Does the picture look blurry and fuzzy? Don't blame the camera. This is what the view from my house looked like this evening. On March 5th, 1966, the city of Aizawl went up in flames. Bombs were dropped on the city, and families fled their homes. Fathers, mothers, husbands, brothers and friends were lost. March 5th became Mizoram's State Day, in remembrance of that day when our city became engulfed by an inferno sent by an indifferent, tyrannical ruler.
My grandfather was a soldier of the resistance. He lost his eldest son during this movement. His wife, my grandmother, was imprisoned with the year old son that had been as yet unweaned from her breast. Their children were shunted off to relatives in villages- scared and uncertain of whether they would ever see their parents again.
Our grandfathers fought for a cause, and though that cause may have been misguided, they battled on against heavy odds, because they wanted a better future for their children, and their children's children. Theirs was a noble fight, fought for the betterment of their people. That was the legacy left to us by our ancestors.
And what legacy will we leave to OUR children?
The land that embraced the noble blood of our ancestors is now ravaged and raped by us, their children. We tear down it's forests to make way for our concrete monstrosities; we poison the clear waters that cooled the throats of our braves; we pollute the air that sustained our ancestors; and we scarify the land that inspired our troubadours with its savage beauty.
Today, fire broke out at Beraw Tlang, at the University lands in Tanhril, and In Kanan Veng. City dwellers blame poverty-stricken village farmers for the forest fires that raged on for more than three days at Kawnpui a couple of weeks ago. These farmers make their meagre livings the only way they know, in the only recourse left to them. And we city folks sit in our cushy living rooms, in our big mansions built on mountain edges where no houses should ever have been built. We complain about them polluting the air, as we drive around in our cars, stuck once more in a deluge of traffic.
They ravage the land so that they can live. We ravage our land so that we can boast of our wealth. Which one do you think our Mother would point Her finger at, as the harbinger of Her death?
On March 5th 1966, WE were the victims of an injustice. Our city was engulfed in flames. Our fathers rebuilt it.
This century, we are the perpetrators of the injustice. We barricade ourselves from outsiders, fearing that they may take our land away from us. And yet, and yet... we are the ones who are destroying our land. We are the enemies. We cast indifferent eyes on our Mother as she struggles in Her throes of death.
We are slowly burning up our land with the relentless flames of our greed. Will we leave it to our children to rebuild it? Will there even be a Mizoram to rebuild?
Is this the legacy that we are leaving to our children?
"Did you, did you see the frightened ones
Did you, did you hear the falling bombs?
Did you ever wonder why we had to run for shelter
When the promise of a brave new world
Unfurled beneath a clear blue sky?
Goodbye, blue sky, goodbye" - Pink Floyd
"Did they get you to trade
your heroes for ghosts?
Hot ashes for trees
Hot air for a cool breeze?"- Pink Floyd
9 comments:
I give you a 7 star for this post. Everyone should read this. Good one pal..
Good one. It should have larger audience.
Thanks Mimi and Lucy :-* This was an inspired post, I guess.
Just finished reading today's Vanglaini. Article pakhat "Lo hal loh hi kan duh ve tho asin" by Zonunsanga. Trah a tichhuak tawp. Rin aiin lo vei ve a awl, tih theih lah hi a tlem sia. Tunlai chu mahni tawkah ka vei ve reuh lutuk, very uncharacteristic of me :)
ouch. that really stung. just read the article too...what are the solutions? when i was younger, they used to talk of terrace cultivation. has it been tried and not worked?
@Feddabonn: Okay, first.. my interest in this issue is very recent, so am not the best authority. But from what I know...
The govt did experiment with terrace cultivation in a few places, and they were fairly successful. However, for the average farmer, transforming their hilly farms into terraces involves a huge amount of labour, machinery and time, all of which they cannot afford. Their yearly crop yield is just enough to feed them- "mahni hrawk chawmna tawk lek".
Where the govt tries to help, party politics come in. The officials in charge have to consult local VC's, who naturally favor those from their own parties. And under the onslaught of petty political disputes, bureaucratic paperwork etc, the project fizzled out, I think.
Of course, am not saying the farmers are completely blameless. Some of them take the seed money provided by the govt and use it to buy luxury items like phones, TVs, bikes, all of which they have to resell in a few months bcos they can't afford the upkeep. So for now, jhumming seems the only way for many of these farmers to maintain even their hand-to-mouth existence. And this will remain so until better ways of cultivation and better ways of giving help to the farmers are devised.
Looooong reply :) Thanks for visiting.
Very thought provoking,and beautifully written.
I see you have put up 22 posts in less than two months. Way to go! Keep on writing.
Lol, Aduh, I just don't know the meaning of moderation. I treat my blog like "My Dairy", which is why I come back so often to it, I guess.
And thanks for the comment :)
even now, if all concerned sincerely want it, mizoram could become a real 'zotlang ram nuam.' but we seem to be advancing in greed and selfishness mostly. one mnf guy who was tortured to death by the army had said 'we won't reap the benefits in our lifetime, but the future generation will.' but we...
@mesjay: Thanks for dropping in. Your comment reminds me of the famous line "For their tomorrow, we give our today." Maybe we have grown soft and complacent, still living off the accomplishments of our fathers'. But a lot of people are shrugging off that complacency, and hopefully, we might awaken before its too late
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