HILLBILLY
LOKESH OHRI
It was 9th of November 2000, and in the mountains, a new State called Uttaranchal was being carved out. A day earlier, upon the urging of friends, I had headed to Gairsain, a small settlement bordering the Himalayan regions of Garhwal and Kumaon. This little hamlet had gained immense significance as most pahadis looked upon it as their future capital. We met many activist acquaintances on the way. I was not surprised to see that most of them shared my apprehensions about our new-found statehood. Upon arriving at Gairsain, I saw that rather than being jubilant, most people were despondent about this outcome of the long-drawn struggle for statehood. The naming of the State as Uttaranchal, against the demand for Uttarakhand, the choice of a valley, Dehradun, as the interim capital and not Gairsain, and the inclusion of two large plains’ regions played heavily on people’s minds. I left Gairsain that evening with the feeling that the new State, rather than being a culmination, in fact marked the beginning of another protracted struggle.
In comparison to the ambivalence in Gairsain, upon my return to Dehradun, I saw jubilation all around. Lucrative contracts and plump postings were up for grabs for the influential. The ordinary man on the street was effectively excluded from the celebrations, and in a way felt duped by the sudden turn of events. Soon a pamphlet began to circulate with the title, “Those that were part of the journey could not make it to the destination”.
The beginning did not augur well for the State. In the quarter century since, a lot of water has flown from the melting glaciers of the State. Today the State is 25 years young, an adult, is now renamed Uttarakhand, and perhaps this is a good time to take stock of whether it has met the expectations of pahadis, several amongst whom sacrificed friends and family for the cause.
For centuries, the Himalayan region of Uttarakhand suffered from British colonialism. Post-independence too, the people of the mountains felt that there was some hidden power from the faraway plains was exploiting its resources. The country had become independent, but the Himalayan region along the border continued to bear the brunt of war and became a victim of a strange internal colonialism. In fact, the Uttarakhand movement arose from the struggle waged against the exploitation of resources of the mountains. Who knew that after the formation of Uttarakhand state, people chosen from among our own brethren would become the main perpetrators of this internal colonialism? The pain caused by one’s own is indeed the most difficult to bear. What has happened in the last 25 years is in front of all of us. Everyone thought that after the creation of the new State, the lives of all the people living in Uttarakhand would improve, the region would move forward protecting its culture and environment. But this did not happen. All this was possible only if people of Uttarakhand exercised control over their resources and the social and political leadership miraculously developed a vision. Today a frightening situation has arisen where we are moving uncontrollably in a completely opposite direction.
Ever since the formation of Uttarakhand, no government, institution, or leadership has been able to present a long-term vision in the context of Uttarakhand. We can also say that today in our adult State, four types of visions are trying to decide its future. Let us know these, one by one. First, let us talk about the government vision, because the governments, whether they are from the Centre or the State, play a major role in deciding our future. It is true that we elect our representatives ourselves, but it is also evident that the vision of a common Uttarakhandi towards development is the exact opposite of the vision of our politicians. While a common Uttarakhandi is concerned about the water, forest, land of the hills and the youth taken away by migration, the governments want to develop mega-dams, road projects and industrial areas. No government vision has been able to ensure a strong primary education system and accessible health services in primary health centres in our remote rural areas till date, or perhaps it is not even a priority for them. Today, we all seem to be resigned that the crores being spent on most mega projects will benefit some invisible forces, leaving the locals in the lurch. While a common pahadi wants his village to be connected to the highway through a link road, the priority of the government is to keep widening the highways to temples or tourist spots. It is true that some people benefit from these schemes, but it is often seen that the common man keeps hoping for equity from these schemes, but they serve only the rich and powerful. There is a colonial mindset behind these ambitious projects, whose sole purpose is to exploit natural resources. The agency or opinion of the people does not matter in this. In this way, a deep and serious contradiction has emerged between the government’s vision and the vision of the common pahadi, and this gap is constantly widening. In contrast to the government’s vision, there is the vision of a common Uttarakhandi citizen, who is stunned to see how the entire might of the State is focused on making the already crowded Char Dham area accessible by air, road and rail. Today, if you visit this once beautiful pilgrimage region, it resembles a battlefield with the once green mountainsides showing huge scars. People we chose are waging war against our agriculture and rivers, and people are unable to understand how to communicate their plight to the government, amid the natural disasters they face. Today we are witnessing that the Uttarakhandi perspective is fading in front of the government’s dominant vision. As far as our control over resources is concerned, the monopoly that Lucknow had earlier, has now become a right of Delhi. In this context, our opinion was zero earlier, and now it has become completely insignificant.
The third evil eye that poses a big threat to Uttarakhand is that of the corporate world. The corporate world sees only two things in Uttarakhand – one is the rare minerals and medicines found in abundance, and tourism amidst the remaining picturesque views. We all know that the corporate world works only for profit and its roots are spread everywhere. The corporate world can spread any misconception in the society in its favour through its own media. The views of the environment activists of Uttarakhand are somewhat different from all these views. Although some environmentalists believe that we should be practical, there is also a large group which is against any kind of change. They believe that Uttarakhand should remain in its natural form as it was perhaps centuries ago. Perhaps this is also not possible in today’s situation. In these four perspectives, we can see today that the government perspective and the corporate perspective have united. We can also understand that both these perspectives are completely opposite to the Uttarakhandi and environmental perspectives.
The village dwellers of Uttarakhand are in distress today. Agriculture has almost ended in most of the rural areas. You will see barren fields everywhere on the hillsides. On one hand, migration has ruined the dandi-kandi, on the other hand, the free distribution of ration has made the poor villagers of the hills dependent on the government. Today, they are ready to sell their land, which they once considered as dear as their mother. If a dam or a big project comes up near a village, rather than protests, there is a clamour for compensation. Weak land laws and the flow of black money from cities are forcing the people of the hills to surrender and sell their lands, migrate to cities or transform from landowners to labourers.
The biggest question before people living in the hilly areas of Uttarakhand today is that they want to live as citizens of India and want to be partners in development that improves basic amenities, but without compromising on their self-respect, environment and faith in local deities. The governmental approach and the corporate approach are becoming a big obstacle in this because they want more migration, land to be vacant and available for their projects. That is why no concrete steps are being taken to stop migration. As if this was not enough, all our local leaders are seen roaming around the corridors of power in Delhi to get new projects passed, so that they can also get a share in the contracts. In fact, the State of Uttarakhand has been handed over to contractors. If the people of Uttarakhand do not stand up and put pressure on governments to free themselves from the corporate vision and start looking at the future of Uttarakhand from their own perspective, then soon we will lose the Himalayas and its resources. If we force the government to look at it from the common pahadi’s perspective, only then will it have come of age.
(The writer is an anthropologist, author, traveler & activist; views expressed are personal)
