Eminent Domain?

Just kidding.

Well, it is not so far fetched really. Places of worship belonging to religions other than Islam are by default deemed eminent domain in Islamic nations. Take for instance the destruction of a 100- year old Hindu temple in Malaysia, the destruction of Buddha statues in Afghanistan and the mass destruction of temples in Pakistan post Babri fiasco. I believe Hindus in Bangladesh were seriously hassled as well, some of it chronicled in the Taslima Nasreen book, Lajja.

Singur is a podunk off Calcutta, some 30-40 kms away. The Tatas want to build a plant, so they wanted a 2 km by 2 km plot in that area. Naturally the local landowners would have none of it.
So what we have there is a large scale land grab, commie style. Since commies are doing it, our socialist friends are nowhere to be seen. Dilip D'Souza didn't visit the place, too far from Bombay. Medha Patkar is there and so is Dr. Mamata Banerjee, the resident upholder of downtrodden rights.

Well, at least the landowners are being paid Rs. 8.6 lakhs per acre. In Maharashtra, land is being forcibly acquired for as little as Rs. 24,000. Now, the net profit per acre in India ranges from Rs. 3000 - Rs. 5000. Taken as a perpetuity, it doesn't amount to much. So, why would farmers be so opposed to the Rs. 8.6 lakhs buyout? Actually it could blow holes in the popular myth that the commies did a great land reform and transferred ownership to the share croppers. The truth is, the land merely changed hands to the cronies of the commies. Now, the shared croppers get jack in the above transaction and hence the ire. Of course there could be another reason for it. The landowners recognize that the price of the land will go up sooner or later and in real estate terms, it could reach dizzying heights.

I believe there could be a third reason. Holding on to Agricultural land in our country has its advantages. You get lots of sops and handouts and they do add up. The farmers may be willing to swap the net but not the socialistic largesses.

Eminent domain or not, in our country you can not really hold on to prime land unless you belong to a certain set of folks and you know what I mean. If you are really lucky, you may get a few paises on the Rupee. If you are unlucky, you may end up on the sidewalk, face down, a bullet through the back of your skull. These incidents are not reported unless you are underprivileged, in which case Mamata will hold a token fast for you.

In a socialistic regime, the state owns your ass, so stop whining.