalakudy River are safe. Besides the tribal
people with know-how of forest act and the traders and local people have thrown
in their lot with the struggle, since Athirappilly being a tourist centre and
they are dependent on it. There have been studies on economical and ecological
consequences of the project and the courts and offices were swarmed with
petitions against the dam. This was supplemented by an ecologically conscious
new generation. Only after instilling self-confidence to the struggle so that
it cannot be derailed by a Mani or Pinarayi Vijayan that the movement was
disbanded. If not everybody was certain, Latha, Ravi, Mohandas and their
friends are in no doubt that a dam across Chalakudy river or Athirappilly is
not anymore possible.
Someone will sit somewhere and annoy. Assuming that some
drooped coconut will fall on their head so that they can whine, run around and
perform `thiruvathira.’ Comrade this isn’t activism. Activism is not dancing to tune
of the enemy. We decide the agenda of activism. We are going to function as per
our own agenda. Activists no longer wish
to continue as rabbits in the compound of a blacksmith.
In a war of unequal’s, guerilla warfare takes the side of
the deprived. It is not when the enemy intends, but when the people does that
people agitate. It is not as per the wish of the enemy but as decided by the
people that they will protest. For the
self-confidence gained by activism, a Green Salute!
Ends
