That photo gives me goosebumps everytime I see it.
What is that man holding. Is that a shopping bag? Was he on his way back from the grocery store? Maybe there's dried fish and a daikon in it. Or may be he's heading back from work and there's some files from his job with the animal husbandry wing of the agriculture department. A regular guy.

And then he snapped.

striking a positive note for corporate accountability towards the environment, some local CEO's banded together to pressure the government to sign Kyoto.

Dear Prime Minister: As corporate leaders representing a broad cross-section of the Canadian economy, we believe that all governments, corporations, consumers and citizens have responsibilities under the Kyoto Protocol and that the world must act urgently to stabilise the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and minimise the global impacts of climate change.

Dhaavak, dude, that was a great comment. You should have kept that for Friday's 55-flash :)

For all you know, urban people in China might actually support the Govt on this, given that most urban people are usually pro-development and tend to see rural protests as pesky irrelevant obstacles. I admit to being guilty of this sometimes in the Indian context (pro-Narmada dam in the interests of greater good of the country).

(pro-Narmada dam in the interests of greater good of the country

I think technophobic has just helped me understand my intuitive sense of when state vs. federal works.

The feds should have say over things like civil rights and human rights. No segregated schools or rape-victim-punishing tribal councils.

The locals should have say over geography and physical infrastructure, and especially environmental concerns. No urban cities selfishly destroying river valleys. Send the water back to Hetch-hetchy!! Save Mono Lake!

:-D

A quote on environmental protests in China:
"The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has watched the "color revolutions" in Georgia (rose), the Ukraine (orange), Azerbaijan (rose/orange), and elsewhere with great trepidation. But if such an event were to happen here it is unlikely to come in the warm hues favored in the former Soviet bloc, and it would certainly not be red like the revolution of 50 years ago. No, the revolution the CCP is increasingly worried about is green.

from tpmcafe, courtesy of the Lurking Mutineers at Snarkmarket.

Manish is a right wing fundoo. Soudi Arabia is the best place to live on earth for people from all races and religions. :)
BTW here is another interesting story which highlights another US ally's fight against terror.
http://ia.rediff.com/news/2005/dec/14pak1.htm

Anti-development protest in India a few years ago: nobody killed, lots of celebrity distractivism all over TV.

This isn't entirely true, especially b/c when the dam is built it will either flood out entire peasant farming villages, or it will force them to relocate to areas where they'll probably die from starvation because their land isn't arable. [Link]
Just b/c people aren't being killed at the protest doesn't mean they're not losing out otherwise.

What is that man holding. Is that a shopping bag?

He was holding two bags. Indeed, maybe they were just his shopping. For me, it's one of the twentieth century's most iconic and powerful images. Watching the short video almost moves me to tears. Maybe it's my over-zealous student activist ideals (as the protest was student-led) or maybe it's the knowledge that the unknown man was arrested by the Public Security Bureau immediately and was probably murdered soon after or maybe I'm just a big girl. Irrespective, I can't begin to imagine the bravery that took.

Read more about the tank man here.

Is anyone aware of the alternatives provided by NBA (Narmada bachao andonal) activists?

Because people in cities and remote villages do need water to survive and thus need good irrigation systems.

Uh, does narmada mean something other than "male-female" in Hindi or whichever language the name comes from?

Does 'narmada' mean something other than 'male-female' in whichever language the name comes from?

...In persian it's the name given to hijras and other transgenders.

...In persian it's the name given to hijras and other transgenders.

I think you might be confusing "Narmada" to "Namard" or Na-Mard as in hijra.

The name 'Narmada' actually has Hindu mythological roots, and is a holy site for Shiva devotees. I think it means delightful whore or something vaguely like that, used as a term of endearment by Shiva. Read about it in Gita Mehta's A River Sutra. Great novel.
The reason a lot of developed countries don't build dams now are stagnation and backflooding problems. Hence they dump all tehir obsolete technnology and ideas on the developing countries. Canal systems for irrigation are much better ways to divert water. There's a documentary on how Indian villagers survived without dams before the British through indigenous methods of cultivation. South Africa, i believe, uses that system of threads tied on their crops so the water from the scanty rain drips on them, not wasting it. Sometimes I really feel that indigenous methods of preserving land are best. Western civilization holdss a sujective idea of development.
We dont have to follow their path. History has amply shown us the mistakes they've made. We need to innovate and not wait for them to tell us what to do. Basically have the balls to stand up and say no.

Aranyi,

obviously, what you said is your opinion, speculation or small scale success stories. I was more interested in hard data. Morever, your claims that we should oppose it because it is from the "west" is not the right approach.

As far as I know, the reasons you ahve given are not of major concern in the NBA movement anyway - it is more of a people's movement.

I would also like to see a study/data done on a big industrial/residential/agricultural area where people have used alternative-to-dam methods - and are still growing.

Terence Chang wrote a novel based on this picture about this unknown man: Sons of Heaven, with website of the same name.