Lands End

Quite often I along with my classmates used to track to this place during my school days in Nainital. The place was about six kilometers from my school. Tracking six kilometers on a hilly terrain was not that easy, but our then principal was a good sportsperson and in his leadership we used to track to this point called “Lands End”. I have heard that similar names are often given on other hill stations for the spots where you have a feel that there is a dead end to the road and what you can see further is just a railing, across which you can see a valley and other mountains around. During my childhood, I had a perception that ‘Lands End’ always means that it is end of the road. Today when I see the media reports in context of the land acquisition from farmers for development purposes, I do not why, but this word ‘Lands End’ is striking my mind creating a high entropy. 

Let me reduce my entropy by sharing some of my thoughts with my readers. With increasing urbanization and the evolving habit of convenience amongst a substantial section of society, Land is becoming a major cause of social conflicts. The capacity of Individuals to buy a physical piece of land by paying some ‘X’ amount made this natural resource, just like any other commodity. Quantification of rights on natural resources had given a lot of opportunity for economists to keep debating forever. In the name of development a person can be removed from a place where his generation lived since ages for a meager sum. He is also told that some unknown set of people will come, create palaces on his land and will give jobs to his children. He is further told, that look, the law has changed and since you voted us to create laws, you have no business to complain. The new law says that if anything is built on his land, even the consent will not be required. Dear Readers! Please do not think that I am losing any land, or being an activist following a particular thought stream. It is just that, as a writer, sometime I feel apt to share the thoughts crossing my mind with you. When I reach a ‘Lands End’ of thoughts, I try to get across the beautiful view of other mountains around. The moment you are reading this piece, I get connected to your thoughts also. Please give feedback on the Land acquisition issue in context of morality of the whole matter. 

Dr. Sunil Ji Garg