Former chief minister of Himachal Pradesh Y S Parmar was one of the most respected political leaders in north India. He would talk frequently about projects like Bhakra-Nangal and say: "Had I been in charge I would never have let these come up".
This project was one of those Pt Nehru referred to as temples of modern India. The huge dam at Bhakra provided power to industry and its reservoir, coupled with that at Nangal, about 12 km downstream, irrigated the lands in Punjab and other states which were to give us the Green Revolution.
They were crucial for the economic growth of the entire region. And yet Parmar opposed the dams. He had his reasons. Bhakra inundated large areas of his state and displaced lakhs of people from their homes.
One entire town, Bilaspur, was submerged, as were vast forest lands. He felt that while planning these structures, or the one at Pong in Kangra district, the human and environmental costs had been ignored.
When the projects were conceived Himachal was not a full-fledged state and he had little say in the matter. Later, when he did acquire political authority, he made sure that no dam that caused such damage ever came up on its rivers.
He would rather have a series of small dams, if at all, or ones which were built across narrow gorges and submerged land that was mostly barren and uninhabited. The issue is not whether Parmar was right or not.
It is that he had a different viewpoint on the subject, like Aamir Khan has over the Sardar Sarovar project, but no one in states like Punjab, which benefited immensely from Bhakra-Nangal, asked him to apologise for his comments.
No one burnt his effigy, nor threatened his life and limb. His right to disagree was respected, as dissent should always be in a free society. This is where the BJP is totally out of sync with the spirit of our Constitution.
Its professions of commitment to democracy and free speech would sound far more credible if Narendra Modi could, in Voltaire's words, if he cannot find his own, say to Aamir Khan: "I do not agree with a word of what you say, but I will defend to death your right to say it".
also visit:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1648260.cms
This project was one of those Pt Nehru referred to as temples of modern India. The huge dam at Bhakra provided power to industry and its reservoir, coupled with that at Nangal, about 12 km downstream, irrigated the lands in Punjab and other states which were to give us the Green Revolution.
They were crucial for the economic growth of the entire region. And yet Parmar opposed the dams. He had his reasons. Bhakra inundated large areas of his state and displaced lakhs of people from their homes.
One entire town, Bilaspur, was submerged, as were vast forest lands. He felt that while planning these structures, or the one at Pong in Kangra district, the human and environmental costs had been ignored.
When the projects were conceived Himachal was not a full-fledged state and he had little say in the matter. Later, when he did acquire political authority, he made sure that no dam that caused such damage ever came up on its rivers.
He would rather have a series of small dams, if at all, or ones which were built across narrow gorges and submerged land that was mostly barren and uninhabited. The issue is not whether Parmar was right or not.
It is that he had a different viewpoint on the subject, like Aamir Khan has over the Sardar Sarovar project, but no one in states like Punjab, which benefited immensely from Bhakra-Nangal, asked him to apologise for his comments.
No one burnt his effigy, nor threatened his life and limb. His right to disagree was respected, as dissent should always be in a free society. This is where the BJP is totally out of sync with the spirit of our Constitution.
Its professions of commitment to democracy and free speech would sound far more credible if Narendra Modi could, in Voltaire's words, if he cannot find his own, say to Aamir Khan: "I do not agree with a word of what you say, but I will defend to death your right to say it".
also visit:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1648260.cms