P Sainath

The documentary directed by Deepa Bhatia, “Nero’s Guests” is a story about India’s farmer suicides as unravelled by Palagummi Sainath, Rural Affairs Editor of Hindu newspaper.

Nero was an ancient Roman emperor who used to conduct one of the biggest parties ancient Rome had ever seen. And for the guests to enjoy the beautiful garden, Nero brought several prisoners at night and burnt them alive for illumination.

The documentary compares these activities of Nero with the ruling classes of India who pursue business friendly policies while cruelly neglecting the farmers and the poor. The documentary has shown the pathetic conditions of the families who are forced to commit suicide due to the debt and humiliation caused by harmful policies pursued by the Government in the interests of the corporates in India and those of rich countries like the US and in Europe.

While it took the Finance Minister less than 2 hours to rush to Dalal Street and console the “weeping millionaires” when the Sensex plunged a few years ago, it took 10 years for the Prime Minister to pay a visit to the family of the farmers who had committed suicide.  More than 2.5 lakhs (250,000) farmers have committed suicides in the last 10 years. At the same time the government of India has given more than 2 lakh crores (US$44bn) “incentives” to corporates in the last 2 years.

The mainstream media has completely neglected this and even created a uproar supporting corporate interests when 50,000 crores (US$11bn) debt relief was suggested by the Government at the pressure of many farmers’ movements. (Even this is not yet implemented at the ground level as desired and does not take care of the farmers who are at the mercy of cruel local money lenders). A huge population in India is still engaged in agriculture (above 50%), the contribution to GDP of which has declined from 52% to 15% in the last 20 years.

What shocks Sainath is not Nero’s cruelty, but the indifference of Nero’s guests. In all his lectures, Sainath specifically points out that there have been numerous cruel rulers like Nero over the last several centuries, in fact more cruel, but what bothered him the most was the identity of Nero’s guests, people who feasted on fruits, meat and exotic wine while around them human beings were being set on fire. Sainath says that we, the civilian population, must choose whether we want to be Nero’s guests or not, whether we also want to keep silent by ignoring the cruel injustices meted out to farmers and the poor and enjoy the benefits at the cost of the suffering of a huge population of this country.

This documentary has revealed before us how the economic policies in the last 15 years, have resulted in vast inequalities between the rich and the poor by providing a jobless growth (where job creations benefitted a very minor section of the population). We have all been hearing only one side – that of “Shining India” in all the mass media, but not the other side of “Poor India” – with suffers with hunger and poverty comparable to those of many under developed African countries.

Thanks to IT/ITES Screening of the documentary in Bangalore, India for the text extract, and Purvi Vyas for bringing the movie to our attention.

Further links you may be interested in:

1. P. Sainath in a lecture on Globalising Inequality at The Centre for Social and Environmental Justice, Washington State University, Vancouver

2. Book by P Sainath: Everybody Loves a Good Drought: Stories from India’s Poorest Districts 

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Picture Credit: Goldman Environment Prize.org

The Goldman Environment Prize was set up in 1989 by San Francisco civic leader Richard N. Goldman and his late wife, Rhoda H. Goldman. So far, 139 people from 79 countries have been awarded the prize, which is based on a selection by an international jury. Nominations are submitted by a worldwide network of environmental organizations and individuals.

The 1991 Goldman Prize winner for Africa, Wangari Maathai later won the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize. 
Here is the summary video of the prize winners. (Individual videos come later)

 Here are the individual videos of the winners :

 
TUY SEREIVATHANA, CAMBODIA :
Tuy Sereivathana worked to mitigate human elephant conflict in Cambodia by introducing innovative low-cost solutions, empowering local communities to cooperatively participate in endangered Asian elephant conservation.

HUMBERTO RIOS LABRADA, CUBA
A scientist and biodiversity researcher, Humberto Ríos Labrada promoted sustainable agriculture by working with farmers to increase crop diversity and develop low-input agricultural systems that greatly reduce the need for pesticide and fertilizer, encouraging Cuba’s shift from agricultural chemical dependence.

