thanks you himanshu. sanjay was an epitome of selfless courage. let us remember him in thought and deed. anand
On 5/29/07, aryakrishnan ramakrishnan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > From: Madhuresh <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Date: May 29, 2007 1:36 PM > Subject: Fwd: people's messenger passed away > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED], aryakrishnan ramakrishnan <[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > > > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > From: himanshu upadhyaya < [EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Date: May 29, 2007 1:03 PM > Subject: people's messenger passed away > To: anil tharayath < [EMAIL PROTECTED]>, [EMAIL PROTECTED], > Arun Kumar < [EMAIL PROTECTED]>, India Together Editors < > [EMAIL PROTECTED]>, leo saldanha < [EMAIL PROTECTED]>, > Madhuresh < [EMAIL PROTECTED]>, Manicandan G <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, > Manshi Asher < [EMAIL PROTECTED]>, Sanjay Barbora < > [EMAIL PROTECTED]>, Saurabh Bhattacharjee < [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >, Sejuti Sarkar De < [EMAIL PROTECTED]>, Suneetha Eluri < > [EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > It's a shattering message: People's messenger is gone > > It shocks you and shatters you down when the first message, as you set > down to start your working day tells you that Sanjay Sangvai, a people's > messenger, author of River and Life: a historical narration of people's > struggle in the Narmada valley, is no more. He passed away at 7 am on May 29 > th, 2007 while undergoing treatment at the Nature Life Hospital at Kochi > run by Joseph Vadakkanchery. > > Sanjaybhai, a frail bodied person with an unflinching commitment to be > with people's struggle, was a people's messenger who penned numerous Press > Releases and articles in English, Hindi and Marathi, and spread the news of > ups and downs of struggles to a larger world. In two decades long struggle, > there were also moments when he gripped pen to write obituaries on his > comrades - Shobha Wagh from Domkhedi, Bhaijibhai from Canal affected village > in Undva, Kiritbhai Bhatt of PUCL, Baroda - and he wrote them pouring his > heart out. I can't control my tears at the idea of having to type an > obituary on him. > > In the two decades long struggle, I had known and interacted with him for > last five years, years when "one after another illnesses kept paying > visits", as he put it while chatting a few months ago. I had met him first > time on January 26 th, 2002 - the day when Mumbai Samachar reported > Narendra Modi announcing in Rajkot about Gujarat's efforts to lobby with PM > to raise the Narmada dam height from 95 to 100 metres before monsoon - > travelling with him in local train to a hurriedly organised press conference > by NBA. Last time when he appeared online, I pasted a news clip that said > Narmada Control Authority meeting was scheduled on May 3 rd. "were they > meeting to decide to raise the dam height from 121 to 138 meters?" he asked > wearily. He also talked about the Marathi book he was working on and I > queried him on the need to bring out third revised edition of River and > Life. He said, he wished, but "one after other illnesses kept paying me > visits". > > He was a source of inspiration, was always connected with people's > struggles, and didn't let his ill health affect activism. Although trained > as a media professional, after a short stint with teaching career - when he > worked as a lecturer at the University of Pune - and as a journalist with > mainstream Marathi daily, he immersed himself into Narmada Bachao Andolan as > a full time activist in 1989. He wrote extensively in English, Hindi and > Marathi on issues and political processes of Narmada and other such people's > struggles. I don't exactly know whether he wrote in Gujarati, but every time > we met, he used to speak in Gujarati while recalling *the aborted > discourse over Narmada in Gujarat and narrating anecdotes*. > > For last couple of years, he was closely observing the struggles against > Special Economic Zones, land acquisitions and related injustices through his > association with NCAS, Pune > > His book River and Life starts by depicting tribals, peasants and > activists celebrating the new year with mixed feelings of hope, anxiety, > apprehension and will to fight in Nimgavhan, a submergence village on banks > of Narmada in Maharashtra; even as in the cities the rich and mighty went > dizzy on the night of December 31, 1999. Eight years later, when someone > sent him an e-mail wishing sunlight, joy and prosperity on the last eve of > 2006, he replied; "Thanks for the best wishes. But for many people the year > started with the deprivation, displacement and destrution - be it in > Narmda, Singur, Delhi or any number of things. It is good that we all want > sunshine and prosperity etc. And surely, it is we who would get that. > > Sorry for the melancholy inevitable - > > I sing the same song, > > cutting each time > > nearer to the aching heart." > > Himanshu Upadhyaya > > -- > > **************************** > CACIM - Critical Action : Centre in Movement > A-3, Defence Colony, New Delhi 110 024 > Ph : +91 4155 1521 / 2433 2451 (O) > Mobile : + 91 98 1890 5316 > e-mail : [EMAIL PROTECTED] / [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Web : www.cacim.net / www.openspaceforum.net > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ greenyouth mailinglist is the activist support mailinglist for kerala run by Global Alternate Information Applications (GAIA) To post to this group, send email to [email protected] -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
