A visibly fatigued social activist Piyush Manush walked out of the
Salem Central Prison on Thursday evening after spending nearly a
fortnight behind bars for opposing the construction of a local flyover
earlier this month. In an interview with
S.P. Saravanan
and
Vasanth Srinivasan
, the convener of the Salem Citizens Forum bitterly recalled his days in
prison but promised to continue fighting for environmental causes.
You have been part of many
agitations and movements. You have alleged that you were badly beaten up
inside the prison. Does this scare you?
This
incident has not scared me, but it was very humiliating. The way they
treated us and the way they portrayed us really pains me. We have fought
against mining by Jindal and Malco; raised our voice against industrial
pollution; revived so many water bodies; planted so many trees; got
ourselves involved in organic farming; and were part of so many social
initiatives. So I thought we were contributing to the society to our
level best. But the government called us a terrorist in the court and
said we are stopping the nation’s growth and progress. I really do not
know what to say.
Do you ever regret doing what you have done?
No.
I don’t believe in ‘single-man action’. I am all for community effort.
But in this case (protest against construction of a railway over
bridge), frustration got the better of me for about five seconds. I was
fed up as the alternative road was not laid and people were going
through hell. So I got into the pit and stopped the JCP. There was no
regret about it, though there was no need to have been hasty about it.
Wouldn’t
it have been appropriate for you to have approached the court to seek a
stay against the project instead of taking the law into your hands?
The
district administration informed the public about the construction of
the flyover only on July 7, a day before commencing the work. I am not
against the project, but why did the authorities begin the work before
even acquiring land for the project? Proper planning is needed for
executing such infrastructure projects so that the public is not
inconvenienced. In fact, I met the District Revenue Officer and urged
him to begin the work after acquiring the required land. But he directed
me to meet the Divisional Railway Manager as the railway was executing
the project. When work had commenced, I though it was too late to move
the court and staged the protest.
Do you suspect that some corporates, against whom you had fought in the past, had a role to play in your arrest?
I
cannot specifically blame anyone as I have been waging battles against
illegal mining, environmental degradation by companies and even fighting
banks for the strong-arm tactics adopted by them to recover loans from
students and others. But it is possible that some were waiting for an
opportunity to take revenge on me and used the prison officials to
assault me. But the kind of physical force that was used on me is an act
of excessive revenge.
You have claimed that the Salem Superintendent of Prison assaulted you. Is there any enmity between you both?
No.
In fact, I want to know who instigated the Superintendent to attack me.
I had faith in prison officials as previously when I was lodged there
in 2010, I was treated well. I have now lost that faith.
Do you think there are lessons here for the larger community of activists?
I
would think so. We need to go back to the drawing board and need to
re-strategise. Staging protests and going to prison is all part of our
lives. But when you get beaten up like this, it makes one rethink his
strategy. But a collective voice would bring about change. I will
continue my contribution to restore water bodies and preserve the
environment.
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