Insiders: Velaveping Idukki

All I can say about the Supreme Court verdict striking down Kerala’s position on the Mullaperiyar Dam issue is that we are due for another round of the Hysterics vs. Imperialists media game. The managers of the Hysterics team, our local Malayali politicians, do have the advantage that their experience in fear-mongering has gone up considerably with the controversies over the Gadgil and Kasturirangan reports regarding ecological conservation of the Western Ghats. The Imperialists team out there in Tamil Nadu is also now more experienced, after their successful suppression of their own people’s fears for their lives at Koodankulam. So we are set for an interesting match!

However,please don’t underestimate us. The truth is that you north Indians (or others) never really got us — what we are today you will be –well — ten years later. There are of course simple souls, many ordinary folk in Idukki, who are scared for the land and their lives. But in any society, there are bound to be backward people who are always under old delusions? The sophisticated among us may be marginally scared of the dam break but our fear is not really that the land will disappear. Actually our issue is that the dam-break will make that happen too quickly. Please note that we intend to do it little by little, so that full economic advantage can be obtained! Ah, what is the use of letting everything get washed into the Arabian Sea? Our plan was simple and you will admit that no one can maximise advantage better than us. You have to realize that Kerala’s topography is too unfriendly towards profit-making ventures and we need to do something about it. Consider the following steps: Continue reading Notes on Velaveping Kerala : Inside a Brand-New Paradigm and Outside →