- WANTED:- arable/agricultural LAND that can nurture and sustain approximately 40568 people of a Vanishing Tribe that are on the verge of displacement and extinction due to the construction of a Hydro electricity project in their backyard.
Not to trivialize the issue but I tried to identify the root cause of the problem faced with both sides of the debate - FOR and AGAINST the construction of the PANAN Hydel Project. After much deliberation and scratching my head for long periods; I conclude that Sikkim is just another piece of real estate that has to be explored and exploited.
And the problem gets acute if the real estate happens to be PRIME & STRATEGIC one as is the case of Sikkim as a whole and Dzongu in particular the last bastion of the "ravine folk" or RongPa' or the Lepchas'.
Ironically this piece of land which this website claims and I quote "The Government has reserved the Dzongu area, in North and Central Sikkim for Lepchas only ,to preserve this vanishing tribe" is almost being brought to its demise.
The question to ask is; what is the price you would put on a piece of prime real estate which would immediately displace its current inhabitants/tenants and eventually drive them to extinction?
Charles Darwin and his theories be DAMned and THANKS to the powers that be we the citizens of the world and Sikkim in particular can witness the destruction and extinction of an entire species of the an indigenous people. I think we live in amazing times where the greed of a few can spell extinction for a whole people. I think this would make good Reality TV. Hello! Endemol Listening????
Like I heard it before "Nature can provide for mankind's every NEED but never for his GREED"; well that does sum up.
I know there are those who will talk about the merits of the DAM being built for the greater common good. The question IS and always HAS been; FORGET the "greater" or "common"; atleast start with the 'good' first. And if the intentions were not noble to start with then what is the point?
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