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Development-induced displacement and resettlement (DIDR) has been a topic of discussion since times immemorial. The Mahabharata registers grave environmental concerns which portend mass destruction due to rampant human intervention and over-exploitation of the earth. The epic, a palimpsest of the times, repeatedly informs, advises, and cautions us against our utilitarian, abusive, and anthropocentric way of life. When the Khandava Vana was burnt by Arjuna to clear land for resettlement, thousands of animals met with a brutal end while trying to escape the blaze. All the denizens of the forest—the snakes, the elephants, the lions, the deer, the birds, and the tribal communities—were mercilessly dispatched to the other world. The Adi Parva describes how the hunger of Agnideva was satiated by the “nectar-like stream of animal fat.” This conflict between the settled communities trying to extend their boundaries at the cost of the lives of the aborigines is a recurring theme in the saga of the so-called development. This study seeks to analyze the displacement of communities by juxtaposing the politics of development in the alibi of Dharma to find common vistas that have remained unaltered for centuries. The multiple layers that form the epic embed messages that are figurative and deeply metaphorical. This paper utilizes the narrative research methods and the postmodern theory of deconstruction to examine selected accounts of displacement from The Mahabharata, to decipher the real meaning of development apropos this ancient narrative. |
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