May 12, 2010
On the morning of 28th April, a friend of mine telephoned me and her first words conveyed a sense of urgency. Will you do me a favour, she asked me. ‘Government officials are demolishing Gregory Patrao’s house in Kalavar near Pezar church, can you go there and do some thing?’ she pleaded. I did not wait to understand as to what made her to assign me this task of doing something in a case which had reached point of no return. I rushed to the spot taking my camera thinking at least I will be able to have of whatever was left behind.
On reaching the spot I saw Gregory Patrao and his eighty year old mother Mary Patrao pleading with the officials who went about with their job without any mercy. It was a sight of devastation, I wish I will never witness again. It was a harrowing experience to see such a gigantic house crumbling down within a matter of a few minutes and I felt it was a severe jolt to human dignity and spirit. I am yet to recover from the trauma and I can just imagine the pain undergone by the Patrao family who had lived in that house and the adjoining land for as long as they lived.
Around the Patrao house there is a well grown Areca garden, about 200 yielding coconut trees, paddy fields with standing crop, sweet potato ready for harvest, mango, chikoo, jackfruit trees, breadfruit tree and all this surrounded by a beautiful forest consisting of wild jack, mango, cashew, cocum, and other variety of fruit bearing trees. In the midst of this there is huge well with plenty of water that supported the agricultural activity of the family. In today’s world where there is an overwhelming clamour for everything urban oriented, it could be anybody’s fantasy to own and live in such a beautiful and heavenly place. And to top it all, the house of Patraos was hundred year old having a history of almost 350 years. It is said that even before the 350 year old Pezar church was erected this place was used for prayers.
Everything turned topsy-turvy on the morning of April 28 with the KIADB officials who barged into the Patrao compound and demolished the house using powerful hydraulic earth movers. By doing so they crushed the spirit and gumption of the Patrao household. The family was intensely attached to their home and the land as many generations of Patrao family had lived there. 47-year old Gregory Patrao, a bachelor, had led the fight of the family against the move to acquire the land went to the court saying his land should not be taken away for handing over to MRPL. After a prolonged battle of almost 14 years the High Court had dismissed his plea and KIADB officials acting upon that order of High Court demolished the house of Patrao.
When incidents like this happen we the common people should take the seat of a judge and give our own version of the verdict asking questions like has proper notice been served? Is there a court order? Has the Deputy Commissioner sanctioned the order? Is Patrao family right in fighting the battle? Have they not been given compensation and such other related questions? I do not know much about these aspects and some legal minds will be able to throw some light on it. For me all this is immaterial and I am only worried about the larger ramifications of a case such as Gregory’s. What about his right to stay in his land? What about human rights of his family? What are his rights to appeal and his right of knowing on what order the officials were acting on? How about displacing 12 of his family members? What about the cattle being rendered homeless? We wait for an answer and the officials and people who are supposed to look after the interests of the community should answer these questions in black and white.
Many a times I wonder whether our fear to ask questions leads to such unjustifiable incidents such as this which happen much against our will. We grumble, criticize and the issue dies an untimely death. Have we become less sensitive to such grave issues that concern us collectively? I only wish people take notice of the warning signal of Gregoy’s house demolition is sending.
Years ago, with much resistance, people had allowed the refinery in South Kannara and had given their land in the hope their district would prosper. Well I cannot argue that it has brought prosperity to a select few. But it has hardly changed the life for the common man who for the majority population. The much talked about employment opportunities in the refinery, I am afraid, have only remained on the paper. On the contrary, it has brought to the fore the dirty games the financial prowess can play. Demolition of Gregory’s house was only symptom of this negative aspect of the so called ‘development’.
Such projects always come with a promise of development of the region. With development we think we will have happier times. It is only an illusion and land sharks misuse and misguide people who are always hungry for more money. These land grabbers succeed in convincing the various stake holders in parting with their land. A true development is human centric but what one witnessed on 28th April was inhuman treatment and was a misnomer for development.
Today it is consumerist culture which is ruling the roost and there is no place for emotions. But it was this was an exception in the case of Gregory Patrao as his relationship with his home and the land was far from the formulas guiding today’s market trends. His love for the land was so strong that he fought almost single- handedly the might of the mega industry like MRPL for almost 20 years.
