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How Dongria Kondh Women Exercised Their Democratic Rights
Sarada Lahangir
Niyamraja is
like a parent to us; he is God. The hill has given us food,
water, shelter and livelihood and we can die for it. We are neither
urban people nor educated like you all, but to save our Niyamraja we
can sacrifice our life." This was the clear message that the women
and men of the Dongria Kond tribe gave to the world during the course
of the 12 gram sabha (village council) meetings that were held in July
and August 2013 in Rayagada and Kalahandi districts, located in the
shadow of the verdant and abundant Niyamgiri hills in Odisha. By
fearlessly exercising their democratic rights and freely participating
in the gram sabha meetings, the Dongria women gave a big thumbs–down to
the controversial Niyamgiri bauxite mining project mooted by Vedanta, a
multinational corporation that wanted to mine bauxite ore in 660
hectares of the Niyamgiri hills to keep its alumina refinery at Lanjigarh
in Kalahandi going. "We worship Niyamraja. The sacred hills
are owned by Niyamraja. It is the hill that provides us with fresh
water, air and food. How can we allow anybody to destroy it?" says
Chanchala Harijan, 50, a former Nayeb Sarpanch of Phuldumer village in
Kalahandi. It is among the five villages in the district where this
first–ever environmental referendum was conducted on the directive of
the Supreme Court. She goes on to emphasise, "This is not only a
fight for our livelihood but a fight for our dignity, our divinity and
our existence.”
In Kunakadu,
another tribal hamlet in Kalahandi where the vote was held, when Kunji
Sikoka, 50, started swinging an axe to express her anger, everybody in
the gram sabha was taken aback. "I told them, ’You may have money,
power and guns but I have my axe and I will kill with it if anybody
eyes our hill’. I am ready to sacrifice my life but I will not allow
anybody to ravage this holly hill," she says.
Judging from
these vociferous reactions, it is quite clear that Dongrias, especially
its women, are not to be brushed aside as unsuspecting, illiterate
tribals who can be persuaded to give up their entitlements. A major
sect of the Kondh, a primitive tribe, they mostly stay in high hills
known as Dongars, and call themselves the descendents of Niyamraja (The
King of Law), the presiding deity of the Niyamgiri hills. Protecting
the environment is their calling and they see themselves as the
guardians of the hundreds of perennial streams that flow from these
hills. Dongria Kondhs have an estimated population of about
10,000 and they live in over 120 settlements around the cool Niyamgiri
range, which receives 80 per cent of the total rainfall during the
monsoon. The forests here are not just rich in fruit–bearing trees such
as jackfruit, tamarind, blackberry, mango and many citrus varieties,
but are also known for valuable timber like Sal, Biza, Sisu, Asana and
Haladu. Besides this, the hills have large deposits of bauxite ore and
other minerals.
For
sustenance, the Dongria Kondhs are primarily dependent on this natural
habitat. "We mostly live in isolation and the hill is our only
means of survival," stresses Sitari Majhi, a tribal woman from
Lakhpadar village." Majhi’s family has been living here for
generations and they grow millets, peas and beans to feed
themselves. The problem in the Niyamgiri hills began in 2003 when
Sterlite (now Vedanta), a British multinational, signed an agreement
with the state government to extract 70 million tonnes of bauxite from the
mountain range. As a first step they built a refinery in Lanjigarh
village, which led to the displacement of 103 families there. Today,
red mud swamps seen in this area are an indication of the devastation
that was wrought in the name of development. Large pipes from the
processing unit discharge dirty water mixed with clay and other
pollutants into the ground, even as bulldozers and earth diggers
continue carving even more space to contain the ever–increasing waste.
As expected, the water resources in the vicinity have now dried up and
the land has been poisoned by toxins. The Dongrias have witnessed
this rapid destruction near Lanjigarh and have, therefore, opposed the
proposed mining in Niyamgiri from the beginning. In August 2010, they
had registered a small victory when the Indian government found Vedanta
guilty of ’total contempt’ for the rights of the tribals, and denied
them permission to mine in Niyamgiri. On April 18, 2013, the Supreme
Court, in a landmark judgment, directed the forest–dwellers of Niyamgiri
ranges to take a final call on whether bauxite mining would indeed
infringe on their religious and cultural rights.
While the
court’s order clearly stated that all the 112 affected villages should
be consulted, the Odisha government strategically chose 12 to hold the
gram sabhas. Of these, seven were in Rayagada and the remaining five in
Kalahandi, home to the Dangaria, Jharania and Kutia Kandha tribes. In
the first gram sabha that was held in Serkapalli village in Rayagada,
media reports quoted District Judge Sarat Chandra Mishra, the appointed
supervisor in the district, saying that all the 36 members present,
including 16 women, opposed the mining. And the trend continued in all
the meetings.
The state
administration had been under the impression that they would be able to
manipulate the verdict in their favour. But thanks to the efforts of
women like Parbati Gouda, 49, of Ijurupa village, who came out in large
numbers to participate in the gram sabha meetings, the tribals were
able to assert their democratic rights. The total number of voters
registered in the 12 selected villages is 518, and 404 participated in
proceedings. Of these, 234 were women and 169, men.
An emotional
Gouda recalls the gram sabha that was held in Ijurupa in end–July,
"I told the government officials and the district magistrate
present quite clearly: ’Where will we go if the hills are mined? And
even though you may shift us to a city to make way for the mines, where
will our wild leopards and bears go?’" Her five–member family –
including two sons, two daughters and a husband – survive on the bounty
of Niyamgiri. Last year, she sold Rs 20,000 worth of cauliflowers grown
in her vegetable garden in the foothills. Gouda hopes to send her sons
for higher education but if the family was displaced due to the mining
project all their dreams would have been shattered.
It is the
Dongria women who bear the major burden of keeping the family and the
community going. They work in the fields, do household chores, take
care of the children and, when required, find the time to get together
to raise their voice for what they believe in. Earlier they had
successfully tackled issues like displacement, corruption and
alcoholism in their region. A threat to the Niyamgiri hills hit close
to their belief system and way of life, has once again brought their
remarkable fighting spirit to the fore.
According to
Lado Sikoka, President, Niyamgiri Surakshya Samiti (NSS), a tribal body
opposing mining, "Our women are our strength and this time they
stepped out to quash Vedanta’s plans. They know that for our Kondh
tribe, the Niyamgiri is much more than a mountain; it is a living God,
a life source, thriving ecosystem. We do not even cultivate on the
hilltop as a sign of respect for the spirit within the mountain so
mining is out of the question."
Concludes
Bhalchandra Sarangi, advisor to the NSS, "These tribal women have
been standing shoulder to shoulder with their men to protect Niyamgiri.
The unanimous voting by the Dongarias, the overwhelming number being women,
could have been the only logical end to their protest. It’s a victory
of democratic rights over the interests of the powerful." (WFS)
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