Singur issue - The big picture

What is happening in Singur is the left getting a taste of their own medicine. It was a kind of project that the left would have opposed any time. The whole Singur issue has given me a new found respect for the left. Its well known that the left often holds various issues for ransom(they hold the country at ransom), but they wind up their agitation in a decent way. Either they would have gone for a compromise formula or they would have got a promise of a compromise formula. Either way the damage they cause compared to what Mamatha Banerjee has caused is insignificant. What she has done in Singur is illogical. If she had done the whole agitation in a proper way, she would have got maximum political mileage from it. Unfortunately for her she overdid it big time. Rite now a part of West Bengal and India is very angry with her. This was a golden opportunity for her to get maximum seats in the coming Lok Sabha elections and other future elections and she blew it in the sense, the kind of advantage she had a couple of months back has reduced. Holding a state for ransom and not even thinking about the notion of a compromise is socially, politically and economically unacceptable. I do agree that the farmers should get a fair deal but what she has done is quite insane. 

Apart form the politicians there are a bunch of environmentalist and social workers who are against this project. I am a person who is deeply concerned with global warming, soil erosion and other environmental issues. But nation has to progress and its far more better economically and environmentally to give farm land instead of forest land for setting up industries. Comparatively a large area in our country consists of farm land and it’s high time that we focused more of intensive agriculture. The environmentalist will always have a rigid stand and they have valid reasons for it, even if some of it is paranoia, we need such people so that we are reminded about the hazards of irresponsible industrialization. I believe any more deforestation is unacceptable and the only way out her is to give farm land.

Now coming to the bigger issue. The seizure of land by the government for development is something that will happen. The entire land belongs to the state and the state has the right to take the land for its citizens for the greater good of the society. The state is expected to pay compensation to the citizens but to expect "fair" compensation is unrealistic simply because the state doesn’t have enough money. "Reasonable" compensation is what should be expected. I agree that when it happens to you one would find it really unfair. Unfortunately for the development of the state such things are required. Without such seizers there wouldn’t be national highways, rail roads, airports etc.  For the greater good of the society such things are bound to happen in the future. To keep on agitating and causing violence each and every time this happens is ridiculous. The only solution to this problem is all political parties coming to a consensus which is something very unrealistic. Hence my only hope is, even if there are agitations it would not be taken as far as what Mamtha Banarjee did. 

PS: When Mamatha Banarjee was the railways minister she has misplaced many people and the kind of compensation that they got was equivalent to pocket change compared to what people in Singur are getting. This incident again proves to us all that politicians are hypocrites