Open Letter to
Ratan Tata by the Youth and Students of West Bengal
Dear Mr. Ratan Tata,
First, may we thank you for your touching concern and advice for the youth of the State, delivered in the fitting form of ads in the papers? You have asked us to decide: “Would (we) like to support the present Government of Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee to build a prosperous state... Or would (we) like to see the state consumed by the destructive political environment of confrontation, agitation, violence and lawlessness? Do (we) want education and jobs in the industrial and high-tech sectors or does the future generation see its future prosperity achieved on a ‘stay as we are’ basis?”
We agree, Mr. Tata, that it’s a crucial time and a moment of hope for the state. In fact, the poor peasants of West Bengal have lit up a remarkable spark of hope for thousands of their brothers and sisters all over the country – by proving that determined struggle can triumph over corporate land grab, even when the latter is backed by the strong arm of the state.
What you choose to call a ‘destructive political environment’ is the vibrant spirit of a people refusing to allow their lives and livelihood to be destroyed at the altar of corporate appeasement and greed. What you call ‘lawlessness’ is the refusal of people to abide by the decree that the poor must abjectly make way for the juggernaut of the obscenely wealthy. What consternation you feel at the spectre of ‘confrontation!’ The peasants of Singur were indeed stubborn enough to ‘confront’ you and the Government that you extol. They refused to be lied to, browbeaten, brutalised; they refused to allow agreements about their own lives to be kept as hallowed ‘trade secrets.’
We find it strange that you should speak with such abhorrence of ‘violence.’ You seemed to have no particular objection to violence when police gunned down unarmed tribals in Kalinganagar to make way for your steel factory?
You never shed a tear when Rajkumar Bhul died of injuries sustained during the police lathicharge in September 2006. It did not disturb you that the Nano would roll out of the grounds where Tapasi Malik was brutally raped and burnt to death by the ruling party’s ‘night guards’ in league with the police in December 2006. Rajkumar was 26; Tapasi was 18 – it seems you do not count them among West Bengal’s youth, Mr. Tata?
It is also strange that you, who are so eloquent against ‘violence,’ should choose Modi’s Gujarat as the Nano’s new home. Modi, whom you praise so warmly as ‘good M,’ spoke coolly of Newton’s law while his cadres massacred and raped thousands of Muslim minorities in Gujarat. (Ironically, she whom you contrasted as ‘bad M’ was also a tacit supporter of the same genocidal ‘good M’). Even today, the victims of that genocide are yet to get justice; and most have not even been able to return safely to their homes. Yet, you approve of the ‘stability’ Modi provides, and find Gujarat’s political environment constructive. Well, Mr. Tata, you, in the best traditions of international corporations who profited in the protective shadow of Nazi Germany, may well extol the peace and stability of the graveyard. We, the youth of West Bengal, are proud to prefer the sight of the women of Singur with their farm implements raised high in resistance to the grisly spectacle of saffron-clad mobs brandishing trishuls against helpless innocents.
Your promise prosperity and paint a picture of “education and jobs in the industrial and high-tech sectors.” Well, could you explain to us why, in spite of Jamshedpur, Jharkhand (and Bihar) continue to lead the brigade of most backward states? Is it not true that Indian industry’s share of employment is just 17.6 per cent? The 1000 acres you grabbed in Singur sustained a dignified life and livelihood for 12000 families. Surely you do not expect us to believe that they would get coveted industrial and “high-tech” jobs?! The agrarian labourers and small farmers you evicted at Singur can at best hope for low paid, low-end insecure jobs in the services sector - as domestic labour, chaiwala, or chowkidar.
We, the students and youth of this state, certainly demand education as our right. We also believe our state needs and deserves industrial development. Had the Nano factory come into being, its total cost (footed by the state’s tax-payers) would be to the tune of Rs. 3000 crore on a net present value basis – nearly 58 per cent of the total realized industrial investment in the state in 2007. Can you tell us, Mr. Tata, why you need such sops and subsidies – you, who have invested more than Rs. 56,000 crore to acquire foreign corporate assets?
If our Government shells out such gifts for you (and other corporates after you who will demand the same), what remains for investment in education for the future generation? No wonder you were so keen to evade even the RTI and keep details of such gifts secret! You, Mr. Tata, wished to rob us of what is our birthright – investment in our society, our education, our future – in order to feed your greed and secure your profit. West Bengal’s youth is well rid of such ‘benefactors’ as yourself!
The unpaid bills of your Singur misadventure come (at a very conservative estimate) to Rs. 432.18 crore. Today, we suggest you spare us your sermons and instead pay up your bills, rather than expecting the tax-payers of W Bengal to pay up for you.