Foreword
My perception of the Rameswaram Island which has become the focus of the problems of Tamil fishermen keeps changing with times. It has passed many stages as I have often donned the mantle of fisherman, reader, environmentalist, field activist and observer. My writings on various occasions stand testimony to it.
The
state government has rightly shown concern in banning the underground gas
pipelines as it would spoil arable land. But where did this concern go when it
came to establishing additional units in Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant? Why
didn’t the political parties raise their voices in this issue?
The
livelihood and habitation of the traditional fishermen along the coastal
stretch of Tamil Nadu are plundered every day by corporates and governments in
the name of mega projects. Why should the state and the politicians keep
talking about the travails of the Gulf of Mannar? Are all the other
stakeholders staging a fake drama projecting the problem of the poor fishermen
while carefully avoiding what is to be done immediately?
Transcending
the governmental projects, the constructs and political discourse about the
fishermen and the media hype, we wanted to find out what is actually happening
in the Island. To begin with, we had regular interactions with leading writers
of Tamil Nadu. We published more than 30 titles by writers from the coast on
behalf of Neidhal Veli Publications. We also made short stays in Tamil Nadu
coast from Pazhaverkadu to Neerodi. The scope of this mission was simple. As a
first generation fisherman, I wanted to form my own picture of the ecology of
our seas and sea coasts and the ethnic communities that depend thereof. I
consciously avoided statistics and scripted versions and was keen to listen to
the subaltern. My visits to Ramnad coast took place between 2008 and 2014.
An
uneasy equation of bread and blood has been thrust up on the Gulf of Mannar.
The livelihood of the traditional fishermen is in the grip of big investors and
corporates who have no connection with the sea at all. The coastal leadership,
political parties and the media have become the agents and handmaidens of these
rich men and planned propagandas have been unleashed. It is these hapless
artisans who are being sacrificed in mid sea every day. When will they become
political enough to decide their destiny?
The
Gordian knot is the product of my consistent and
conscious search of the realities of the coastal subaltern, keeping the above
question in the forefront. This is an alternative voice, trying to reveal the
hidden faces of a familiar problem. The book is neither a prescription nor is a
final word on the issue, but a plank for constructive transactions.
Back
ground information on the study area and some fishing methods are additions to
this edition. I thank the International Collective in Support of Fish workers
for the literature.
To
the altruistic warmth shown by the ethnic people along the Indian coasts, I’m
indebted. I cannot thank enough my spouse Jacintha and daughters Nancy and
Laura, for, the quality time and energy that have gone into this and other
works of mine are what they consciously sacrificed all these years. To my
beloved mother Elizabeth Konstantine, who left us for heavenly abode, I owe my
life.
Vareethiah
Konstantine
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