Good news for the sacred mountain Niyamgiri and the Dongria Kondh tribe

Friends, some time during  the last month you sent an email from www.niyamgiri.net to Indian officials to support the Dongria Kondh tribals in their struggle to protect their sacred mountain Niyamgiri from giant UK mining company Vedanta Resources.

Your email was addressed to Jairam Ramesh, India’s environment minister and a few weeks ago he initiated a high level committee to investigate the issue.

Two days ago, on August 16,  that committee tabled their report which unequivocally condemns the proposed mining project. The same day, in an article headlined “Vedanta’s Indian mining project under threat” reported that “environment minister Jairam Ramesh said to-day that another panel would meet on Friday to study the inquiry report before his department takes a final decision on Vedanta’s mining.”

The report  documents  numerous instances of  negligence – to the point of criminality – on the part of  local  government officials and the state government itself and highlights egregious violations of existing legislation to protect Indigenous Peoples rights.  Not least, it roundly condemns the maneuvers and activities of UK-listed Vedanta company. More on this in the  Time of India article.

With the Indian Prime Minister’s Office siding with the mining company and their 1.7 billion dollar project, we may expect huge pressure to be brought to bear on the environment minister to ignore his committee’s recommendations .

PLEASE REVISIT WWW.NIYAMGIRI.NET AND SEND ANOTHER EMAIL BEFORE FRIDAY.

A backlash has already begun  against the Dongrias. In recent days a tribal leader fighting against Vedanta has been murdered and   two others abducted and tortured by Orissa police.  It is important for the Dongrias safety and wellbeing that Orissa government officials (who are cc’d on the email) know that the world is watching. So, as well as requesting that the environment minister stand firm and implement the report’s recommendations, your email insists that the Dongria be protected and not made scapegoats in this matter.

Please forward this to friends who may be sympathetic and ask them to go to www.niyamgiri.net and take a minute or two to participate in this action.

On Facebook, please  help get the word out by posting  www.niyamgiri.net to your wall, and by joining this page to  receive updates about the issue.

Finally, the volunteers who are working on this cyber action could use a few hours pro bono assistance from someone with programming skills, please reply to this email to find out more,

For the Earth

John Seed

www.johnseed.net

Rainforest Information Centre

www.rainforestinfo.org.au

Vedanta mines illegal, must be shut down: Green panel

NEW DELHI: Mining giant Vedanta consistently violated several laws in bauxite mining at Niyamgiri, encroached upon government land, got clearances on the basis of false information and illegally built its aluminium refinery at Lanjigarh, Orissa. As the company engaged in these violations, the Orissa government colluded with it and the Centre turned a blind eye.

These are some of the findings of the four-member N C Saxena committee, which on Monday recommended that the company not be allowed to mine in the hills that are the abode of the Dongaria Kondh and Kutia Kondh tribes in Orissa.

The no-holds-barred indictment of the state and private sector in the $1.7billion project brings out the short shrift given to concerns about tribal rights and environmental protection. It is significant also because it underlines the changed sensibilities of the government towards the issues against the backdrop of Left-wing extremism and why Naxalites are finding it easy to influence alienated tribal belts.

The stern report of the environment and forests ministry panel signalled that tribal rights and environmental isssues have finally muscled their way onto the governance agenda, forcing the authorities to take action against corporates who may have shown disregard for rules. The Saxena committee report, which could lead to shutting down of the Vedanta smelters in Orissa, comes after the MoEF moved to stop or stall several high-profile, heavy-investment projects, including the Posco Integrated Steel project in Orissa, which, at Rs 56,000 crore is the single-largest foreign direct investment in India, the Jindal thermal power plant inChhattisgarh (Rs 10,000 crore), hydroelectric projects on Bhagirathi in Uttarakhand and the Navi Mumbai airport in Maharashtra (Rs 7,972 crore).

The panel was set up by the ministry of environment and forests to investigate if the state government and the aluminium giant had complied with the Forest Rights Act and Forest Conservation Act while mining for bauxite.

