[Reader-list] Infusing resistance with creativity

T Peter peter.ksmtf at gmail.com
Sun Dec 2 15:41:45 IST 2007


Infusing resistance with creativity
http://www.hindu.com/mag/2007/12/02/stories/2007120250110500.htm
ANINDITA SENGUPTA
K.P. Sasi's new film is a moving account of the struggles of India's
traditional fishing communities.
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"I derive my creativity from life. You need creativity to jump onto a
running bus, to hang on in a local train in Mumbai, to cook sambar
well. All protest is creative."
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Whose sea is it anyway? The question begs an answer. Increasingly, the
coast is under threat from industries like sand mining, tourism and
organised fisheries, which erode the rich ecosystem and threaten the
rights of traditional fishing communities.

The only piece of legislation that stands between these forces and the
sea is the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) notification of 1991, which
regulates industrial and commercial activity on the coasts. Since its
institution, the CRZ notification has been violated or diluted several
times and, in the wake of globalisation, is being viewed as an
obstacle to "development".

Bold indictment


Plans are afoot to replace it with the Coastal Zone Management (CZM)
notification, based on the recommendations of the committee chaired by
M.S. Swaminathan in 2005. Fishing communities in Kerala and Tamil
Nadu, who have been struggling to protect their 'mother sea' for many
years, are protesting this move for multiple reasons.

K.P. Sasi's "Resisting Coastal Invasions", a 52-minute documentary,
vividly captures both the magnitude of the threat and the heroism of
the fishing communities. It analyses the ramifications of the CZM
notification and the dire consequences it will have on the 10,00,000
fisherfolk populating India's coasts. The film is a bold indictment of
the government's plans to deregulate the coastal zones.

In person, Sasi minces no words either. "The traditional fishing
community will be removed from the coast," he says. "Already in
Allepey district in Kerala, 40 per cent of the coast has been taken
over by tourism. The same thing will happen everywhere."

Fishing communities, already reeling from the many violations of the
CRZ, are worried that the CZM notification will only make it easier
for industries to invade the coast. They believe that the notification
will threaten their land rights and open up all "vacant land" of
coastal panchayats for commercial development and the proposed system
of vulnerability mapping will threaten their livelihoods.

Sasi waxes indignant: "Who decides what is vulnerable? The state will
decide and it will be led by the industrial lobby. The fisherfolk will
lose their land rights and housing rights. The dilution of the CRZ
creates space for the invasion of tourism and other industries."

If K.P. Sasi sounds more like an activist than a filmmaker, it's
because he identifies himself as one. "I am an activist first. The
filmmaking is an extension of that."
He goes on to expand on his view of creativity. "I derive my
creativity from life. Mainstream views of creativity are set in
certain norms. If you write, act, make films, sing, you are creative.
But I think life is creative. You need creativity to jump onto a
running bus, to hang on in a local train in Mumbai, to cook sambar
well. All protest is also creative. To make an impact, you have to
protest in a creative manner."

Sasi's engagement with the fishing community's struggles has been a
long one. In 1985, he directed "We Who Make History" and "That Angry
Arabian Sea", which depicted the social and ecological problems of
trawling and the subsequent protests and later, in 1989, he made "A
Campaign Begins" on their national march.

"I have a very old equation with the Kerala fisherpeople," he
explains. "They have survived the struggle for a long time. We started
working on this film soon after the struggle against CZM started. It
took two years to make and I wouldn't say it is a complete film. The
problems shown are representative of the thousands of violations on
the coast."

For the film, Sasi travelled through Kerala and Tamil Nadu to capture
some of the disastrous effects that coastal exploitation has already
had — a depleted coastline, sea water flooding, traditional fisherfolk
rendered homeless and landless.

The film exposes the sand mining mafia in Kolavipalam and the effect
of the Sethusamudram project. It talks about how, ironically, the CRZ
was used to prevent traditional fishing communities from returning to
their homes after the tsunami.

The conflict between commercial interests and the lives of ordinary
people is a common trope in Sasi's work. Many of his films have
explored the collision of industrialisation and so-called development
with nature and the people whose lives are closely intertwined with
it.

"A Valley Refuses to Die" (1990) explored the social and ecological
problems created by the Narmada Dams and, more recently, in "The
Source of Life for Sale" (2004), he exposed the impact of
privatisation of water in India.

He attributes this to his beginnings in the highly politicised
environment of JNU where he spent nights discussing both "political
ideology and action". "I came from a Left background," he says, "so I
was always interested in people's struggles. When I started making
films, I visited the fisherpeople communities. I used to go and sit
with them. It excited me."

Space for discussion

Sasi is optimistic about film as a medium of social change but with
characteristic humility, he clarifies that he is not a representative
of the movement, merely a supporter.

"Different people act at different levels. There are hundreds of ways
that people can help. I believe that people respond to stimulus. A
discussion is a process. You need several processes like that." By
consistently creating the space for such discussions through his
films, Sasi infuses his art with his beliefs — and remarkably enough,
does justice to both.

Dear friends,
Copies of the film are distributed by Visual Search @ Rs. 250/- for
individuals andRs. 500/- for institutions. For copies and further
information, please contact: K.P. Sasi, Visual Search, 103, Mayflower
Laxmi Apts, 63, Sultanpalya Main Road, R.T. Nagar, Bangalore-32.
Phone: (0)9945282056. Web: www.visualsearch.org     E-mail:
visualsearch1 at gmail.com

Regards,




T.Peter
President, KSMTF
http://www.keralafishworkers.org
http://www.alakal.net


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