Dr Brahma Dutt Sharma
Saathi tere sapno ko manzil tak pahunchayenge ! Zindabaad !
Medha Partkar, Narmada Bachao Andolan
Dr Brahma Dutt Sharma (known to many in the movement just as docsahab), passed away on December 6, 2015 in Gwalior. Ailing for a while, he was with his son and daughter-in-law, at the time of his demise. Integral part of many movements committed to the struggle for human rights and a life of dignity, he was the heart and soul of Andolan Biradari . The Narmada Bachao Andolan and NAPM have in expressed heartfelt condolences to the family and to the Andolan Biradari, at this loss.
He was part of, and led several struggles to attain the Constitutional rights of adivasis, dalits, workers and farmers, over the five decades of his active working life beginning with the trouble-filled days in Bastar (1968). He was the the last commissioner for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes between 1986-1991. He also served as the vice chancellor of NEHU, central university and in numerous committees of Planning Commission and National Advisory Council (NAC).
He was a bureaucrat with a deep commitment to the Constitutional rights of the Indian people, a contemporary of late S R Sankaran, B N Yugandhar and others who stood for the people, just a way government servant should. As SC/ST Commissioner, he not only authored seminal reports on empowerment of SC/STs but also played a key role in authorship of the Bhuria Committee report, enactment of the PESA and the Forest Rights Act. As secretary in the ministry of tribal affairs, he initiated the idea of the Tribal Sub Plan.
Until as late as 2014, he continued to collaborate and help Government in its various initiatives with the tribals and adivasis, but also challenged them on every front, for their continued betrayal and non-implementation of various plans and governance failure in the scheduled areas. Extremely disturbed by the violence and war like situation in the tribal areas, and in a letter, dated May 17, 2010 to the President of India, he had written:
He stood for the rights of the people, for implementation of the self rule in the gram sabhas as mandated by the Constitution and championed the cause of the Hamare Gaon mein Hamara Raaj. Even while serving as the SC/ST Commmsioner, he filed the first case in the Supreme Court (SC), demanding the implementation of the Narmada Water Dispute Tribunal (NWDT) award. The court ordered the implementation of the NWDT award by the governments, which paved the way for allotment of land for land to thousands of the project affected families.
You as head of the nation, at a critical time must ensure that the Union Government accepts unequivocally its Constitutional responsibility with due apologies for the decimated, shattered and disinherited tribal communities whose irretrievable loss- physical, economical and emotional – is an un-washable blot on the fair face of our nation that still stands by equity and justice
Today, in blatant violation of the Supreme Court order as also the order of numerous tribunals and commissions and in the face of continued struggle of Narmada Bachao Andolan and other organisations, the NDA II government is pushing ahead with the construction of the Sardar Sarovar Dam, leading to submergence of nearly 2 lakh plus people in the Narmada Valley.
Dr Sharma was a visionary and was troubled by the growing inequity in the society in the wake of neo liberal reforms pushed by the government. He worked tirelessly to implement the laws, policies, programmes and schemes of the government using all the means available to him, but he knew the real swaraj will come only if people themselves organised and fought control over their own lives, their means of livelihood, control over natural resources, had a say in the development plan and became a beneficiary in the process of development. He founded the Bharat Jan Andolan and lent his voice and support to Narmada Bachao Andolan, National Alliance of People’s Movements, Kisani Pratishtha Manch, Campaign for Survival and Dignity and many more people’s struggles and movements.
He travelled throughout the country and propagated his views and solutions to the farmers and workers distress, advocated for their rights and kept stressing the fact that we are headed towards a agrarian crisis and something which stemmed from the fact that farmers and workers were not getting their due. They were not being compensated for their efforts and hard work. He would often ask at the gatherings, bata mere yaar, meri mehnat kaa mool hai kya ?
He wrote extensively and also published for which he set up his publishing unit, Sahyog Kutir Prakashan. He lived frugally and minimally, travelled across the country as a simpleton, wearing his dhoti kurta and remained accessible to everyone. Even though unwell, he joined the NAPM at the completion of 20 years of NAPM at its biennial convention in Pune, last year.
He will be missed for his courage of conviction and the dedication to the cause of the marginalized. In his death we all have lost a great teacher and a comrade, who stood by us in times of deep crisis and in struggle.