Good & bad, Vice& Virtue never happen in absoluteness. Whether dams are good or bad, Whether Government machinery is vice or virtue- We can't decide them in absolute. It depends. When one perceives it as Good the other perceives it as bad. NBA's battle for stopping the construction of the dam for more than fourteen years is a best example for it.
The recent Supreme Court judgment to continue the construction of the dam, should have hit the NBAs strongly. I started following the issue after reading the Greater common good by Ms. Arundhathi Roy. One of the finest research papers on Dams.
Where they failed? It’s the failure to play around the system. Just look at it. It’s the one issue the congress,the BJP and the major political rivals are united. Atleast NBA should have adopted divide and play policy. Atleast they should have won the support of one party . Also, On the name of voicing their opinion for greater common good, they have antagonized not only the Government machineries but also the personalities like Narendra Modi.
Their fight against the construction of dam is portrayed as obstruction for the solution for the thirst of millions of people. Their fight against destruction has been portrayed as the fight against the development. Their fight against the power has been portrayed as fight against the Government. Their support for the poorest of the poor has been portrayed as the fight against the largest middle class of the states; their support for the greater common good has been portrayed as the failure to envision the larger picture of the issue. The rational reason for these distortions may be the difference in perception of good and bad. But personal egos fuelled the division and distortion further.
In legal world rarely, "mind to mind" communication happens. It's simply paper to paper communication. The legal world doesn’t believe what it sees, it doesn’t believe what it hears, and it doesn't believe what it listens. It believes only in official records. In official records rehabilitation has been done. In official records, the dam is projected as the solution for the thirst. In official records, the social activists are portrayed as obstructionist. Ultimately the construction has been allowed to continue. Even though NBAs got the fighting sprit, even though they got the media space, Even though they attracted film stars into their campaign, they failed to play around the system.
Globalization, Dams, Nuclear weapon, measuring the prosperity with GDP growth has become the necessary evil. It's like catching the tail of the tiger. If we give up any of the above they will destroy us. That's why more and more nations are joining WTO, more and more nations want to become n-power. When anyone makes the point against any of the above, they have to provide the viable alternative which convinces the entire system or have the power to enforce on the system. NBA has failed in both ways. They don’t have any power or authority to stop the construction of the dam and also they have not convinced the system with viable alternative.
Check this link for the SC judgment
http://www.narmada.org/sardar-sarovar/sc.ruling/nba.comments.html#judgments
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