MALAYALAM
Developmental alternatives
B.R.P. BHASKAR
IRIKKANO MARIKKANO: Geetha, Rainbow Book Publishers, Chengannur-689124. Rs. 130.
THIS IS a collection of articles by the author, a college teacher by profession and member of a small band of social activists in Kerala who have been trying to turn the focus of popular attention on the worsening plight of the weaker sections of society.
The essays are arranged in four sections. In the first, Geetha discusses the politics of migration. She notes that since the turn of the century the State has been witnessing two kinds of land struggle. One takes the form of squatting by Adivasis and Dalits to assert their rights over lost lands. The other is resistance to evictions in the process of acquiring land for industries.
In the second section, she turns the spotlight on developmental issues, raising the question how schemes that render thousands homeless can be called ‘development’ projects? While the third section is devoted to banishment of the Malayalam language, the fourth discusses the sterile nature of current politics.
Her approach is constructive, and where she is critical she comes up with an alternative line of action.
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