Green and Saffron
Mukul Sharma
permanent black
Rs. 795 pp 300
Elbert Hubbard described a conservative as “a man too cowardly to fight and too fat to run”. But he said that a century ago, much before today’s conservative avatars gained respectability as neo-liberals and born-again fanatics. Mukul Sharma’s book is about a Hindu conservative reinvention of environmental politics in the age of globalisation. And to spice things up there is Anna Hazare, in the idyllic surroundings of Ralegan Siddhi.
The book evokes a serious question: What is wrong if the right-wingers adopt environmentalism as a doctrine? After all, with enemies like corporate giants and nuclear hawks, the cause of environment could do with some friends in high places. That is where the author’s field work comes in handy. He shows why there is a problem when a singular, Brahminical notion of tradition meets a sectarian social order, and when ecology is couched as anti-minority to anti-Dalit discourse.
The book has three meticulous case studies: Ralegan Siddhi’s watershed programme in Maharashtra, Sundarlal Bahuguna’s opposition to Tehri dam in Garhwal, Uttarakhand, and Vrindavan’s forest revival project in Uttar Pradesh. A bit of textual analysis, some ecological perspectives and some scrutiny of cultural keystones bring out an insightful story and an exploration of political meanings.
SEE FULL TEXT AT: http://books.hindustantimes.com/2012/03/review-green-and-saffron/
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