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Panel 6: Interrogating Cauvery Calling
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Asian College of Journalism
4:26
Hello and welcome to the 6th panel of Interrogating ‘Cauvery Calling’: Issues of Ecologies, Cultures and Livelihoods. The panelists on the stage are Mr. Jayaram Venkatesan (Convenor - Arappor Iyakkam, Chennai), Mr. Henri Thipagne (Peoples Watch, Madurai) and Mr. Nityanand Jayaraman (Journalist). The panel will be moderated by Ms. Dhanya Rajendran (Editor, The News Minute)
4:28
Dhanya Rajendran starts off the discussion by saying, "So till now they have had a lot of discussions about protecting and conserving Cauvery. But, we will discuss about the politics of Cauvery. We will interrogate 'Cauvery Calling'. Why not engage with Isha Foundation?"
4:30
"Do you believe that we should engage at all?", Rajendran poses this question to Nityanand Jayaraman.
4:34
4:36
Jayaraman muses, "The politics is all about big farmers and large farms. In this issue, politics is not right. Vasudev chooses a politics that's convenient to him."
4:37
4:38
Rajendran throws a question to Henri Thipagne, "You can all sit and question Isha foundation. They are saying we have credibility. So why should people not engage with them?"
4:39
4:40
Thipagne answers, "He came here to participate in today’s programme to represent human rights defenders who stand across the country. The response this issue got made every activist raise their voice. Very appreciative of all the people concerned about us and asking us to stay away."
4:41
4:42
Thipagne shows the sad situation of the issue and says, "Now about Isha Foundation, he’s a criminal offender. He has many government cases going on him which are pending. I am surprised at the silence of the High Court. It shows the religious conspiracy in the country."
4:45
In a passionate answer, Thipagne adds, "It’s important for us to understand the session we had on culture. All these people are human rights defenders. Any attack on any of them is a human rights defender Act. I won’t appeal people to engage or get into this Cauvery Calling. I’d like to thank this prestigious institute of Asian College of Journalism to host this programme dedicated to this one cause. It is the people of Cauvery who need to be the people whose rights we fight for."
4:47
Rajendran asks Jayaram Venkatesan, "In this simple movement are we not holding the government accountable and allowing them to get away with movements like these?"
Venkatesan answers, "Quite a few people come to our office and ask us the reason why we are not doing any positive things!"
4:52
A concerned Jayaraman answers, "He won't pay forty two bucks to the organisation because he doesn't know where this money is going . He was under the assumption that 'Cauvery Calling' is an off shoot of rally for rivers . The science is not quite right that has already been expounded on or before by other experts. Also, the maths is not right. 243 crore trees over 1/3rd of basin, 800kms, 400 trees per acre. 100 trees more than the densest Amazon forest. It's far more wondrous to think this magic will be done on the Cauvery basins. There needs to be verification. There is no document on Cauvery Calling . There are only YouTube videos. Accountability is another issue."
4:54
Venkatesan comments on the unfortunate situation by saying, "We pay our taxes to the government and it is their responsibility to fix the issues of the Cauvery, like sand mining. What we have seen today is simplifying the whole issue of Cauvery into tree planting."
4:55
4:56
Jayaraman advises, "False solutions is another issue. "Think, not follow". Understand things in a complicated way and not in a simplistic way."
4:57
In an eye-opening comment, Venkatesan says, "We should question the government about the issues of sand mining. So many people have died because of it. When the whole sand mining happens, the water level goes down tremendously around the villages!"
4:59
Jayaraman adds an insightful comment, "Demolition notices have been sent to Isha Foundation by the Forest Department, but they still stand at the same place. Modi, and so many other politicians have visited the place and it speaks volumes about the scant disregard towards the rule of law."
Jayaraman also points out 10 reasons for not donating to the Cauvery Calling.
1. I don't know who I am giving to. Funds are being received and managed by an organization with another name.
5:00
5:01
Venkatesan is correct when he says, "In 2012, due to lack of water, more than 80 farmers committed suicide. Think about people who are farming for 15-20 years and still haven't been able to pay back loans of Rs.15,000 to 1 lakh. We must understand that Cauvery and all other issues are complex ones and we need to stand as journalists to do the right thing instead of the possible thing."
5:02
Rajendran asks, "The message that Jaggi gives is quite simple. The problem is that a lot of people will ask you why are you not doing anything. Planting trees is a start, right?"
5:04
Jayaraman remarks, "There is a very triad kind of a remark, "Something is better than nothing and nothing is better than nonsense". I'm not anti-planting trees but I don't want to give money to someone who isn't accountable to anything."
5:05
Rajendran throws another question, "How difficult has it become, especially for people in Tamil Nadu, to question incidents relating to the delta?"
5:06
While talking about what should be done, Venkatesan points out, "There is a lot of responsibility on us to communicate the problem in a simple way and when people fight on the ground, they sometimes find no way to communicate. We elect our politicians because they work for us but today we don't have faith in our democracy, that is the situation. The only way to make a representative democracy work, we need to make the MPs and MLAs work for us and not care about the anti national comments that they throw at us."
5:07
Rajendran asks Thipagne, "You have been working as a human rights defender for many years now. How do you look at the way judiciary has been behaving?"
5:08
5:11
Thipagne reminisces, "I’ve come here from Delhi yesterday at this time. I’m sure there’s no media. If yes, then the country needs to know. Yesterday I was sitting with two other colleagues and the Former Justice of India, trying to pursue with him a complaint about Kashmir and what is happening to people on 5th august. On 9 September, they said they’ll respond in four weeks but the response never came. No one bothered to go talk to people and ask them."
5:13
While talking about the difficulties, Thipagne says, "I had to go to the Supreme Court of India to get permission to go to Jammu and Kashmir. This needs to be made public. You asked about MLAs and MPs and no one raised hands. It’s very sad. And it’s time to question the judiciary! We have always elected our rulers or governors but never stood for theirs wrong doings. And here we are sitting and doing nothing. They come and get a presentation but never target the person who might’ve started the problem. And this happens with the judiciary. Can we represent in such programmes by openly talking and putting pressure on the system?"
Rajendran thanks the panelists and the discussion comes to an end.
5:14
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