Fighting terrorism of all brands
By Vandana Shiva
September 18 was the day for solidarity with victims of the terrorist attacks
on the U.S. on September 11. I joined the millions of people to observe two minutes
silence at 10:30 a.m. for those who lost their lives in the assault on the World
Trade Center and the Pentagon. But I also thought of the millions who are victims
of other terrorist actions and other forms of violence. And I renewed my commitment
to resist violence in all its forms.
At 10:30 a.m. on September 18, I was with Laxmi, Raibari and Suranam in Jhodia Sahi
village in Kashipur district of Orissa. Laxmi's husband Ghabi Jhodia was among the
20 tribals who recently died of starvation. In the same village, Subarna Jhodia had
also died. Later, we met Singari in Bilamal village who had lost her husband Sadha,
elder son Surat, younger son Paila and daughter-in-law Sulami.
The deliberate denial of food to the hungry is at the core of the World Bank Structural
Adjustment programmes. Dismantling the Public Distribution System (PDS) was a World
Bank conditionality. It was justified on grounds of reducing expenditure. But the
food subsidy budget has exploded from Rs. 2,800 crores in 1991 to Rs. 14,000 crores
in 2001. More money is being spent to store grain because the Bank wanted food subsidies
to be withdrawn. This led to increase in food prices, lowering of purchase from PDS
and build up of stocks. The food security of the nation is collapsing.
Starvation deaths in Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Orissa are symptoms of the breakdown
of our food systems. Kashipur was gifted with abundance of nature. Starvation is
the result of waves of violence against nature and the tribal communities, of ecological
plunder of the resources of the region, the dismantling of the food security system
under economic reform policies and the impact of climate change which caused crop
failures.
Twenty years ago, the pulp and paper industry raped the forests of Kashipur. Today,
the herbs stand naked and the paper mills are bringing eucalyptus from neighbouring
Andhra Pradesh. Now the giant mining companies - Hydro of Norway, Alcan of Canada,
Indico, Balco/Sterlite of India have unleashed a new wave of terror. They are eyeing
the bauxite in the majestic hills of Kashipur as it is used for aluminium that will
go to make Coca Cola cans and fighter planes.
Imagine each mountain to be a World Trade Center built by nature over millennia.
Think of how many tragedies bigger than what the world experienced on September 11
are taking place to provide raw material for insatiable industry and markets. The
Aluminium companies want the homelands of the Kashipur tribals. But the tribals refuse
to leave. They are defending the land and earth through a non-violent movement. This
forced apportioning of resources from people too is a form of terrorism - corporate
terrorism.
The 50 million tribals who have been flooded out of their homes by dams over the
past four decades are also victims of terrorism - they have faced the terror of technology
and destructive development. For the 30,000 people who died in the Orissa supercyclone,
and the millions who will die when flood and drought and cyclones become more severe
because of climate change and fossil fuel pollution, the U.S. President, Mr. George
W. Bush, is an ecological terrorist because he refuses to sign the Kyoto protocol.
The WTO was named the World Terrorist Organisation by citizens in Seattle because
its rules denied millions the right to life and livelihood. Terrorism can only be
stopped by cultures of peace, democracy, and people's security. It is wrong to define
the post-September 11 world as a war between ``civilisation and barbarism'' or ``democracy
and terrorism.'' It is a war between two forms of terrorism which are mirror images
of each other's mindsets. They share the dominant culture of violence. They use the
same weapons and the same technologies. In terms of the preference for violence and
use of terror, both sides are clones of each other. And their victims are innocent
people everywhere.
As we remember the victims of Black Tuesday, let us also strengthen our solidarity
with the millions of invisible victims of other forms of terrorism and violence which
are threatening the very possibility of our future on this planet. We can turn this
tragic brutal historical moment into building cultures of peace.
The writer is Director, Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology,
New Delhi
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