Dinkerbhai Dave,
one of the strongest pillars of Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) in Gujarat passed
away on the morning of the 9th of January 2018. I remember
Dinkerbhai in so many different ways- a friend, a colleague, more like a member
of family. I remember him even more as one who dared to challenge the
establishment in the State of Gujarat over Sardar Sarovar Project (SSP) where
few did. But most of all, I will remember him as the one who fought adversaries
with jest and worked in most unpleasant of circumstances with an absolute
jovial disposition.
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| Dinkerbhai, third from left, expressing his determination to fight the Sardar Sarovar Project along with the people of the Narmada Valley. Photo Sourrce: Not Known. |
I recall a meeting
with select proponents and opponents of the SSP in Navsari in South Gujarat in
the year 1990. Even before the meeting could commence two busloads of political
goons of the then strongman and Chief Minister Chimanbhai Patel barged into the
premises and physically disrupted the meeting. While all of us were shocked and
dejected, Dinkerbhai in his typical jovial manner lightened our moods so that
we could get back to the work we had assembled for. He said, “These are all bhaduti
manso [paid people]. We should not get disappointed because of them. Many did not even know where SSP is being built”. NBA’s
meetings in Gujarat were on many occasions disrupted, be it in Bhavnagar,
Ahmedabad, etc but Dinkerbhai helped in restoring the faith and mood to keep
going and more so with upbeat energy. Dinkerbhai could make light of the most
unfavorable of situations and simply go on. Nothing could dishearten him. This
was his biggest strength.
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| Dinkerbhai in the center in one of the programs of the NBA. Photo Source: Not known |
I recall yet another
occasion when I had accompanied Dinkerbhai to Lokbharti, the esteemed Gandhian rural
educational institute near Sanosra, Bhavnagar in Gujarat. Dinkerbhai himself was a student of Lokbharti once.
We had gone there to request the persons in charge to let NBA place its view
point before its students as to why it opposes SSP. Dinkerbhai was very
confident that at least Lokbharti would not turn us down as other organizations
and institutes in Gujarat we normally approached did. I do not wish to name the
person now but one of the senior administrators at Lokbharti told us, “First
you go and convince Babubhai Patel, our senior. If you will succeed in
convincing him, we will invite you to a meeting here.”
Now, Babubhai Jashbhai
Patel, a Gandhian had chosen to become the Narmada Development Minister and
that too in the Chimanbhai Patel Government. Babubhai as Narmada Minister was
one of the strongest proponents of the SSP among the Gandhians although he was
the Chief Minister of Gujarat at the time of Machu Dam breakage in Morbi in
which five to ten thousand people had died. In spite of being a witness to one
of the worst dam disasters in the world, Babubhai was presiding over the
building of SSP as the Narmada Minister. There was no way in which we could
have convinced Babubhai although the NBA had debated the issue with him earlier
at a meeting organized by some senior and respected Gandhians at Vedchi. I was deeply saddened that
even Lokbharti would turn us away like this! But Dinkerbhai laughed and said,
“Don’t you worry, this is a small thing. We will come again. Let us right now go
to meet the Gandhian Ashram head near Amreli.” And off we would go laughing and joking
to try our luck elsewhere. This is how with Dinkerbhai in the lead, NBA could
hold many a meetings across Gujarat on the issue of SSP amidst unprecedented
opposition.
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| Dinkerbhai loved rivers. Dinkerbhai on his farm on the banks of River Sarabrmati, Dholka, Gujarat. Photo: Nandini Oza |
Dinkerbhai, a
strong Gandhian at heart, tried his best to debate the issue with other veteran
Gandhians of Gujarat at the risk of being sidelined by his own Sarvodaya family
to whom he was close. Dinkerbhai often approached Late Shri Chunibhai Vaidya, another
respected Gandhian to convince him to withdraw his steadfast support to
Chimanbhai Patel in building the SSP. Although Chunibhai Vaidya himself had once
fought against the adverse impacts caused by dams like Dantiwada and Sipu in
Gujarat, particularly in the downstream areas, Dinkerbhai could not convince
him. Instead, Dinkerbhai himself lost some
of his leverage among the many Gandhians and the well placed Gandhian
institutes in Gujarat. But such things did not matter to Dinkerbhai and he
never lost heart. Dinkerbhai tirelessly traveled the length and breadth of Gujarat
to organize NBA meetings and succeeded in organizing meetings at many places.
This was possible only because Dinkerbhai engaged with the nastiest of proponents
of the SSP in a lighter vein and in a friendly way even after suffering insults
sometimes. This character of Dinkerbhai to engage with even angry opponents jovially
helped NBA sustain and grow in Gujarat. Dinkerbhai was deeply rooted into the
culture of Gujarat and this too helped in the expansion of NBA in a hostile
atmosphere. And so did his genuine simplicity, selflessness and sincerity.
As the
opposition to the SSP grew and as submergence in the Narmada Valley commenced,
Dinkerbhai convinced the organization he was working full-time to let him give
over fifty percent of his time to the NBA. And to the credit of the
organization, they let him do so. And so did his family, more importantly his
very loving wife Jayshreeben who managed their home in his absence. His family
supported him in spite of knowing well that if Dinkerbhai did not associate the
way he did with the NBA, he would reach places in Gujarat’s political and
social life.
