Set back for
mining company,
Niyamgiri
tribals wait and
hope as Supreme
Court hearing
delayed
The four year
legal battle to
save the
Niyamgiri hills
from mining by
Sterlite
Industries, the
Indian arm of
controversial
FTSE 100 Company
Vedanta
Resources,
received a boost
today as the
Supreme Court of
India announced
that the hearing
will be delayed
until 18 July.
Niyamgiri is
sacred to Kondh
indigenous
groups of
Kalahandi and
Rayagada
districts of
Orissa which
depend on its
fertile forest
and rivers for
their food,
water and
livelihoods in
an otherwise
drought prone
region.
Perennial
streams would
dry up if the
company is
permitted to
mine bauxite
from the hills
for aluminum
production.
Jitu Jakesika
(19 years), a
member of the
Dongria Kondh
community who’s
village is close
to the proposed
mining site in
Niyamgiri said:
“I feel happy.
Maybe this means
our concerns are
being heard.”
“We will not
leave Niyamgiri
– our people are
deeply connected
with the
mountain, like a
fish cannot live
without water.
It is the source
of our food,
medicinal plants
and home to our
god Niyam Raja.
“We cannot allow
the company to
mine our land,
our sacred
place. We will
die before we
leave Niyamgiri.”
Calls for
intervention
This week in
Bhubeneshwar,
Jitu and another
Dongria Kondh
representative
met with youth
Congress leader
Rahul Gandhi and
presented a
memorandum
raising the
community’s
concerns.
A
petition backed
by advocates,
activists and
actors including
India’s Shabana
Azmi, Oscar
award-winner
Emma Thompson
and Nollywood
(Nigerian film
industry) actor
Hilda Dokubo has
been sent to the
Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh
and Congress
president Sonia
Gandhi
requesting their
intervention.
“If mining is
permitted in
Niyamgiri, two
of India’s
strongest
Constitutional
guarantees will
be overturned: a
primitive tribal
group’s right to
their
territorial
integrity and to
decide their
path of
development; and
the right to
religious
practices and
beliefs,”
says the
petition letter.
Eminent
signatories
include: Supreme
Court advocate
Prashant Bhushan,
Magsaysay
award-winner
Arvind Kejriwal,
academician and
South Asia
expert Kamal
Mitra Chenoy,
tribal rights
activist Dr
Pradeep Prabhu,
noted Hindi poet
Ibbar Rabbi, JNU
professor Arun
Kumar and Gautam
Navlakha of the
Indo–Nepal
Friendship
Forum.
Organisations of
Indigenous
people from
across the
country,
including the
Indian Adivasi
Alliance and the
Niyamgiri
Surakshya Samiti,
are also backing
the petition.
Time to
reconsider
Bratindi Jena of
ActionAid which
has helped
mobilize support
for the campaign
by local people
to save their
mountain says:
“The decision to
allow mining in
Niyamgiri would
result in the
sale of precious
mineral wealth
at far below
market prices
and at the cost
of clean water
and pristine
forest in an
otherwise
drought-hit
district. Not to
mention the
irreplaceable
loss of the
culture, land,
food and
livelihoods of
the people who
live here.
“Let’s hope
today’s Supreme
Court delay
gives space to
reconsider such
rapacious
plunder of our
natural
resources.”
May 08
