What happens now? The people from Naqueri-Betul stopped defence officials from conducting a survey of the area for the defence exposition which is to be held in the last week of March. This grassroot-level action puts the State government and Union Defence Ministry in a fix and right now a question mark hangs over the exposition, which if not held as scheduled, would deeply embarrass the Central government and the minister. Attempts to talk the people into allowing the survey to continue failed and now it seems that every effort by the State and the Center will be met with a blockade. The exposition, is not such a bad idea per se as it would result in upgradation of existing roads and draw a large number of visitors at a time when the season starts to peter out. However, it is the secretive manner in which the Centre and State governments went about the task of organizing it that made people suspicious. Although the Centre and Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar have assured the people that land would not be transferred to Defence Ministry, there is no document to back this assertion. Given the mood of the people, the only way forward is by infusing a large dose of transparency and clarity into the event.
