Tayzwi
Should be reading more and writing less, but well...Monday, April 09, 2007
Are we blind?
Or is it just a dark room?
The Nandigram SEZ was supposed to be developed by Indonesia's Salim Group. Preliminary web searching indicates that Salim group has very close ties with Dow Chemical. And of course, Dow Chemical owns Union Carbide. It's up to investigative journalism to figure out the extent to which Salim and Dow are bedfellows; what I find most surprising is that this has not found mention in any major column/article or news coverage of any other form anywhere. I read about it in an Arundati Roy interview in Telelka, and after some serious digging on the web, the best I could come up with was that Dow Chemical was actually invited to bid for the Nandigram SEZ. The collective enormity of these two ironies evokes a very deep and profound rage.
And deeper guilt.
The Nandigram SEZ was supposed to be developed by Indonesia's Salim Group. Preliminary web searching indicates that Salim group has very close ties with Dow Chemical. And of course, Dow Chemical owns Union Carbide. It's up to investigative journalism to figure out the extent to which Salim and Dow are bedfellows; what I find most surprising is that this has not found mention in any major column/article or news coverage of any other form anywhere. I read about it in an Arundati Roy interview in Telelka, and after some serious digging on the web, the best I could come up with was that Dow Chemical was actually invited to bid for the Nandigram SEZ. The collective enormity of these two ironies evokes a very deep and profound rage.
And deeper guilt.
Labels: india
posted by Tejaswi # 10:01 PM 
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What really surprises me; we saw entire nation protesting on the issue of OBC reservation in academic institutes. Everyone was on either side and media was also covering this aggressively.
SEZ is much serious problem, but we are in deep sleep, only those who are directly affected are protesting. Are we all selfish, that we don’t even care what is happening if it is not of our interest? Can’t even imagine, someone can just remove you from your land where you are farming from generations.
This link will be useful -
http://countercurrents.org/ind-kanitkar181006.htm
SEZ is much serious problem, but we are in deep sleep, only those who are directly affected are protesting. Are we all selfish, that we don’t even care what is happening if it is not of our interest? Can’t even imagine, someone can just remove you from your land where you are farming from generations.
This link will be useful -
http://countercurrents.org/ind-kanitkar181006.htm
# posted by 
: 11:27 PM
: 11:27 PM
Medha Patkar's report here: http://www.kafila.org/2007/03/15/medha-patkar-on-civil-war-in-nandigram/
very very true...
most of the nation is quite silent about the whole thing... there are seething comments, protests, discussions in isolated pockets... but the nation and the populace seems largely unmoved...
are there any social-action initiatives that anyone is aware of in bangalore? is it possible for a few interested people to get together and see how we can constructively contribute/influence or at least spread/create awareness on issues affecting our country and our future?
most of the nation is quite silent about the whole thing... there are seething comments, protests, discussions in isolated pockets... but the nation and the populace seems largely unmoved...
are there any social-action initiatives that anyone is aware of in bangalore? is it possible for a few interested people to get together and see how we can constructively contribute/influence or at least spread/create awareness on issues affecting our country and our future?
# posted by : 5:10 AM
: 5:10 AM
And to add to the irony, I realize that one of my favorite corporate ads, (favorite for its creative excellence)is the one called "The Human Element" developed by FCB for Dow. You can watch it on youtube-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3byt7xMSCA
Makes me wonder - cleansing corporate conscience or a sheer PR strategy?!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3byt7xMSCA
Makes me wonder - cleansing corporate conscience or a sheer PR strategy?!
You have the money or you have the votes. These are the only ways to influence public policy or make a difference. You need money to distribute booze and/or market your ideology to garner a vote base. At times, the money is on one side and the votes on the other. This ensures a fair amount of justice (and often inaction) in the political free market, which we are accustomed to call democracy.
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