The report reveals exhaustive evidence to nail the complicity of the state government in permitting Vedanta to flagrantly violate the laws.

But the committee, even as it recommended that the mining project be disallowed, stopped short of asking for prosecution of the officials involved in what seems to be a blatant fraud that went unchecked for years.

“The question of whom to prosecute is secondary. First, we have to consider the clearance,” said Union minister for enviroment and forests Jairam Ramesh. Asked if the violations could be set right now, the minister said, “Without prejudice to the existing case, it would be a tragedy that one violates laws and still has a window of opportunity to just pay a penalty and get away with it later.”

The report will now be reviewed by the statutory Forest Advisory Committee, which will then give its recommendations to the ministry to take a final call on the forest clearance.

The report says, “This committee is of the firm view that allowing mining in the proposed mining lease area by depriving two primitive tribal groups of their rights over the proposed mining area in order to benefit a private company would shake the faith of tribal people in the laws of the land which may have serious consequences for the security and well-being of the entire country.”

The report records how the state government falsified documents and concealed information from the central government to facilitate the aluminium refinery in mining bauxite while the company encroached upon government and tribal lands with impunity.

The aluminium czar Anil Aggarwal’s company has illegally — despite legal notices from the Orissa State Pollution Control Board — begun building a refinery to produce 6 million tonnes of aluminium per annum instead of the 1 million tonnes per annum plant that it had got the green clearance for.

The committee — that included S Parasuraman, director of Tata Institute of Social Sciences; Promode Kant, retired forest official; and Amita Baviskar, professor at the Institute of Economic Growth — pointed out how right from the beginning, the firm had furnished falsified reports to the Centre to seek clearance, and how the state officials ranging from the highest bureaucrats to the collectors of two districts either refused to enforce existing laws or simply colluded with the company to deny the tribals right over their lands.

Read more: Vedanta mines illegal, must be shut down: Green panel – India Business – Business – The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Vedanta-mines-illegal-must-be-shut-down-Green-panel/articleshow/6321872.cms#ixzz0wqX5RgK2

URGENT: DONGRIA KONDH LEADER LADO SIKAKA ARRESTED

Last evening Lado Sikaka and Sana Sikaka were returning from Lanjigarh when a police team attacked and arrested them near Ijrupa village in the Niyamgiri forest. It seems Lado and Sana have been taken to an undisclosed location as they are neither in the Lanjigarh P.S. or Muniguda P.S. which are the nearest Police Stations. A third person who was also accompanying Lado and Sana was not arrested. Lado is one of the strongest Dongria Kondh protestors against Vedanta and he hails from Lakhpadar village that is closest to the mining lease area. A month ago 2 platoons of para-military had carried out a combing operation in Lakhpadar village and had beaten up Sana but were essentially looking for Lado who was not present in the village then. The general fear amongst the people there is that he will be framed as a Maoist and tortured. Also, taking Lado out of Niyamgiri means to deliver a severe blow on the anti-mining movement of the Dongria Kondh. Sources say the next person being targeted is Arjun Chandi of Kadamguda village. Essentially the police and company are targetting local leaders who are uncompromising and incorruptible. My sincere appeal to everyone to stand with the Dongria Kondh as the darkest period in their struggle has arrived.

This is an older video of Lado speaking about Niyamgiri

Update from the ground in Orissa

The situation in Orissa is gradually worsening in every area where people have put up brave resistances against forcible land acquisition and mindless mining and industrialization at the cost of life and livelihoods of millions of people. It is very difficult to say if these movements can withstand the disaster which looks so imminent now for the following reasons.

1. Death of the political opposition to the ruling regimes as there exists an undeclared consensus on the approach to finance capital all over bringing tremendous financial benefits to individual political leaders and the ruling elites.

