State for the few or Few for the state ? The Jaitapur Story

“And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country”
~ John F. Kennedy.

We have heard these words so many times and I have never doubted the belief that the country is above self. Even though I have never been able to relate to the National pride people associate with sports and similar stuff but for me it is nothing but National Pride for what the armed personnel are surviving for in Siachen the world’s highest battlefield while I type these words in a comfortable room.  There are no words to describe the courage and the valor of these guys and I will not even attempt that. For them I will just say “respect”.

At the same time I must say I am paranoid about my dwindling trust for the political agendas, propaganda and the nexus between them and media. I strongly agree with Noam Chomsky’s description that the public opinions are to be fabricated (in literal sense – manufactured) even in so called democracies of the world. We have seen this happening numerous times in the recent past - Germany before the Second World War, all of the world’s dictators and even in democracies like United States of America ( WMD in Iraq , War on terror and what not).  Keeping in view the two opposing sides of the thoughts associated with the “National Pride” sometimes I am really confused and can’t see the line between genuineness and the propaganda.

A recent development in Japan and the proposed nuclear power plant in India have made me even more confused. Let’s look at the specifics in Indian perspective and the events that are happening as of now like the ongoing protests against the proposed nuclear reactor in Maharashtra. In the light of the current nuclear accident and situation in Japan’s Fukashima nuclear power plant, there have been protests as expected around the World and countries like Germany have put the nuclear plans on hold. The world is currently divided at the cost of a nuclear power plant and the implications in case of an accident.

For a country like India still developing; where we don’t have enough fossil fuels to satisfy for the power demand we have limited options. Power cuts are frequent in almost all over the country and sometimes the situation is so bad that peak months of summer and winter there is a scheduled power cut almost every day. For a nation of billion plus people we have tried building so many hydro electric projects, we have tried thermal power plants and we also have nuclear power plants operating in the country.Our cities are teeming with millions and the need for power is increasing.

The question is what is the cost of a Nuclear power plant and more importantly can the state force a nuclear power plant in my backyard. In the light of the facts – no nuclear power plant or technology is safe enough. We can’t say a bomb inside a shell is safe – it is still a BIG bomb. The radioactive fallout of plutonium can survive for more than 20,000 years; we still are counting the health hazards of disasters in past and even today we don’t know what the safe limit for radiation exposure on humans is.

With this nuclear power plant proposed in Jaitapur, Maharashtra (9900 KW) there are several big risks associated – the area is prone to earthquakes (it is in a seismic zone), closer to the sea (probable tsunamis) let alone any accidents of possible fallouts because of human error. Areava is supposed to build the power plant, France will supply fuel for 25 years and the state has already ordered compulsory land acquisition. The cost of generating electricity will be much cheaper. There will be huge investment in terms of building the plant and the French company is surely going to make a good deal of money.

What for the people of Jaitpur and nearby region? They will be forced to lose out on their land. We have seen the issues with Narmada and with Tehri dam; the rehabilitation efforts have been questionable leave alone the agony of being forced to move and the emotional impact. It was a heart wrenching moment for people in Tehri to see the land drowning under the water when the dam filled up – for few they had spent all their lives in that landscape. The nearby areas of twenty to thirty kilometers will be the high impact area that needs to be evacuated in case of any nuclear threat. These people fear the worst could happen to them because this will be unplanned, sudden life threatening and possibly much worst.

The question is what is the real cost of development? What sacrifices can the state really ask for and what is the moral limit? If there is a nuclear power plant in my background that State intends to build – there is a potential risk (however minimal) that the whole area may become a ghost town and even death and several long term emotional, physical and financial implications. This is not an exaggeration but a reality of Chernobyl accident. When the question comes down to life and death, existence and everything, do we still need to support the cause?  Is the state for the good of few at the cost of others?

When we have the right to weed out plants which destroy our crops from our fields shouldn’t we have bigger rights to decide if a Nuclear power plant needs to come up in our region? Especially when the power that is going to be generated is going to be supplied to the national grid and going to light up the industries and being consumed more in the cities. Isn’t it like saying that ship breaking industry is safe because it is being done in Bangladesh or recycling being done in China.  The poor are paying for the sins – lives are cheaper in China and Bangladesh then in US or West from where the waste originates.

