Whose Nation The Displaced as Victims of Development

The Displaced as Victims of Development Smitu Kothari Efforts at minimising displacement or improving resettlement will only be marginal, palliative and temporary if they are not contextualised in a wider socio-political context Three contentions support the argument: first, that the current patterns of economic development which are constantly invoked to justify the forced eviction of people all over the country, are themselves incompatible with the goals of creating wider conditions of equity and social security. Second, despite constitutional mandates, in an overwhelming number of cases, national and regional interests violate the interests of politically and economically weaker groups and individuals. Third, political and ecological solutions sought must recognise the need to both democratise the control over the resources and processes of production and regenerate the degraded ecological resources.