In defence of peoples’ right to land, livelihood and natural resources

More than 3000 adivasis, dalits, and people of other communities gathered in Muniguda town at the foothills of the Niyamgiri Mountains in Orissa on October 5, 2009, blocking the highway for several hours. Despite the heavy presence of police and goons of the Vedanta mining company, they militantly raised slogans, asserting what they have been doing for the last 5 years and more: ‘We will not let Niyamgiri – our lifeline and sacred mountain – be mined, come what may!’

This was just one of the many demonstrations of the people’s determination to resist the setting up of the Vedanta company’s refinery at Lanjigarh and its bauxite mining plant in Niyamgiri. The inhabitants of the Niyamgiri region are opposing the forcible acquisition of their land and resources by the Vedanta Alumina Ltd., with the full complicity of the state government, and are fighting to reclaim their land. On  January 27, 2009, over 10,000 men, women, and children formed a 17-kilometre-long human chain around the Niyamgiri Mountains, holding placards that said: Niyamgiri is Dongria (local adivasi community) land! Vedanta cannot come here without our permission. We say NO!

The Niyamgiri mountains and foothills are inhabited by the Dongria Kandhs, other Kandh tribal communities and dalit communities, who have traditionally owned and obtained their livelihood from the land, forests and water resources there. Today their livelihood and traditional way of life are being threatened by the Vedanta mining company, which is seeking to rake in enormous profits by setting up its aluminium mining plant in that region. It may be noted that the Vedanta Alumina Ltd. has the dubious reputation of unleashing intense exploitation, human rights abuse and environmental havoc wherever it operates!

The Niyamgiri mountains, with their dense forests and hundreds of perennial streams, are a source of rich biodiversity. It has been declared by the government as an area under the Fifth Schedule, which means that the ecology there should not be tampered with in any way. Despite this, permission has been granted to the Vedanta company to carry out aluminium mining there, which is known to be highly destructive for the environment. 

The state government of Orissa, headed by Naveen Patnaik has, over the past few years,  been signing MoUs with various mining and metal companies, selling out the land, forests and rich natural resources of the region for a song, to these big monopolies. In the case of the Vedanta project in Niyamgiri, the rules and norms set by the state government and the Ministry of Environment and Forests have been blatantly flouted, to give all the required clearances to the company. The pollution control board has turned a blind eye to the untold environmental and health hazards that the refinery has already caused. Thousands of trees have been cut down for building roads and huge amounts of toxic effluents are being regularly discharged into the Vamsadhara river. The Vedanta company’s vehicles have been recklessly driving around in the area and several local inhabitants have been crushed under their wheels. Hundreds of goons hired by the company have been terrorising the inhabitants in and around Lanjigarh, while a huge police force has been deployed to quell any form of dissent.

The state government has been brutally cracking down on the protestors and spreading a reign of terror in the area, even branding various voices of dissent as ‘maoists’ in an attempt to justify the repression.

A public meeting in support of the struggle in Niyamgiri was held on October 10, at the Hindi Bhavan in New Delhi. The meeting was jointly organisd by Lok Raj Sangathan, Kashipur Solidarity Group, AIPWA, CPI(ML) Liberation, PSU, Peoples' Political Front, MKSS, NAPM, NFFPFW, Delhi Platform, Kalpavriksh, AISF, AISA, The Other Media, Delhi Forum, Kriti, PUCL, Intercultural Resources, PUDR, Harit Swaraj Abhiyan, Lokayan, Pratidhwani, Alliance of Academics,Artists & Activists (JNU), and other groups and individuals, under the banner of ‘Niyamgiri Solidarity Group’.

Speakers at the meeting poignantly described the tragic situation confronting the inhabitants of Niyamgiri and vigorously denounced the brutal attack on their lives and livelihood, the devastation of the environment as well as the gross human rights violation, all in the name of ‘development’. They pointed out how the government was more concerned about ensuring the super profits of the big monopoly capitalists such as Vedanta, than the livelihood and future of the people of Niyamgiri. They demanded immediate scrapping of the MoU signed by the state government with the Vedanta company for the mining and refinery projects, immediate shut down of the refinery at Lanjigarh and compensation to the suffering people, revocation of all clearances given to Vedanta for mining in the region and cessation of all ongoing clearance processes, removal of all forest diversions made to facilitate the mining work, declaration of Niyamgiri as a permanent ‘no mining’ zone, cancellation of all legal/criminal charges against people of the area for voicing their dissent as well as protection for the traditional livelihood and way of life of the tribals and other communities living there.

The meeting was chaired by Prof. Manoranjan Mohanty and Ranjana Padhi. Speakers included Prafulla Samantara, Giridhari Patra, Prof. Manoranjan Mohanty, Sayantoni Dutta, Mamata Dash, K.B.Saxena and noted writer Arundhati Roy. Intervening in the discussion that followed, Birju Nayak of Lok Raj Sangathan raised the important issue of struggle for political power in the hands of the people, in order to ensure people’s control over their land, resources and livelihood. A resolution in support of the struggle of the people of Niyamgiri was read out. Songs of resistance of the tribal people, presented by the Pratidhwani cultural group had the audience deeply moved.