Dinkerbhai stood
with the people of Vadgam, the first village in Gujarat to submerge in the dam
waters when waters rose and entered the homes of the people for the first time.
He would walk many kilometers across hills to reach without fail the submergence
villages heavily guarded by the police and where entry was prohibited. This Dinkerbhai
would do by convincing the police of the sanctity of his purpose and by
befriending them. On reaching, in spite
of being tired to the bone, he would engage everyone describing vividly how he
had managed to achieve the near impossible fete. And all would laugh forgetting
for a while the tragedy unfolding around them in the Narmada valley.
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Dinkerbhai sharing his views against SSP as a Gujarati with the people of the Narmada Valley. Photo Source: Not known.
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Last year, when I had the good opportunity to visit Dinkerbhai at his home in Dholka, one of the first things he did was to take me to see the dysfunctional Narmada canals which were built at great cost taking up the lands of farmers but had not once supplied water to the parched fields. When Mr. Narendra Modi inaugurated the dam before the Gujarat State elections in 2017, Dinkerbhai called to say that it is time we travel across Gujarat and bring out the facts of the Narmada Canal and that large parts of it were not yet built/completed or if built, many parts remained non- functional. He was very keen to expose the truth behind the project which the PM had just inaugurated. My last conversation with Dinkerbhai in December 2017, just a few weeks before he left us was when he once again reminded me to insist with Shripad (Dharmadhikary) to take a month off to accompany him to assess the canal network of SSP and its other claims. " I will make all other arrangements", he said. Such was Dinkerbhai's commitment to the NBA and the issues it had raised.
There are
countless other incidents concerning Dinkerbhai in the NBA and his contribution
to the struggle can fill pages. It would not be possible to narrate all the
incidents but it is important to share one particular incident here. In his
interview, respected Girishbhai Patel, the founding and veteran member of the NBA
while recalling the incident of the arrest of over eighteen NBA activists and supporters in
Gujarat in the late eighties for having breached the draconian Official Secrets
Act at Kevadia Colony has this to say about Dinkerbhai:
“The right to freedom
of speech is important in an open society…That is, people have the right to
know and to be informed about the affairs of the State…We used to hold meetings
frequently there [at Kevadia]. The area around Kevadia as well as the area
around the [Sardar Sarovar] dam was already declared prohibited area... Once it
was decided to have a large meeting of all the three States and many people had
come. At that time they [Government] declared that this is a prohibited area
and no meeting can be held. …
“As people had already arrived,
we were wondering what to do next…It suddenly struck us that night that let us
defy [the Official Secrets Act]… How
should we go was an issue as there were CID and police personnel everywhere. At
many places people were stopped and cordoned off by the police. We had
formulated the whole plan as to where in the market place should everyone reach
before the program that was scheduled to start at ten in the morning.
“We had worked out in
detail how and who should give a signal so that everyone would assemble at one
time before anyone would know of the plan… That day morning, each one of us
took our position in a different place; someone at a tea stall, someone at the
hotel, someone at a shop, someone on a scooter, and so on… Likewise we all 10-12
people assembled. And exactly at the given time, all of us, shouting Narmada
Bachao slogan came together. The police were taken by surprise. They caught us
all…We were taken to the Garudeshwar police station. This was the first
agitation against the Official Secrets Act in the whole of India and this
happened in our Narmada struggle…The Act was such that no meeting could be
conducted at any place where the Act [is in place] or if an area is declared
prohibited…The punishment was severe and its jurisdiction was under the district
and sessions court... Therefore this was a major issue in law- free speech
verses official secrets...
“…we were taken to
Garudeshwar [police station] that morning… We were to be produced [before the Magistrate]
within twenty four hours. The police was writing down everyone’s name. Many pleasant
incidents took place. We were given good snacks but Dinkerbhai decided to play
mischief [Laughs]. He was asked his name. He replied- ‘Dinker Dave.’ He was
asked his father’s name. He said- ‘I will not give my father’s name.’ He was
asked the reason for his denial by the police. So he said, ‘I have not come
here after seeking permission from my father!’ [Laughs]…
“That fellow [police]
said that the matter will not proceed any further if Dinkerbhai does not give
his father’s name and, ‘We will not produce anyone before the court.’ The
arguments went on till afternoon. We wondered why all this has had to come to Dinkerbhai’s
mind right now! [Laughs] I finally told
Dinkerbhai. ‘Give the name or else we will have to spend the night here if they
will not produce us.’ Ultimately he gave the name [of his father] and we were
produced before a first class Judicial Magistrate at night…”
This was typical of Dinkerbhai to convert most
serious of adversity into a kind of comic situation and move ahead! And so, every one of us in the NBA awaited Dinkerbhai’s
arrival and he would spontaneously turn a serious and sometimes gloomy atmosphere
into a happy and energetic one.
Dinkerbhai took death
lightly too! On his Face Book Post of 24th December 2017, as if he
had a premonition, he writes, “मै भारत फ्री [फिर] जन्म लेकर लोकस्वराज स्थापित करना चाहता हू!” And when I read this yesterday, in midst of my sorrow of
having lost a dear friend, I could not help
smiling for Dinkerbhai had already planned where he wished to be reborn and
what he wished to do!
We
will miss you Dinkerbhai and terribly so. Zindabad.
11th
January 2018