On the same evening of the demolition of Patrao house the parish priest of Pezar church visited Gregory’s place and sympathized with the family. But I was surprised when the parish priest told him that he should have taken the help of BJP of which he was elected vice-president to the local Panchayat. It was a shock and I am unable to fathom how the church failed to see the spirit of Gregory’s fight leaving aside his political alienation. The church seeks unity when its wants to build itself but the church members are left to fend for themselves in times of difficulties. If the church had taken a strong stand and supported the Patrao family in their fight I feel this unsavory incident would not have happened.
“‘We have to sacrifice for public good”’ remarked one of the officers of the Mangalore diocese but I failed to see any public good in the case of a private corporation like the MRPL and the reason why people who lived for generations in their land have to sacrifice for and entity that has scant regard for human; dignity.
Post demolition, support poured in for Gregory’s family as people who joined him in his fight must have felt the pain. Irrespective of religion, caste and creed people extended their support to Gregory Patrao’s family in the protest rally organized to oppose the inhuman action of officials. .
The role of church leaders in this context has been questioned by the media which felt something was amiss somewhere. Religious leaders have different role to play, a role to guide our transition into the next life. The Catholic Church is doing much more than guiding its flock spiritually in our part of the world. They run schools, colleges, hospitals, orphanages and management of these institutions have given them tremendous powers in the society and I feel this power should be whenever injustice is done to the members. These institutions were invariably built with a support of the Catholics with their sweat and blood and it is but natural that they expect at least a token support in cases of crisis like Gregory’s. It is only when we assert our rights and show our displeasure then the world will come to know what we really feel and if we don’t they will think that we are indifferent.
This will subject us to further exploitation. If the media coverage is anything to go by, the people are upset that our leaders have not even come forward to show their sympathy to the family let alone register a protest. Many people have been asking why the church leaders were conspicuous by their absence when the Patrao house was demolished. Clearly, the community leaders missed giving a helping hand and timely response to a good cause.
The demolition of the house and the acquiring of land send us another depressing signal of the times ahead for Mangalore and its surroundings. Everyone knows the role of environment in sustaining human life. South Kanara is subjecting itself for a cruel joke on its environment. Many projects are coming up in South Kanara and land acquisition process is on. In doing so, they do not even take the opinion of the farmers who have cultivated this land for years and subject them to forceful eviction. And all this is enabled by draconian Land Acquisition Act, which is centuries old. But Gregory gave them a tough challenge and gave voice to thousands of land owners who did not want to part with their land. For Gregory it may seem to be the end of a long drawn fight and in doing so he has shown us the way that we need to have a united front to protect our land and our resources. ‘I will not even part with a single inch of my land and it is nobody’s property that they can lay a claim on it’ said Gregory in public protest meet with his never say die attitude.
We need to come together to see reason in his fight and not to fall prey for this mantra of development because to be developed means without harming a single element of nature that the almighty has given. We are duty-bound to pass on the blessings of nature to our next generation- the resources of water, air, trees, rivers, lakes, mountains and all that is part and parcel of Mother Earth. After all I do not like to see my children and grand children walking with an oxygen mask and see them drink bottled water. This needs urgent attention of all those concerned especially those in power. In a democracy it is the numbers that matter and my earnest hope that we can we get together for a campaign on sustainable development. The time has come to begin some thing proactive that will see the reason in everything we do. Let us begin somewhere where Gregory has left. Express your displeasure by writing to the authorities. When ten people write they may not bother, when 100 write they will take note of things and thousand write they will act on it and when ten thousand write they will do things the way we want. That is the power of democracy.
Fighting for environment is not the work of a few individuals or NGO’s. It should be everybody’s fight, as we are all part of this nature and not above it. A kind request to all those Mangaloreans based abroad to treat this as serious and help in the campaign for greener Dakshina Kannada, after all I am sure you do not like to come to one more desert looking, modern shopping centre which you are already used to. Mangalore is your home town and coming back for a holiday and enjoying here would depend on how green and peaceful the place is. Start a signature campaign, to draw the attention of those at the helm of affairs.
I like to hear from you with your suggestions of a road map as to how we can work together. Send in your suggestion to orchidmediap@gmail.com