In China, Rasul Poora wouldn't be around anymore. It's a slum of people who settled close to the Hyderabad Airport – in fact, many of them on Airport-owned land itself. Now, Rasul Poora is a notified slum, which means that its people have a claim to the land they live on. Adjacent to Rasul Poora, and even closer to the runway (we're talking a couple hundred meters), sit a bunch more houses, some built of concrete, some made of plastic sheets and sticks.
Rasul Poora aside, the fact that this area, right next to the airport, is engaged in an ongoing legal dispute with the Airport authorities in court just plain amazes me. In China, the government wouldn't even blink before clearing out that area. Not a split second of thought. And in India, powerful local leaders pushed to get the matter into court, lest the voters in slums punish them for ignoring the people.
In India, Rasul Poora is far enough outside of the airport fence to get notified, but I highly doubt it would have made it in Beijing. In India, Rasul Poora has pretty mediocre water coverage – most people use public taps and borewells. In China, Rasul Poora (if it survived) might be better served. I'm really not sure. But the two countries are obviously driven by different types of politics, and the difference couldn't be starker than here.
2 comments:
Is the court system in India as powerful in interpreting the law as the US court system is, here? It's kind of hard to tell whether getting this case into court means anything for them.
What do you think of the protests in Myanmar? I find it kind of embarassing that the people of there, who run a much higher risk of beatings, torture, imprisonment, and death than we do when they protest, still have what it takes to do so while we're (mostly) just apathetic regarding our own issues. I of course am as guilty as anyone else in that category.
i'm not 100% convinced it would be destroyed immediately in china. there's an ongoing dispute between hutong residents in beijing (i forget which one...) and the gov that wants to destroy the hutong and give them minimal compensation. though, yeah, you're probably right about the end result.
i agree with the previous commenter...the protests in burma are really exciting and you have to admire the courage of the monks and dissidents leading them. let's hope it brings change.
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