Message from Badanavalu satyagraha: Simple, sustainable
Intellectuals, foreigners participate in satyagraha to save traditional modes of livelihood
By : shilpa p
Update: 2015-04-20 06:45 GMT
Mysuru: On a day when the focus of the media was on the farmers’ rally organised by the Congres in New Delhi, Badanavalu, a remote village of historic significance 40 km from Mysuru, attracted more than 5000 people the majority of them being urban youth and those from IT sector. They were at the village to express their solidarity for the Badanavalu satyagraha taken up for the cause of “simple sustainable life, with hard labour”.
Bureaucrats, intellectuals, writers, litterateurs, thinkers, volunteers of more than 100 organisations, actors, artists and artisans sporting Gandhi caps joined the satyagraha at which nationals from Australia, Switzerland and Belgium too were present.
There was an show of indigenous and rare seeds, a display of traditional equipment and pottery making. 68 year old Bapunayak from Kadkola, one of the three weavers left at the village, displayed the making of a traditional mat out of a plant fibre extract. The satyagraha was the second phase of a protest taken up by All India Federation of Weavers Organisations against the intrusion of technology based products which are posing a threat to the weaving and traditional products sector.
Theatre personality, Mr Prasanna Heggodu who has led Badanavalu satyagraha since March 21 said, “There should be a radical shift in economic policy. Instead of measuring growth by comparing GDP, we should promote alternate modes of development and sustainable simple living in villages to ensure continuity of traditional indigenous employment modes.”