I visited the southernmost tip of India.
I stood at Indira Point. I walked under trees that have stood for centuries. I dove into coral reefs among the most vibrant on earth.
And I sat with the people who live there. Tribal communities, whose land is being taken away by violating the Forest Rights Act. Settlers, many of them former soldiers, placed on these islands by the Indian government, who arenтАЩt getting fair compensation.
The Modi government and BJP tells you Great Nicobar Project is about defence. It is not.
Expand INS Baaz - we will back the government fully. The Navy has been asking for expansion for five years - it has been ignored.
They tell you it is about a transhipment port. It is not. India is already building one in Kerala, which is on the mainland.
What it actually is: 1.5 crore trees felled. Coral reefs erased from official maps. Soldiers and tribals displaced - so one businessman can build hotels and casinos on IndiaтАЩs most irreplaceable ecological land.
Every young Indian I have spoken to understands this. You know that no amount of profit is worth destroying what can never be recovered.
I stand for ecologically balanced development. These islands can be the most extraordinary sustainable destination the world has ever seen. That is the India worth fighting for.
#GreenOverGreed
#NicobarMatters
#WorldEnvironmentDay
I travelled through Great Nicobar today.
These are the most extraordinary forests I have ever seen in my life. Trees older than memory. Forests that took generations to grow.
The people on this island are equally beautiful - both the adivasi communities and the settlers - but they are being robbed of what is rightfully theirs.
The government calls what it is doing here a тАЬProject.тАЭ What I have seen is not a project. It is millions of trees marked for the axe. It is 160 square kilometres of rainforest condemned to die. It is communities that have been ignored while their homes have been snatched away.
This is not development. This is destruction dressed in developmentтАЩs language.
So I will say it plainly, and I will keep saying it: what is being done in Great Nicobar is one of the biggest scams and gravest crimes against this countryтАЩs natural and tribal heritage in our lifetime.
It must be stopped. And it can be stopped - if Indians choose to see what I have seen.
Dear PM @narendramodi, just wanted to bring to your attention that your government has refused to process my resignation for 6.5 years. No salary and no release.
This has stopped me from professionally moving on.
And has also prevented me from contesting elections in Kerala.
This is pure harassment and nothing else.
I've chosen not to raise my personal issue as I am very well aware the kind of hardships millions are going through under your governance.
But blocking my right to resign and take part in the democratic process is pathetic and petty, whatever my political position is.
Stop this pettiness and direct your lethargic government to process my resignation immediately.
Roads kill
Bridges kill
Fires kill
Water kills
Pollution kills
Corruption kills
Indifference kills
IndiaтАЩs urban collapse isnтАЩt about lack of money, technology, or solutions.
ItтАЩs about lack of accountability.
TINA : There Is No Accountability.