On this day in March 1930, when the Mahatma was already 61, he began a 260-mile march from his religious retreat near Ahmedabad to Jalalpur on the Arabian Sea. The whole exercise was to demonstrate civil disobedience against the British rulers who had levied a merciless tax on making and collecting salt. Sixty thousand activists joined him on the way to land in jail. This was perhaps a very strong signal he sent across the administration that Indians would not tolerate inhuman steps of any kind to remain as slaves. Rest is history known to all.
Gandhi had also very categorically preached against public sale of liquor in any form as that destroyed homes headed by insensible men. Recently on the International Women’s Day on March 8, the appropriately empowered women in village ‘Namtara under Rajkanika block of Kendrapada district of Odisha, hundreds of women marched to pull down a liquor shop that was the cause of great woe and suffering for many a home.
They stormed in and ransacked the shop after several petitions with the authorities failed to yield result. The liquor policy of the State is still focused on boosting dirty revenue, no matter how much poor people suffered. The police and other enforcement agencies arrived on the scene to protect the liquor baron and beat up the furious mob. The people set fire to a police vehicle, kept pelting stones and screamed ‘anti-liquor’ slogans.
The police turned enemy of the people and arrested hundreds of protesters whom Gandhi would have hugged in joy. The police opened fire too and injured some protesters. Eventually, the people lost the battle against liquor and got into trouble. The ones that escaped arrest fled the area.
Namtara is today a desolate village with almost all menfolk in jail or absconding to avoid arrest. The administration has been condemned by all communities, mainly because the show of ‘woman power’ on the Women’s Day has been considered laudable.
A few weeks ago, the inconsiderate State machinery had slapped ‘attempt-to-murder’ charges on young people and university students for demonstrating protest by hurling non-rotten, edible eggs at political dignitaries, which is a common phenomenon across the world. Mid-level cops were suspended to be reinstated soon. All these draconian moves by the State agencies only prove that terribly bad and unacceptable governance is dumped on our innocent masses.
*Very interestingly, the Vigilance department has been put to shame by the High Court in the matter of grossly wronged top cop Prakash Mishra now heading the CRPF. The Superior Court had directed the Vigilance to deliver in sealed cover details of all the charges with evidence. The State authorities will be in deep trouble should the matter remain in court for long. Prakash may not be a saint, but the Vigilance is now looked down upon as slave to serve some vested interests, mostly politicians. If that is true in the least, the State with a reputed Chief Minister will take big media beating.
*The biggest blunders being committed by the State authorities is on the Nabakalebar preparation front. No one clearly knows how much money has been granted by the Union Government, how much received and how and why the public money is spent. No single concerned department is clear what is happening around and who is to blame for the irreparable damage caused to the little town of Puri.
Time and again, statesmen and secular citizens have raised hell against the State authorities taking obsessively extra-special care in showcasing the ‘single faith’ festival. The Kumbh festival along the Ganga in Allahabad is a completely different event at which people arrive, take a holy dip and exit the other way. But Puri has very limited geographic scope to accommodate big crowds in millions as the authorities are enticing boastfully. The temple town is so horribly devastated that the worst war-affected Beirut in the Nineties of the last century looked better.
Peculiarly, Naveen Patnaik too joins the Nabakalebar chorus in demanding more and more money from the Centre as if this festival would change the fate of Odisha by removing poverty, ensuring food, houses and healthcare for all. Some super brain has put in his mind that the Nabakalebar, if successfully managed, would bring him great luck. Nabakalebar festivals are an age-old ritual that has the most important event carried out absolutely in dark.
The servitors who perform the divinely secret act are blindfolded and their hands are gloved so as to keep them thoroughly insulated from touching the divine, heavenly Brahma. The temple administration is on cloud nine. Choosing the chief temple administrator has become big politics. Honest and sincere Arvind Padhee was dislodged unceremoniously. Default incumbent RDC Bikash Mahapatra just kept gaping at the situation wherein greedy, wicked servitors avail the least opportunity to fleece and misguide officials. At long last, a seasoned bureaucrat, Suresh Mahapatra, with probably the best Car Festival exposure is reinstalled as the coveted chief administrator.
This post is now as revered as that of the Pope among the Catholic Christians. Sureshbabu is a beloved official among servitors only because he, unlike during the initial stints, has turned rather soft towards the erring and greedy servitors, maybe to make sure the hyped festival is conducted smoothly and the CM is happy.
Modi, as Gujarat CM, had visited Puri during the Car Festival time last year. Not a single BJD biggie or a big enough official received him as a VVIP at Puri. He was seen wading through a puddle of dirty rainwater around the Sharadhabali area (now Sharadha concrete) along with a few nonentities from the local BJP community, before entering the Gundicha Temple.
The best joke is about the Daita servitors setting out on the proverbial Janajaga Jatra, a journey in the quest of the divine Neem tree to be felled for use as Daru timber. The commonest query bombarded by people is to know if truly these servitors get divine guidance in their dreams from Goddess Mangala seated at Kakatpur. Most of these servitors eat meat, fish and fowl and lead a very ordinary life focused on material goods. Would the Goddess recognise them as qualified to get her in DreamIJ In the days of yore, servitors led an extremely pious life of divine austerity. Today, devotees are exploited until they vow never to come back to the temple again.
The Daita servitors demand a compensation which has no basis. The temple administration too negotiates with them on the issue. Haggling is still not over. But there cannot be any profit-loss perception as per the ‘record of rights’.
Hardcore activists have warned publicly to move courts if the servitors are paid the so-called ‘compensation’ which can never be their due. PIl masters are just waiting for the decision by the temple administration to declare the ‘bribe’ amount to placate greedy servitors. The whole idea of compensation emanated from the day chariot climbing and deity touching were banned by the High Court.
Nabakalebar will come and go. But not much will happen to benefit the people of Odisha. No Bharat Ratna or supreme Padma awards will land in any Odia lap. All that will be witnessed is a devastated Puri town, a permanently dirtied sea beach, a new generation of festival-based criminals and countless disturbed households in the town for having suffered at the hands of unwanted guests and a most terrible traffic system that forced them to remain captive at home.
Horrific things have begun happening -- media ‘countdown’ on the approaching Nabakalebara, and the mention of astronomical sums of money to be wasted on the festival, which could have been spent on the poor people’s healthcare or food security.
The most appreciable move would be to launch a free Mahaprasad Seva for at least ten thousand devotees every day. At Shirdi, they feed daily nearly a lakh of devotees free. The Hundi collection can be used for feeding poor devotees. That will for sure bring good fortune to Odisha.
Thus, not much is happening to make the Odia masses happy. However, the Naveen-loving masses express great belief that the CM will waive a magic wand to wipe all woes if any befalls them. May lord Jagannath grant such a grand wish before the super-hyped Nabakalebar commences! Jai Jagannath!
(The writer is a core member of Transparency International, Odisha)