When the Chhattisgarh Assembly recently passed a unanimous resolution urging the Union government to cancel all coal blocks in Hasdeo Aranya forest area, it marked a great victory for a movement that has captured global attention. The movement didn바카라t have any celebrity or famous name attÂached to it. It was led by little-known Adivasis, who had little idea about their rights in the beginning, but could soon articulate the finer details of Schedule V. Without any extÂernal financial support, it was run solely on collections generated by villagers and defeated the collective atteÂmpts, to begin mining in the area, by two state governmÂents, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, the Centre, as well as a big corporate group.
The movement began a decade ago against mining in the Hasdeo zone that has five coal blocks바카라Parsa, Parsa East Kete Basan (PEKB), PEKB Extension, Gidhmuri PatuÂria, Madanpur South and Chotia. The zone is spread over 1,878 sq km in Korba, Surguja and Surajpur disÂtricts of Chhattisgarh.
바카라I was a student when mining began here. PEKB had been allotted to Rajasthan Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Limited, and Adani Group was the mine developer and operator. I thought that it would give us employment. But it wasn바카라t to be,바카라 says 34-year-old Ramlal Kariyam, resident of Salhi village in Surguja. At the same time, forests were beiÂng cleared, diminishing elephant habitats. 바카라Where would the animals go? So we decÂiÂded to save the forest and grazing lands. We went to each village and alerted them about the issue,바카라 he says.
Instead of making Adivasi displacement their sole issue, they focused on many others like environment & wildlife, to underline how mining affected the whole state.
As villagers protested the mining and resisted the acquisition of their land, actÂiÂvists of other parts of Chhattisgarh also joined in, leading to the formation of Hasdeo Aranya Sangharsh Samiti in 2014. It now has a Convenor바카라s ColleÂcÂtÂive comprising some 15 key members, with several hundred residents of the 30-35 villages in Hasdeo area as members. 바카라We have no external funding. We collect funds from villagers. We are mostly paddy farmers,바카라 says Kariyam. Ninety percent of the protesting Adivasis belong to the Gond community.
Significantly, the Samiti didn바카라t make the displacement of Adivasis of these villages the sole issue. They brought in a range of issues including environment, wildlife, and underlined how mining would affect the entire state. TraÂnsforming itself into a comprehensive civil rights movement, the Samiti empowered Gram Sabhas, which passed resolutions under Schedule V to save their land.
바카라Earlier, Adivasis were not aware of their constitutioÂnal rights. We made them aware of their rights. Though there were several mines in the area, it becÂame clear that it had to be a common movement for Hasdeo,바카라 says Samiti바카라s member Alok Shukla, a Raipur-based activist. The movement gradually moved out of the forest and spread across the state as a large numÂber of students and professionals took to the streets against mining. The issue was raised at international forums. 바카라It is no longer a movement against a mine. It is an environmental issue, as well as an Adivasi one,바카라 says Shukla.
The biggest contribution of this movement is towards the organic emergence of a vibrant civil society in Chhattisgarh, led by Adivasis.
(This appeared in the print edition as "Gondwana Rebellion")
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