I am going to make another stark comparison and a bold statement.  What I described above sounds like a lesson from the history book and describes what was the reality in pre independent India. We were all forced by British to do things like growing Indigo which had long term implications on land and livelihood for the benefit of people in England.

Sometimes it looks like the same thing the people in rest of India are directly or indirectly offering to the people of Jaitapur. There are riots going on – police is trying to keep the situation under control, the memorandum of understanding has been signed the state is gearing up, people are fighting for it but I can’t decide what is right and what is wrong?

I still know the soldiers know and fight for the National Pride. They even lay down their lives for the cause of it and it is easy to comment. If everyone steps back how will the country move forward? Can someone enlighten me?

References:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaitapur_Nuclear_Power_Project
http://www.hindustantimes.com/tabloid-news/mumbai/14-held-for-2-month-old-rioting-case-in-Jaitapur/Article1-668432.aspx
http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/other-states/article1501268.ece

Image credit:  http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Nuclear_power_plant.svg/446px-Nuclear_power_plant.svg.png

Token award for the heroes of Rajdhani Fire Accident - Shame for the Nation of Billion

Recently there was a fire few days back in one of the most prestigious trains called Rajdhani Express. Four coaches were gutted including the pantry cars and thank fully no one was hurt. The news was covered by almost all the media in detail. The train was running between Delhi and Mumbai.

Today the railways announced a prize for the pantry staffers who helped to contain the scale of the tragedy and helped the passengers escape the accident. There was not even a single casualty which is usually a rarity with railway accidents in India. No minister had to resign no blames and no politics was required. There was a commission set up to investigate the incident as it usually is in all such cases and I guess it will be the first or last time we hear about it or it’s recommendations.

There were 30 staffers in pantry at the time of the accident and 9 of them are said to have displayed heroics beyond the call of duty.  The blaze broke out at 2:20 AM. They pulled the chain – a mechanism to stop the train, alerted the passengers and helped them evacuate. They even delinked the burning coaches from the rest of the train to prevent a major disaster. In simple words, the cost of the disaster in terms of just loss to railways would have run into thousands of dollars easily let alone the shame and disgrace for the biggest rail traffic carrier. It is a different story that railways is so used to this that it doesn’t even bother any more with accidents which don't kill people.

These railway staffers are most probably the employees of catering service and am not even sure if they are on Railway payrolls. They were honored today and a princely sum of Rs. 3000 was collectively given as a token amount to 9 of them.  That is approximately INR 333.33 – what else could be more derogatory? Compare it to the 212 passengers were paid about INR 5000 each as compensation for the gutted luggage. That that USD 8 per person but it is just a token of appreciation.

Let’s step back few days our glorious cricketers won the world cup. Millions of rupees were showered on them and these are boys who already have millions in the bank. Most of them are sitting on pile of it and some even have net worth almost more than the cost of the whole train and they for sure did a good job lifting the World Cup.

Haven’t we lost our sanity? 

I am sure we have.  It was not only the government but the corporate showering money on these cricketers. They all wanted a share of the pie and world cup euphoria but these 9 people they played with their lives to save more than 1000 passengers on that night. The death toll would have been more than the number of players in the cricket match including the commentators, extras and even the officials.

Is there even a comparison between the two and if there is on any day the bravery and presence of mind of these pantry boys is worth much more than any currency and maybe that’s why the “token” amount.

Indian’s usually aren’t concerned with the other fellow countrymen. We don’t report crimes. We hide information. We cuddle back in our houses when someone needs help because we know that no one will help us. God forbid one of these guys would have been disabled or burnt during the accident. He would have been in the limelight of channels – his grieving widow and mom on TV for TRP and then what?

We have already forgotten the heroes of the Delhi bomb blast – what about all the commandos fighting in the Taj in Mumbai. You know why we call them Heroes? I guess because it is a generic term and easy to remember than the individual names.Let's talk about one of them. Kuldeep Singh (32) who lost both his eyes while he was evacuating the people from his bus. He was evacuating people when some one alerted him about the bomb. He saved lives of 60 people and hadn't even received the full compensation until Apr 2006. The blasts occurred on 30th Oct,2005.  Read more about him here.