2. Political parties such as the CPI and CPI ( M) having pro-people images, have openly aligned with atrocious regimes such the Biju Janata Dal in one or the other pretext ( Price rise or communalism ) therefore reducing their ocasional opposition to certain incidents involving state power a big farce.

3.The media very openly, shamelessly and sometimes astutely takes the side that suits the smooth march of global financial capital as a result in a media dependent democracy the common people don’t get the opportunity to know the terrible tragedies happening in the name of installing mega projects. Thus it becomes extremely difficult even on the part of commited and right thinking political and socila forces to build up public opinion against such state sponsored/supported brutalities.

4. Every single cultural or literary event in the state capital or district headquarters is sponsored by the mega industrial houses-thus the so called elites/intellectuals are conveniently coopted by the corporations. The critical support that any people’s movement requires has not been allowed to grow barring a few individual dissenters.

5. The smaller political groups who are progressive, pro-people and sensitive to most of the issues affecting the ordinary mortals are yet to realize the historic necessity of coming together even at a time when the fear of extinction has almost knocked at their respective doors.

5. All these together have created an atmosphere of helplessness and hopelessness in the state.

Please see latest news from the ground.

Kalinga Nagar: Jajpur SP & DM turn priest for Tata’s ‘bhumi puja’

In Kalinga Nagar we are getting to see the real shape of the beast i.e. the corporatized police state. While Orissa High Court mulls over two PILs filed against the Police for the attrocities we have witnessed in the last few months, the Jajpur SP & DM turned priest for Tata’s ‘Bhumi Puja’ yesterday. Yesterday morning about 10 platoons of armed police forces arrived near Ambagadia village along with the SP, DM, ADM & several other officers. Under their cover a handful of pro-Tata people conducted the ‘bhumi puja’ and officially resumed the construction work that had stopped after the 2nd Jan 2006 massacre. Interestingly not a single Tata employee was present in the area and maybe they thought there was no need for it with the DM & SP being the most loyal servants of Tata. The farcical construction work was just a JCB earth moving vehicle supposedly doing some ground leveling work. This work was being done on land belonging to people opposing displacement and those who have not accepted the R&R package. A crowd of women stood in front of the JCB machine and protested till all Tata’s men including SP & DM left. Today they returned again and did the same thing. The only difference being that first the pro-Tata tribals were brought in a bus from the displacement colony and on facing stiff opposition they called for the police. Since the police is already being watched by the High Court for attrocities they are creating a situation where pro and anti Tata groups first clash within themselves. Their strategy worked and under police protection the JCB machine was used. This news appeared in most newspapers but was presented in a very clever & distorted way that ‘tribals did bhumi puja for Tata project’. None of these reporters had actually visited the area and its clear from reports in dailies like Anupam Bharat & Aromv that the Puja & the devious idea of pitting tribals vs tribals was hatched not in Tata’s office, but rather, either in Prafulla Ghadei’s or SP-DM’s.

Niyamgiri: Vedanta’s illegal expansions continues, investigators hoodwinked, goondas on the prowl

A certain regional conservator of forest had been to Lanjigarh to verify if Vedanta was carrying out illegal expansion works in forest land. He cut short his visit to one day instead of four (17-21 May) after the Maoists called for a bandh. The day he visited Lanjigarh the expansion works were simply halted and the conservator therefore concluded that no expansion was happening. It seems he has produced a report favoring Vedanta now. With Jairam Ramesh’s position getting shakier than ever the Vedanta camp has already started rejoicing that they will get clearance within a month. To deal with the dissent of the Dongria Kondh tribals they are busy distributing money in whatever Dongria villages they can reach out to. It is being heard that Vedanta is sponsoring some educated Dongira youth to conduct a meeting on 5 June to counter the Mango Festival and Protest Meeting organised by Niyamgiri Suraksha Samiti. Making it easier for Vedanta are some rumour mongers claiming that the Mango Festival is a bogus meeting. Two days ago motorcycle borne goondas stopped Lingaraj Azad of NSS in front of the Lanjigarh refinery and tried to intimidate him. They punctured his motorcycle tyres and gave life threats. Azad repaired the puncture and resumed with his ride towards Rengopali but he had to go through the same intimidation & tyre puncturing two more times. Finally he had to return without being able to visit any of the villages he intended to. Also another team comprising of media persons & political leaders was hounded by Lanjigarh’s resident mafia don Chakra Pesnia who didn’t want villagers to open their mouth in front of this delegation. Chakra Pesnia is the same person who had manhandled activists, journalists and locals in last year’s public hearing to discuss vedanta’s six fold expansion. Sources say Vedanta will be on the offensive for the next few days with active support from Govt. The Forest Dept is planning to demolish the shrine of Niyamraja installed a few months ago atop Niyamgiri.

