Surya Rai needs an introduction.
He is amongst hundreds of common folks affected by the bulldozing administrative approach at Damak one of the fastest growing towns of Nepal where the Chinese sponsored industrial park is proposed.
This simple village man knows no survival tricks. He just has a small plot of agricultural land, which if snatched away would leave him landless as his family would suffer for eternity.
The proposed Damak Industrial Park, projected as one of the largest Chinese investments under the Belt and Road Initiative continues to occupy centre stage for all the wrong reasons while those seeking justice are turning restless.
The anger and desperation were once again demonstrated on Tuesday at Chandragari the district headquarter of Jhapa district when more than 1500 people gathered in front of the office of chief district officer. They just want their pleas to be heard and justice delivered
The protest against the Park is taking all the serious twist as more and more stakeholders who otherwise were looking at the developments from a different prism have realised the gravity of the situation, which if not addressed immediately could burst anytime.
The Tuesday’s rally and demonstration was a clear reminder to the administration particularly the Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli that not everything is hunky-dory as it is projected.
Though most of the major political parties have conspicuously kept themselves away from issues arising out of deprivation of land losers, Sanghya Limbuwan Manch and Damak Sangharsh Samiti have been spearheading the protests since day one. The participation of different Janjatis, Adivasis in the Tuesday’s protest march speaks volumes that the agitation against the Park would only go stronger in the days to come.
No matter whether it is chilling cold or scorching heat, the protestors have been hitting the roads for months. And there are many like Surya Rai who know that the agitation would only intensify as the administration gives no heed to the growing resentments among the common land losers.
Narrating his woes, Rai said, “No matter what comes on the way, I would not part away with the land unless I get complete justice.” There are hundreds like Rai and the number is all increasing. They warn, the protest movement, which hitherto has remained peaceful could explode anytime.
The cause of disagreement is simple and needs no rocket science to understand.
The peasants are against shoddy implementation of controversial project which is environmentally degrading with socio-economic pitfalls. Land acquisition is marred by mismanagement, hijacked by middlemen, land losers are deprived of justified compensation. The questions of rehabilitation and livelihood of land losers are simply not addressed.
Affected people in the Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli’s home turf have joined their hands to spearhead the movement seeking justice. However the irony is: barring few organisations rest have preferred to turn blind eyes over the crisis, which could snowballed into a major issue.
The affected people have been knocking on all the possible doors with a cold response. However only time would tell what path the agitation would take. It could also be very- very destructive. So far, Limbuwan Mancha is playing all the positive roles aimed at delivering justice.
Khagendra Bhattarai the conveor of the Sangarsha Samiti and Dhan Bhadur Pandhak the district president of the Sanghya Limbuwan Samiti have been leaving no stone unturned to seek justice for the stakeholders. They reiterated that they would continue to hit the roads till justice is delivered.
They also emphasised on the need for the government and the park authorities to come out with a white paper containing all the details of the park, like what is in store for the local population and what facilities it would have once it is completed. So far, people are in the dark about the park whose foundation stone was laid hurriedly despite protests. If good sense does not prevail, it is destined that Oli’s dream project would remain restricted only on paper, the protestors warned. Indeed the protest is snowballing into a major people’s movement.
So far the people have been restraining themselves while their deputations and memorandums to the local and district authorities seeking justice have fallen on deaf ears. The firebrand speeches and slogans against the Park that reverberated the CDO’s office on Tuesday is a clear reminder that the going would only get tougher for the government. The deployment of police and armed forces to thwart agitation would only intensify the problem. What is needed is ,good sense to prevail and all stakeholders to be taken on board before it is too late and the issue goes out of hands.