Rajdeep Roy Murdabad, DC Madam ‘Hai Hai’ slogans echo in Dolu once again; Cachar Admin silent on RTI

…मंत्री बने कम्पनी के दलाल हम से जमीन छीनी,
उनको बचाने लेकर आए साथ में पल्टनी
हो… अफसर बने है राजा ठेकेदार बने धनी,
गाँव हमारी बन गई है उनकी कोलोनी ॥
बिरसा पुकारे एकजुट होवो छोडो ये खामोशी,
मछवारे आवो, दलित आवो, आवो आदिवासी,
हो खेत खालीहान से जागो नगाडा बजाओ,
लडाई छोडी चारा नही सुनो देस वासी ॥… 

Subtle reflections of the famous lines from the famous song can be spotted in Dolu Tea Estate’s Lalbag Division that stands with bare chest as 30 lakh tea plants were uprooted by the Cachar District Administration with the help of Assam Police. More than 150 excavators were deployed to deforest the division of the tea estate for what ‘The Hindu’ newspaper states, construction of an “Imaginary Airport”.

The tea garden workers of the Dolu Tea Estate, on the occasion of ‘World Environment Day’ gathered at the division and started planting tea plants. “When the Prime Minister of the country, who is our father figure, says Gaach Lagao Pran Bachao and Beti Padhao Beti Bachao, why is our tea garden chopped off and we are driven out of our comfort zones. If our employer, the tea garden is destroyed, how will we follow Beti Padhao Beti Bachao?” says a mother who was in the gathering today.

She added, “By chopping off our tea garden, MP Rajdeep Roy, DC Madam of Cachar are putting the lives of our betis in danger. Now, we will have to send our daughters as maid servants to the houses of rich. So, we remain Ghulam (slave). Working in the tea garden is a matter of pride for us while washing dishes at the kitchen of the rich is not.”

Braving the downpour, hundreds of Tea Garden workers gathered in front of the Lalbag division and started their procession. Bharat Mata Ki Jai, Rajdeep Roy Murdabad and DC Madam Murdabad sloganeering in unison also responds to those who called them ‘Maobadis’.

The tea garden workers, before starting their protest march towards the town, worshiped the ‘Chara’ (sapling) following all rituals. However, their progress towards the town was prohibited by the barricades and armed Police Personnel in Lathigram and Madhurapul Point. The tea garden workers and their placards made it clear, imaginary or real, their area of attention is their pride which they find in the tea garden.

For the freshers, it is important to note that a recent response from the Government against an RTI filed by a resident of Cachar, revealed that the Ministry of Aviation, Government of India has not received any formal proposal and therefore has not approved the construction of Greenfield Airport in Silchar. So, it is being called ‘Imaginary Airport’.

Astonishingly, the Cachar District Administration, that worked as a shield in defending any criticism of Silchar MP with regards to the issue of Airport, has failed to provide a clarification on the response to the RTI. If there is no proposal, what if the Aviation Ministry rejects once it receives the formal plan of construction of the airport, in that case, who will take the responsibility of the deforestation of the three million trees? That remains a debate for another day…