THULI BRILLIANCE MAKAMA, SWAZILAND :
Thuli Brilliance Makama, Swaziland’s only public interest environmental attorney, won a landmark case to include environmental NGO representation in conservation decisions and continues to challenge the forced evictions and violence perpetrated against poverty-stricken communities living on the edges of conservation areas.

RANDALL ARAUZ, COSTA RICA
Drawing international attention to the inhumane and environmentally-catastrophic shark finning industry, Randall Arauz led the campaign to halt the practice in Costa Rica, making his country the new international model for shark protection.

LYNN HENNING, USA
A family farmer in rural Michigan, Lynn Henning exposed the egregious polluting practices of CAFOs –concentrated animal feeding operations- gaining the attention of the federal EPA and prompting state regulators to issue hundreds of citations for water quality violations.

MALGORZATA GORSKA, POLAND 
Małgorzata Górska led the fight to protect Poland’s Rospuda Valley, one of Europe’s last true wilderness areas, from a controversial highway project that would have destroyed the region’s sensitive ecosystems.

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“It’s a tragic mix-up when the United States spends $500,000 for every enemy soldier killed, and only $53 annually on the victims of poverty.”

  -  MARTIN LUTHER KING

We’re only 5 years away from the eight UN Millennium Development Goals (MDG) as outlined below.  UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called on world leaders to attend a summit in New York on 20-22 September 2010 to boost progress towards the MDG to be achieved by 2015.

We wanted to highlight some thought-provoking short movies that have been produced in support of the UN MDGs. Here’s one on Poverty and Hunger called, “Tiya’s Dream” by Abderrahmane Sissako an award-winning film director and producer who works often in Mali and France, on the themes of globalisation, exile and displacement of people. [Wikipedia]

 
Check out other short movies by shorts from Gus Van Sant, Mira Nair, Jane Campion and five other award-winning directors supporting the UN’s Millennium Goals on ”No Time Left” YouTube Channel
 
Watch this official UN MDG video to learn about how many people in this world are needlessly suffering:

According to the then Secretary-General of the UN, Kofi Annan, the UNs role for the next millenium will be crucial; making it a focal point for joint efforts in a world that presents worrisome statistics that endanger the perpetuation of generations to come.

• 1.2 billion people live with less than US$1.00 per day.
• 800 million people are malnourished.
• 153 million children are below their ideal weight.

• 115 million children are not enrolled in school.
• 97% of these children are in developing countries.

• 64% of the worlds illiterate population are women.
• 80% of the worlds refugee population are women.
• 60% of children not enrolled in primary school are women.

• Every year 10 million children die of preventable diseases.
• 30 thousand deaths per day.

• Anually, 500 thousand women die when giving birth or during their pregnancy.
• In Africas Sub-Saharan region 1 in 16 women die in these conditions.
• In countries of the OCDE this same proportion is of only 1 in every 2800 women.

• In the year 2000, 22 million people had died of AIDS.
• 13 million children lost their parents to the HIV virus.
• 40 million people live with the virus.
• Anually, 300 million cases of malaria are detected.
• Anually 60 million people are infected by tuberculosis.

• In the year 2000 1 billion people in developing countries didnt have access to drinkable water.
• 2.4 billion people didn’t have access to sanitary services.
• 14% of the world’s population (in the developed world) produces 44% of the yearly CO2 total.

• US$ 100 billion are necessary for achieving the MDGs.
• 0.5 of the GDP of developed countries is necessary for raising that amount.

Our generation has the unique opportunity to end global poverty. We have the technology. We have the resources. What we desperately need is the will.

Further links:

Guardian UK: How Fair Trade can help tackle poverty and bring peace to conflict zones

Next Billion: How Access to Information can tackle poverty and pollution

Wiser Earth: Can Organic Farming feed the world?

One International

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