AN INTER PRESS SERVICE FEATURE
TEHRI GARHWAL, INDIA, Dic 15 (IPS) - A SMUDGY PROTEST BANNER FLAPS IN THE CHILLY WINTER BREEZE FROM THE DISTANT HIMALAYAS AS A CROWD OF LOCALS GATHER BELOW IN A SMALL TOWN IN THIS NORTH INDIAN HILL DISTRICT.
THE SCENE, LIKE THE GRAFFITI, POSTERS AND GATHERINGS IN THE HUNDREDS OF TINY TOWNS AND HAMLETS PERCHED ON THE STEEP TEHRI MOUNTAINS, IS INDICATIVE OF THE POLITICAL UNREST SWEEPING THE ONCE-QUIET CENTRAL HIMALAYAN FOOTHILLS ALONGSIDE TIBET AND NEPAL.
THE TOWN SCHOOL HEADMASTER SPEAKS ANIMATEDLY: "OUR FARMS ARE TURNING BARREN, PEOPLE ARE LEAVING THE VILLAGES, THERE ARE NO TEACHERS IN SCHOOLS. ALL BECAUSE WE HAVE NO SAY IN OUR OWN AFFAIRS."
THE GOVERNMENT IS BUILDING A HUGE DAM UPHILL, BUT TOWNS AND VILLAGES IN THE DISTRICT WILL GET NEITHER ELECTRICITY NOR WATER FROM THE SCHEME, HE ADDS.
FOR THE PAST FOUR MONTHS, TEHRI AND SEVEN OTHER ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISIONS IN INDIA'S MOST POPULOUS STATE OF UTTAR PRADESH (U.P.), ARE IN THE GRIP OF A POPULAR MOVEMENT TO MAKE THEM A SELF-RULED FEDERAL UNIT.
THE SIX MILLION PEOPLE OF 'UTTARAKHAND' (NORTHERN REGION IN HINDI), COMPRISING FIVE GARHWAL DISTRICTS AND THREE FROM THE ADJOINING KUMAON REGION, ARE SORE WITH THE DISTANT AND INSENSITIVE U.P. ADMINISTRATION.
THEY BLAME THE PARENT STATE FOR TAKING AWAY THEIR ABUNDANT NATURAL RESOURCES AND AND HANDING DOWN A PATTERN OF SKEWED DEVELOPMENT WHICH HAS MADE UTTARAKHAND ONE OF THE COUNTRY'S MOST BACKWARD AREAS.
VIOLENT PROTESTS AND POLICE CRACKDOWNS DURING UTTARAKHAND RALLIES HAVE CLAIMED MANY LIVES. THE MOVEMENT HAS DRAWN FARMERS, GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES, HOUSEWIVES, CHILDREN AND RETIRED ARMY PERSONNEL, BROUGHT ADMINISTRATION TO A STANDSTILL AND CREATED A MAJOR CRISIS FOR INDIA'S RULING PARTY.
"TWENTY YEARS AGO THERE WERE 120 FAMILIES IN OUR VILLAGE. TODAY ONLY 15 ARE LEFT AS PEOPLE HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO GO IN SEARCH OF JOBS IN THE BIG CITIES," SAYS DINESH CHANDRA JOSHI, A GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEE IN FAKOT, A SMALL URBAN CENTRE IN TEHRI.
JOSHI'S VILLAGE IS TYPICAL OF GARHWAL. GENERATIONS OF 'PAHADIS', AS THE HILL FOLK ARE KNOWN, HAVE PREFERRED MIGRATING DOWNHILL TO THE PLAINS TO TAKE UP A VARIETY OF LOW-PAID MENIAL JOBS, RATHER THAN EKE OUT A SUBSISTENCE FROM THEIR TINY, UN- IRRIGATED FARMS.
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