Sunday, February 13, 2005

In Bombay, a battle over slums | csmonitor.com

The Christian Science Monitor, from Feb. 3rd, on the situation in Mumbai. The quotes from Bollywood biggie and housing rights activist Shabana Azmi (a fan page here, an explanation of her activism here) are on target.

On second thought, though, she might want to reverse her idea. Azmi tells the Monitor, "The one thing I tell the middle class is, if you don't like slum dwellers, then the best way to get rid of them is to stop giving them employment. Then your life will come to a grinding halt."

But what if the squatters were the ones to declare a bandh, or general strike. That would truly bring the city to a grinding halt. If 350,000 squatters led others in a coordinated action, it would be a powerful statement. As the old cliche has it: don't agonize, organize.

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