If Voting Changed Anything They'd Abolish It
In 1987 Ken Livingston, that magical aberration in British Politics, published his autobiography with a really honest title: If Voting Changed Anything They'd Abolish It.
That title came to mind when I read my friend Aarti's piece on Pen Tehsil's referendum, a must read, where they refused Mukesh Bhai's brotherly love in favor of keeping their ancestral lands.
And then this morning, the Slimes had this article where they seem surprised and shocked in their headline: Anti-Nano farmers in Andhra too.
Why won't those illiterate, anti-development motherfuckers give up their land? Can't they see that this is for their and India's greater good? Take the money and get out, go live in a slum in Mumbai.
I wouldn't be surprised if soon this stupid, new experiment of democratic referendum is taken off the tables and we return to the tried and tested use of brutal force to acquire land. This kind of voting is changing things and making it difficult for India Inc. Change is a constant only as long as it constantly favors the powerful.
Update: Here's a Social Impact Assessment Report prepared by Tata Institute of Social Sciences for Sea King Infrastructure Ltd. (Sea King is the promoter for the Reliance SEZ) [PDF Link]
