Ghanshyam Shah says rising public protests in Indian society is a failure of political leadership in a democracy like India
Use of Narmada water by industry was feared even in the mid-1980s and is actually a reality now, said sociologist Ghanshyam Shah while delivering a lecture on transformational social movements at Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM —A).
He also said rising public protests in Indian society is a failure of political leadership in a democracy like India.
Shah said that intellectuals like Umashankar Joshi and others, during mid-1980s, became staunch supporters of Sardar Sarovar Dam on Narmada river in Gujarat in order to solve the water crisis. "Even at that time, it was feared that water which was supposed to be used by farmers will be used by industry. Today, amidst water crisis there is no shortage of water for industry even as people and farmers, in particular, are facing shortage," said Shah.
He termed Narmada dam project as the first one, where the outstees were able to make a bargain from the government while all the previous dam projects made them suffer. While laying the foundation stone of Hirakud dam, then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru said admitted that project affected people will suffer but that has to be borne for the larger good of the nation. Similarly Morarji Desai told the locals that if they don't shift they will be drawn away. "However, things were changing all over the world and even in India. Medha Patkar's movements made tribals protest the land itself and they did not agree with the compensation offered by the governments. Even after that Madhya Pradesh government went ahead with the project without giving adequate compensation. Compensation offered by Gujarat was better than Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh," he said.
Replying to a question, Shah said that the fact that people's issues are being raised by non-political leaders, while their representatives in state legislatures and the Parliament turned a blind eye to the plights of the people. He considered the quality of leadership as paramount to the success of transformational social movements.
These include Narmada Bachao Andolon and the protest against Nuclear Power Plant at Mithi Virdi by the local villages and that of adjoining villages. He also claimed that social movements often fade away after their immediate goals are achieved and fail to bring about sustainable change. Giving an example of Navnirman Movement in 1974 in Gujarat, Shah said that at time the corruption was then equated with the then Chief Minister Chimanbhai Patel.
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