When interviewed Kuldeep said "if you were in my position, you would have done the same thing" .If you were to step into the shoes of Kuldeep would you lift that bomb - he was sure about what it was and loose your both eyes, cripple your career your life. I am a shamed to admit I would have run away. Isn't is easy to think why we don't give way to ambulances. Why people don't stop to  help on highways. There are no rewards for these things not morally, not emotionally and there are eternal complications police, lawyers, court cases.

We can say the case has always been the case of the humble souls like Kuldeep fight for the rights and security of the riches and even state and today am not only ashamed but sorry for being an Indian. But I guess who cares IPL is on, we have lifted the WC - Sachin and Dhoni are batting. I will also crib about it and then even I don't know what to do.

References:

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/rajdhani-staff-got-us-out-spread-blankets-on-field-till-help-came/777980/

Credits for the photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kalyan/455432870/

Information or Propaganda - whom should we trust?

There is no such thing as free and fair reporting. Humans are incapable of it and if you don't support that bold statement think about this - we perceive something through our senses, process it and then reproduce/report it. Let's imagine it as a three step process.

Imagine standing in front of a beautiful flower that has bloomed for the first time in the world and you are the first one to spot it and as part of your job you are supposed to report it.

The first task is to identify and take a call if it is a "beautiful flower". This decision is based on the prior knowledge conscious and sub-conscious, the prior norms, documented facts about the beautiful flowers which the reporter had access to previously. This is the first step and has already been biased a lot in the selection of what is important and needs to be reported.

Our senses process hundreds of TB of information daily. The beautiful lady in the silk dress, the red ferrari, the bird which just started chirpring, the smooth sweet taste of weiss beer, the bitterness of cheese and hundreds of things like that. This is the step one which I referred as "perceive". The flower was noticed - the eye saw it. Our mind simultaneously is "processing" information. This is where the real bias comes in and we decide if the perception was valuable or just ordinary.

A child is interested in the criss cross tiles in the big haul but as grown ups mom and dad are not at all interested in it. In his preachings Buddha describes as an ultimate state where by an individual is able to detach from the present and become just an observer. Difficult for most mere mortals I guess.

And the third step is to report it in an amicable manner. It's so interesting to note here that the emphasis is on amicable more than on the reporting.


And this is why am so concerned when I look around the world.


For example today I walked around Berlin. I have seen and read hundred of videos or books about the Berlin's days during the cold war. I guess all of us know that the Berlin wall was erected by East Germany to prevent people from the East i.e. communist to defecting into the west. I am not here to justify what why where. I have very limited understanding of the world history but I want to share something I always thought about but never found answers to.

Check out this video on the Berlin Wall. It will put things into perspective.

Many people died escaping the Berlin wall. About 120 people are known to have escaped. Hundreds others were caught shot and executed.  There are hundreds of documented videos with the same footage. The Westerns helped the East Germans escape. They were very vocal and it was clearly evident in the video above as well with the fireman holding cloth to provide cushion to the people jumping out of the windows. It represented a picture that East Germany was very repressed and West was the way to go.

Let me ask a question here. Have you ever seen a video which showed what happened to the people who took the risk of crossing the wall. I haven't seen any information or documentary of there lives. And if that question is not enough think about hundreds who lost their lives doing so. Was it worth doing it. No one knows and we all have been fed to belief the life in West was good compared to East. And I guess over the period of so many years we have all soaked the information.

This is what media reporting does. No one feels the importance of reporting what is not happening in Tunisia. The reporting process that i discussed in the start still has to go through a filter of vested interest and propaganda be it economical or whatever. This is the thin red line where by revolutionary fighters like Azad before 1947 were referred to as "terrorists" in India and after that they have been acknowledged as "freedom fighters".

So the question is what is the real story of Libya? Why are the people willing to die in Chattisgarh? Who are these Maowadi - who are Naxalites. And we will never know because the media is allegedly in control of people like Barkha Dutta and Vir Sanghvi who have been tainted in the Radia Tapes.

So the question is whom do we trust and what to we make out of the news beaming into our living rooms. Information or propaganda and if you think you know - are you sure?

And the answer probably lies with in you and the question itself. Decide for yourself can we trust others?