Evian (France), June 2 (IANS) The power of the masses is pitted against the
might of the rich as tens of thousands swamp the streets in Switzerland and
France in unprecedented protests against the powerful G-8 and all that it
has to offer.

In the process, many angry young men and women drawn from all over Europe
have found a new icon: celebrated Indian writer Arundhati Roy - or so it
seems.

For about three days now, Switzerland's border town of Lausanne and Geneva,
around 60 km away, has been virtually run over by angry people who feel the
industrialised West that controls the G-8 is to blame for much of the
world's worsening economic plight.

Protests have also taken place in this scenic and otherwise quiet Alpine
resort at the edge of Lake Geneva, which divides it from Switzerland. And it
is clear from comments on the street that anger against G-8, and in
particular against big brother U.S., runs very deep.

After an estimated 100,000 people besieged Geneva Sunday, as leaders of the
G-8 and about a dozen Third World countries made their way to France, there
was no doubting that globalisation had become a bad word.

"There have never been such big protests in Geneva," Stephane Bussard, a
journalist with the Swiss newspaper Le Temps told IANS. "It was massive, it
was quite an important turnout."

Remarked Jacques Nikonoff, president of the anti-globalisation group Attack:
"The G-8 is illegitimate and its policies are harmful to the people of the
planet. We have to get rid of it."

This is where Arundhati Roy, author of the award winning "God of Small
Things", comes in.

Arundhati, who lives in New Delhi and is a writer who passionately campaigns
against big dams, nuclear weapons and corporate globalisation, is a must
read for many protestors.

Her writings and comments figure prominently in websites sought out by
anti-G-8 campaigners. Her writings are ammunition that provides oxygen to
those who battle what they say is militaristic, neo-liberal capitalism.

The angry marchers in Geneva, Lausanne and Evian have proved what ordinary
people can do if they join hands - a theme that runs through almost all of
Arundhati's writings.

On Sunday, much of Lausanne, on the shore of Lake Geneva, turned into a
ghost town. Police fired rubber bullets and tear gas as some 200 of the
nearly 1,000 protestors tore down street signs, looted stores and pulled
down phone booths in a display of anger bordering on anarchy.

Construction sites were pillaged for ammunition to set up barricades.
Bonfires were lit on streets. For people here who do not know what
lawlessness is, it was a shock.

"What we saw was genuine people's anger," explained Polly Jones of "Jubilee
Debt Campaign", a writer-cum-activist from London who was part of Saturday's
show of strength in Geneva.

Fearing an invasion, armoured personnel carriers and military helicopters
were called out at the Geneva airport. Fighter jets patrolled the skies,
while Israeli-built naval speedboats cruised Lake Geneva. Here in Evian,
roving teams of French gendarmes in dark glasses patrolled the streets.

Parts of Lausanne, where delegations attending the G-8 summit and related
meetings are staying, look like concentration camps, with the authorities
sealing off VVIP zones using concertina wire. The situation has forced
Switzerland to deploy some 6,000 troops - the biggest military deployment
since World War II. Many soldiers could be seen flaunting their weapons.

Panicky shopkeepers simply shuttered their establishments, closing down, in
some cases, entire neighbourhoods catering to tourists.

Said a young man here who gave his name only as Alex: "The people are angry,
genuinely angry. People are angry with G-8, and with (U.S. President George
W.) Bush. There is no doubt about that."

--Indo-Asian News Service