NARMADA-State and the People-Styles of Suppression and Resistance

NARMADA State and the People Styles of Suppression and Resistance Krishna Kumar FOUR Narmada-related incidents which took place in August deserve a close look and interpretation. Even the broad details pertaining to these incidents were ignored in many quarters of the media, and therefore require some narration. A distinct sense of boredom has surfaced in the media in relation to Narmada affairs, and indeed to a certain extent, in relation to all resistance movements concerned with ecological problems. The boredom is undoubtedly an outcome of the emerging consensus among owners of industry and the media, that popular ecological awareness is detrimental to speedy industrial growth. Killing of news relating to people's opposition to destructive development projects or legal battles waged as part of such opposition has become routine. A third party to join this consensus among industry and media owners are political leaders. They were never too keen on supporting ecological struggles, except when an immediate political advantage was at stake. Even this variety of interest has dwindled in high-level political circles since the advent of World Bank-directed economic reforms.