Inviting all for an evening of talk with Nandini Oza on "Oral History of the Struggles around Sardar Sarovar Narmada Project (SSP)".
The presentation: The talk will focus on Nandini Oza’s work of collection of oral histories of the people who have played a significant role in the struggle against the Sardar Sarovar project (SSP). It will highlight the reasons and importance behind collecting such histories, the process of its collection, its strengths and limitations and the work of dissemination of the material collected and future plans. The presentation highlights why the history of the struggle would be grossly incomplete without these voices and why oral history is an appropriate medium of chronicling the history of such a movement. It will also include brief clippings from the recordings as well as some glimpses of the journey of the Narmada valley, its people and the struggle.
The talk will conclude with a session on questions and answers.
The Oral History Work: The oral histories consist of extensive interviews in audio format of around 80 leaders and activists of the struggle that began in the year 1961 when the foundation stone of the project was laid by India’s first Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and continues till date for over half a century now. The oral history is a total of over 400 hours of recordings in digital format, in seven different dialects and languages- Hindi, Marathi, English, Gujarati, Pawari, Bhilali and Nimadi.
Though the Narmada struggle has been a very well known movement, what conventional history - and the mass media - has recorded is either the issues, or prominent programs or the role of only a few well known activists. It is primarily because of the collective power of the people in the Narmada valley that the struggle against SSP has blossomed and sustained for so long. And yet, the role, the contribution and the vision of the local leaders, activists and the common people, particularly women and tribal leaders and activists who have formed the backbone of the struggle find little place in the documentation of the struggle. One of the objectives of this oral history is to attempt to address this gap.
Another issue is that the Narmada struggle is seen mainly as the NBA, a well-organized movement spread over the entire project affected area that began around the mid-1980s. While this is certainly true, what is not known well is that the earliest resistance against the project dates to 1961 when the foundation stone of the project was laid. From then onwards the Narmada valley has seen a series of protests and movements against the project, some spontaneous and unorganized, others more structured and organized. These struggles prepared the ground for the emergence of the subsequent struggle in the form of the NBA. These oral histories trace the earlier resistance against the project and its history.
The oral histories address these limitations by recording the experiences of those whose roles/experiences have not been documented so far. In doing these recordings, Nandini has been able to bring in her own experience as a full time activist of the NBA for over twelve years and another eight as the resident of the Narmada valley to weave together narratives of the hitherto less known histories of a struggle that has been going on for over half a century now.
About Nandini Oza: After completing MSW, Nandini worked in an NGO involved in soil and water conservation. Subsequently she was a full time activist with NBA where she lived and worked among the people affected by the SSP. Her main responsibility was mobilization of the people to strengthen the NBA as well as to help coordinate programs, rallies, demonstrations, mass actions, fund raising programs and campaigns. As part of NBA, she was involved in extensive research, documentation and dissemination of information regarding several aspects of the project and its impacts both within the valley and outside. She has represented NBA nationally as well as internationally. Later, along with teaching in the Government college in Badwani, she took up the task of recording the oral history of those involved in the NBA, particularly the tribal people and the farmers affected by the SSP. Currently she is processing the recorded history for dissemination. Author of the book- ‘Whither Justice- Stories of Women in Prison’, Published by Rupa and Co, she is an independent researcher and writer. She is also a part of the Zindabad trust.
All are welcome.