BHOPAL:A SEQUEL

To C.R. Parameswaran


This place of the dead.
Here the air is only rarely touched with life.
When it stirs,we shiver.
Cold sweat collects in a sticky pool at the base of the spine.

---Gavin Barrett


A journey to Bhopal a few years ago. The affected poor seems more alienated.Diminishing defenses. Irresponsibility of local governments. Withdrawal of writers and cultural leaders. Alzheimer's affected civil society. Yes C.R. What you have said is quite true,we are dead and gone.

In fact this is not only the problem of Bhopal,but also of Chattisgarh,Orissa ,Nandigram and Bihar.......where the same had occurred in a way or other. This is not book knowledge but the experiences of an illiterate man who wanders through the villages of India. I was flabbergasted at the sad plight of the villagers,increasing rate of HIV patients in the rural population of Orissa. And numerous N.G.Os thrive on harvesting them and the business grows globally. This going to be yet another sore wound. Till then,nobody 'll turn towards them including politicians,cultural workers,administrators and others.Poverty,caste descriminations,lack of drinking water,atrocities against women are some of the problems of Chattisgarh . Our democracy has nothing to say and they turn deaf ears to their cries.' When democracy fails, the public seek the help of insurgents',opines noted sociologist James W. Lethe in his book 'Death in Globalization' .

What about Kerala? The adivasis are manipulated cruelly,silently. Recently I've been to their settlements in Podiyam,Pattanippara to script a documentary and short film directed by Pramod Payyannur. The subject of the project was the exploitation of Adivasis. Their life harassed by middlemen are beyond mentioning . Their identities too were looted for political gain. This is also another source of future chaos. On the one side there's globalization,development spree, internet,info-tech, and on the other the cast out public, and the marginalized sectors. This is the' sociological dualism' of John O.Neikirk. The end result of this is not inventive but disturbing. We're going through such a situation now.

No doubt,all of the said problems need to be solved democratically. If we are to call those who work for broadening the concept of democracy, to get it to grass root level,are patriots, then sorry to say, that is an endangered species. We should have to receive its transgressions . And it is apparent that no one has the right to evade it.