India colonises its ‘frontiers’ ASHISH KOTHARI https://wsimag.com/economy-and-politics/66908-india-colonises-its-frontiers 13 SEPTEMBER 2021 The quest to become an economic superpower is leading to sub-colonialism
Several hundred thousand hectares of forests have been ‘diverted’ for mining, dams, industries and so on, with the rate of diversion significantly rising since the 1990s..the process of occupation and dispossession that this has entailed is not so very different from what the British colonial powers did. In some parts of India it is even as brutal, where armed police have been used to evict resistant landholders, forest-dwellers and coastal fishers...its economy has become more privatized and corporatized, especially since the early 1990s..
Now, the Indian state is eyeing the ‘frontiers’ of the country that have so far been relatively less impacted by its development sub-colonialism – regions in its far north, northeast, and the islands off its coasts. the mindset of developing mentality is accompanied by undisguised attempts at cultural homogenization, in line with the agenda of the political party in power.
The most blatant of these relates to Lakshadweep. ..measures that were clearly aimed at undermining Islamic culture, such as banning meat in schools, opening up liquor shops, and specifying that anyone with more than two children would not be eligible for government jobs. Also proposed are major investments in tourism and urban development, and the Administration is seeking to concentrate more power in its hands to acquire any lands for this through a draft Lakshadweep Development Authority Regulation.
On the other side of India lie its second (much bigger) set of islands, Andaman and Nicobar. They contain rich rainforests and coral reefs, and with high degrees of animal and plant endemism and diversity, are considered a global biodiversity hotspot...The NITI Aayog, has proposed a massive investment ..(which) includes an international container trans-shipment terminal, an international airport, a power plant and a township complex.. 166 sq kms (16600 hectares) of the island, much of this comprised of biologically rich and globally important coastal systems and tropical forests, part of a World Heritage Site, will be exploited... Andaman & Nicobar Islands are also being proposed as one of the sites for a palm oil push that the Indian government is making.
Large-scale palm oil plantations are also proposed in north-east India, a region that has historically seen a convoluted approach by the Indian state... (besides militarisation) In the last few years one of the biggest investments, both public and private, has been in hydro-electricity projects, often touted as ‘green energy’ ..
And then there is Ladakh. The people here are a predominantly Buddhist and Muslim faiths, and as in the case of Lakshadweep, the central government seems to be pushing or supporting a combined strategy of neo-liberal development with cultural hegemony.
Other ‘frontier’ areas under attack are Kachchh, a unique, vast grassland and salt desert ecosystem with a largely pastoral, agricultural and crafts-based people in western India bordering Pakistan; and Kashmir in the Himalayan belt, whose special constitutional status of relative autonomy was taken away by the central government in 2019. Both have been are or being opened up for huge corporate investments