A Protest Against Insanity...!!

In the course of a single day itself, hundreds of devotees visit Akshardham Mandir, thousands of workers land up at the construction site of Commonwealth Games Village and as many commuters traverse the Nizamuddin Bridge but literally a very few takes the notice of it. The traffic woes over the bridge forces them to spend about an hour crossing the 750m stretch, the time they spend appreciating the beauty of the Mandir or commenting at the plight of the deteriorating Yamuna river. The sight of the upcoming Commonwealth Games Village excites them all. But nearly all are either unaware or ignorant of the fact that between the two colossal structures and on the periphery of the bridge lays unrest! A movement that took birth over a year ago and, sadly enough, is still in its infancy.

I have been one of the commuters and had been noticing the banners since the past couple of days. To be honest, being a sports enthusiast, I never read the banners on the day I noticed them because the first thought that came to my mind was that the protest is against the Commonwealth Games! “How insane is this? These people don’t want games to happen, spoilsports!” The banners and the whole idea of the protest against kept repeating in my mind all through the day and I made it a point to remember reading their ‘words’ the next day. To my surprise...yes it was a protest, a protest against the Commonwealth Games Village, but…but for a humanitarian cause! I felt shocked and more than anything else, I was embarrassed by my thoughts…but the very next moment I resolved to bring to the notice of every person I can…

It was raining heavily ten minutes back and its shining brightly now. But these conditions don’t affect their spirits. Everyday they worship the huge framed portrait of Mahatma Gandhi-their mentor. The trunk and the branches of a huge tree supports their plastic shed beneath which they spend their entire day in protest…a protest for a noble cause…a plea to save the Yamuna and hence mankind…
“The Yamuna Satayagrah was launched on August 1, 2007 under the leadership of Rajendra Singh against the construction of Commonwealth Games Village on the riverbeds of Yamuna…mind you, its not against the games...” one of the members started briefing me about the history of the campaign(in hindi) and continued till we were joined by the vice president of the movement, Baljeet Singh.

“Sarkaar ko isse kya matlab hai, wo to iss sab se paise kama rahi hai…humare pet pe laat maarkar…hum kisaanon ko beghar kar ke…” (Government isn’t bothered about this issue; they are only earning money…leaving the farmers starved and homeless!) remarks Baljeet Singh, a retired teacher, PGT Economics and the vice president of the Satyagrah.

“Vote humara wohi lega, jo yamuna mein sanan karega” (We shall vote for the one who will take a dip in Yamuna) says a banner, “Kutab se Taj, ek hi awaaz, jiye Yamuna to jiye jan jan” cries another! But depressingly, their cries are confined to their shed only. They lament the progress of their cause due to ‘occasional media coverage’. “Haanji media ka kuch saath to mila hai lakin uske bavajood bhi ye abhi tak ek mass movement nahi ban paya hai…media aur logon ko isse kya lena hai…” says Mahavir Singh. He continues “Aap future ki soche, aage to pani ki kami sabko satayegi…tab pal bhar mein ka kar lenge ye log? Hum to aane wali peedhi ke bare mein soch rahen hain…” (You think about the future, in near future we all shall face water shortage…what will they be able to do then within seconds? We are thinking about the future generation…)
Baljeet Singh further elaborates on the same focusing on the reasons for people’s and media’s ignorant behavior. “More than eighty percent of the residents of Delhi are not migrants from other states who have settled here either for education or work/money. Why would they be concerned about the Yamuna and its deteriorating water quality when there are getting packaged water in the market? It is we, the poor people who depend upon natural water resource, who are being affected the most…. Media hasn’t been able to transform this into a mass movement because we don’t have a celebrity attached with our protest. Is this justice?” He then points to a white board with ‘368’ written on it with green, blue and red ink, signifying the 368 days of their protest against insanity…

I was wondering ever since we sat down for the chat that why these people were against the progress of the riverbed-DDA’s conscious effort…but already being too embarrassed by my thoughts I could not muster the courage to question them… “Here they are echoing about the usefulness of riverbed… Of course it would be a crazy question to ask” I restricted myself a ten times. But fortunately Mahavir Singh’s further criticism clarified the residual doubts. “Hum ye nahi chahte ke sarkaar is kshetra ka vikas na kare, kare, lakin riverbed ko riverbed he rehne de phr chahe ye jameen hum kisan ke paas ho ya phir reliance k paas…aur jahan tak khel ka sawaal hai, aur bhi kayi jagah hain jahan iska nirmaan kiya ja sakta hai…” (We don’t say that the government should not develop the region, it should, but the riverbed should remain a riverbed irrelevant of the fact that its ownership is with the farmers or with a private company! And as far as the games are concerned, the village can be built at many other alternative places…)
“The riverbed is now being converted into a concrete jungle! Moreover they are building multi storey flats, malls, hotels and other residential quarters inside the Games village. It shall even include the metro complex! Is this what I riverbed is used for? This will severely impact the survival of the river which is already under stress. Ask the government or us the farmers whether the sand here can withstand concrete?” complained Baljeet Singh, almost in tears by now… “Moreover mukhya mantri Sheila Dikshit ji kehti hain ke ye waste land hain…hum sirf isko beautify kar rahe hain…” (Moreover Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit says it’s just a wasteland and we are only beautifying it!)

By now I was convinced, and I am sure many of you would also be, that this site isn’t the best place to host foreigners for a twelve day event leaving behind our own farmers homeless, jobless and starved for their entire life!

“The protest isn’t just against the construction of the Games Village at this place, a similar protest, at a much larger scale, was launched in 2000 as well when the site got the approval for the construction of the Akshardham complex. But the government, using the police force, suppressed the voice of the protesting farmers and succeeded in vacating the area for the construction”, continues Baljeet Singh. “Hum kisaanon ko to pehle he beghar kar chuke hain…humari rozi roti ka saadhan cheen liya…ghar cheen liye…mandir hata diye, ye sab kuch sirf ek Akshardham banane k liye…” The moment I heard those words, I was shivering. It was pity and anger, anger against the government. His words were extremely provoking! And the beauty of the temple, that I too once appreciated, seemed to be of no relevance anymore!