Attempts to instill fear in speaking out journalists
The Sunday Mail
Dehradun. A very poignant news recently emerged from the village of Lavegarh in Rudraprayag district, Uttarakhand. The news stated that the only elderly woman in the village had died, but the four people who were supposed to carry her body were missing. When other villagers learned of it, they rushed to the scene and performed the woman’s last rites. This news exposed the true truth of migration from the hills. This village was once populated, with children playing, but today it is deserted, with only two or three people living there. The issue of this village became known because it appeared in the newspapers. Otherwise, the situation in most villages is similar. Congress national spokesperson Sujata Paul expressed deep sorrow over this incident and, in her post, vented her anger at the government over the migration. It’s true that the government is neither concerned about the hills nor the migration.
To hide the truth about Uttarakhand, those in power are busy propagating that everything is fine in the mountains. To enhance their own image and that of the mountains, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and his government are spending money like water. While reports of corruption are circulating on social media, the government has lost all fear. The government isn’t even trying to figure out how to stop migration and develop the mountains. Because the development of those in Dehradun is considered the development of the mountains. In the name of stopping migration, the headquarters of the Migration Prevention Commission has been opened in Pauri. S.S. Negi was appointed head of the commission, who himself has migrated from Pauri. It is said that he sold his ancestral home and moved to Dehradun. Although the commission has made numerous suggestions, they are all limited to paper. Pauri used to be the commissionerate of the Garhwal division. Numerous government departments made it vibrant. After the state’s formation, the city of Pauri slowly began to lose its charm. More than half of the officers and offices were relocated to Dehradun. There’s no one to attend to them. This is the situation at the commissionerate headquarters. The situation in the villages is even worse. Chief Minister Dhami himself heads the Migration Commission. The government may have data on village emptiness, but there’s no data on repopulation, because there’s no concern for the mountains. To stop migration from the mountains, basic amenities are needed first. This means paved roads, good healthcare, good educational institutions, and increased resources for employment. None of this is happening. Paul also raises the same question: when will development finally happen? The apparent development is confined to a few towns in the Terai region. If the government offices and headquarters opened in Dehradun, Rishikesh, Haridwar, Pantnagar and Haldwani were opened in the mountains, perhaps migration could have been stopped. But the Dhami government, unlike other governments, has spared no effort in exploiting the mountains. The BJP has leveled numerous allegations of corruption against its own government. There are reports of Mussoorie, Neelkanth, and other scenic spots in the mountains being sold for throwaway prices. Those who owned the land are now working as servants. The recent Mussoorie and IT Park incidents have exposed the rampant corruption in the mountains. The government remained silent on the Mussoorie case because a prominent Delhi newspaper exposed the scam. However, when the IT Park case was raised by local independent journalist Ajit Rathi, the government served a legal notice on the journalist. The journalist’s family was threatened and intimidated by the police. A builder will build and sell flats on the IT Park land, a 90-year lease granted to a company implicated in the bridge scam. Several journalist organizations in Delhi have condemned the legal notice issued to the journalist and warned the government. Following the Press Club of India and the Press Association, the National Union of Journalists also issued a notice. The police action has been strongly condemned and the government’s move has been termed undemocratic. These are the cases of corruption that have come to light. The rest remain undetected because the saying ‘everyone is naked in the bath’ comes true. From the government’s behavior, it seems that the state of Uttarakhand was created only and only for exploitation. News like this will come that a 90-year-old woman could not find anyone to give her a shoulder after her death and after a day or two of discussion, everything will be forgotten. End
