Submergence village: Vadgam, Resettlement site: Dhefa, Gujarat
Rasikbhai, an oustee himself, belongs to Vadgam, the very first village in Gujarat facing submergence due to the Sardar Sarovar Project (SSP) from out of a total of 245 villages in the Narmada Valley. Rasikbhai has been a full time activist and leading member of the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA). As an activist, Rasikbhai took up several responsibilities of the movement from mobilising people across the over 100 resettlement sites in Gujarat, to data collection, to media briefing and helping the hundreds of visitors that came to the NBA to understand the issues raised by the movement through field visits. Rasikbhai’s work as an NBA activist has been particularly challenging for working near the SSP site and in a state which has remained exceedingly hostile to the movement.
Rasikbhai’s interview here as the leading member of NBA is unique as he is an oustee belonging to the village Vadgam, in Gujarat, that defied the state while most other Adivasi families from the 19 submergence villages of Gujarat had accepted rehabilitation. Vadgam and its families including Rasikbhai faced unprecedented hostility as the government and the general public in Gujarat considered SSP the state’s lifeline that would turn Gujarat into Nandanvan (paradise) by reaching Narmada waters to every household and field. Rasikbhai belonged to the first batch of oustees in Vadgam to face the dam waters with the NBA strategy of, ‘We Shall Drown But Not Move’, from the time it was first conceptualised.
In this interview excerpted here, Rasikbhai explains the many strategies of the NBA and the impact these have had on the movement. Rasikbhai talks about the legal actions of the movement, fasts, jalsamarpan and the implications of these for the people of the Narmada Valley.
Interview Duration: 0:25:00
Language: Gujarati, Subtitles in English
Subtitles can be switched on and off by clicking ‘CC’ button at the bottom right of the video