Baba Maharia & Chief Seattle

It happened in North America 2 centuries ago. It has accelerated for us in the past two decades. Catching up is India. We, of course, are speaking of the destruction of our central Indian indigenous communities. As promised we will continue to intersperse the colossal leaks behind our 'accelerating growth', with documents related to those communities that show a mirror to our environment and community compromising, centralized, and corrupt system. This document is like our own Chief Seattle or to be more accurate Chief Si'ahl speech. What the original Chief Si'ahl speech was, we will never know. But there are many doctored versions available to us. Likewise Baba Maharia, a Bhilala, whose father's name is Maharia, made a speech in the early 90's in Bhilali. What he spoke was documented and translated in English and Hindi. This is the Hindi version. He addressed his speech to the new Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Digvijay Singh, explaining his stand to drown in the Sardar Sarovar dam waters that would flood his village Jalsindhi. It is a speech that hits at many levels. The obvious mis-match between how a community is inextricably linked to its river-forest-gods which are not replaceable or monetizable. Resettlement plans have also no understanding of community labour, which even in simple economic terms makes a community far richer than the assets of its individuals. But, our economic system is of course built on devaluing certain kinds of labour and monetizing of natural resources, so that benefits always accrue upwards and true costs are never calculated.

Baba Maharia Letter to Chief Minister