Why is the government so very adamant on having Shel-Melauli as the site for the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) that it time and again uses the police force in attempts to subdue the villagers who have raised the banner of protest against the institute being constructed in their village? After a confrontation between the police and the villagers on January 5, the following day it turned worse as the authorities resorted to a lathi-charge against the protestors and the latter pelted stones at the police in retaliation. On the day the police were acting against the protestors at Shel-Melauli, in the Ministerial block at Porvorim, the cabinet was having its weekly meeting, and Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant went on to state that the demarcation of the land for the IIT would continue.
Wasn’t the Chief Minister aware of what was going on in the village at that point of time? The least that should have been done is an attempt to placate the agitated people of Shel-Melauli, and not take a strong stand that could further fuel the agitation. In the end, this is what happened and the protests continued till late night in the village. What has now occurred will only fan the fire of protest that is already burning, instead of it being doused. Immediate government action is required to bring peace to the area.
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The issue at Shel-Melauli that has been simmering for months is now reaching to a boiling point. The protest is unlikely to be called off anytime soon. It has been an agitation that has been ongoing for months, with the villagers resolute that they will not climb down from their demand that the Indian Institute of Technology project is shifted from their village. The latest round of protests occurred when government officials came to the village accompanied by a huge pose of policemen to demarcate the land. Despite the protests, the officials of the Land Survey Department went ahead with the demarcation process. The villagers, however, have not relented and the protest continues, leading to the lathi charge.
But, wasn’t this avoidable? In October last year as the protests were gathering steam, the Chief Minister on his first visit to the village since the agitation had started, had assured the villagers that their concerns would be addressed, that those losing their land would be rehabilitated and that title deeds would be given to all the residents. These were rejected by the villagers, which should have spurred the government to enter into a fresh dialogue with the people to bring an end to the issue. It should have dawned upon the State administration that it would not be easy to sway the villagers from their demands. What transpired now in Shel-Melauli irrefutably proves that the government erroneously believed that the agitation would die down.
This belief of the government was further fuelled by the Zilla Panchayat election results. But, what is also now evident is that though in the Zilla Panchayat elections it was the BJP candidates who got elected from the area, this does not appear to be an endorsement of the IIT project in the village, as the protests continue with a higher potency than before. There has been no dilution of the agitation, it has instead grown in intensity. The time has therefore come for the government to relent and let the situation calm down. The conflict between the government and the people will continue if there is no dialogue. The Shel-Melauli issue cannot be allowed to be prolonged. It needs to be settled at the earliest possible, and the key is with the government.