Dhinkia: After lathi blows the Govt presents R&R package

After the savage and inhuman attack on peaceful protestors at Balitutha on 15 May there has been a series of announcements from the Govt but like Kalinga Nagar no medical aid from the Govt. The CM said Dhinkia will not be acquired, and that survey work will not be carried out without resolving the matter through talks with PPSS. But attempts were made to do the survey under police protection and when people vehemently opposed the survey was stopped. Then yesterday a five member delegation from the PPSS met the District Administration of Jagatsingpur to discuss the matter. During the talks the RDC made a presentation of POSCO’s R&R offers which was declined by the delegation. PPSS has repeatedly maintained its stance that they would not allow the POSCO project in their land. The Govt has refused to consider relocation of the project. The delegation provided adequate evidence that the DM had made fraudulent statements about the status of FRA and that people were indeed in possession of forest land for more than 75 years.

The Niyamgiri Mango Festival 2010

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=114698521894923

Niyamgiri Calling!!

All nature freaks plan your pilgrimage to the sacred hills to cleanse all sins of consuming aluminium cans, tetra-packs, polythene, petroleum, etc…

Let Niyam Raja, the Lord of the Law of Nature purify you!

It is Mango Season. And Jackfruit Season. And Pineapple Season.

First week of June all Fruits Ripen.

Dudka. Kalimuni. Belua. Boda. Lesnia. Dubli. Kachaswadi. Badda. Dongar. Junudi. Kelua. Raja. Baakdi. Kadalipheni. Ladia.

These are some of the indigenous varieties of Mango in Niyamgiri. All of them are endangered by Vedanta’s proposed bauxite mining.

Join the Niyamgiri Mango Festival. By a perennial stream side. Under the thick canopy of a millennia-old forest. Within the thick aroma of ripe mangoes…

Take a bite and take a vow…

To Save Niyamgiri!

Getting there – Its easy by Road and Rail. Nearest Airports are Raipur, Vishakapatnam, Bhubaneswar. Nearest stations are Muniguda and Lanjigarh Road. Nearest bus stops are Lanjigarh and Muniguda.

Staying there – Get your own tents and sleeping bags.

Food – Local delicacies.

Exact location and other details will be posted a week before the event to ensure Vedanta doesn’t play spoilsport.

For further information please call 91-9437500862

Support Bhopal – Protest-Picnic!

Support Bhopal

Dear friend,
Do join us for this event and please circulate this invite amongst your contacts and networks. It would be great if you could also post it on your websites, blogs or other webpages.
Cheers

CELEBRATING DOW FREE ZONE

Date:	Sunday, April 18, 2010
Time:	10:00am – 1:00pm
Location:	Victoria Park, Hackney, London

As you all know, DOW is sponsoring a ‘Live Earth’ run for safe water next Sunday! If there was ever a company less suited for such a thing, it would surely be DOW. They are doing this run to wash their tainted image around the world. And they have come to our city as well! In Victoria Park, Hackney!

Responding to the call made by the Bhopal Gas Disaster victims (See http://www.bhopal.net/) – those who are DOW’s worst hit – and in the true spirit of ‘Live Earth’, we invite you to join us in our vision of a DOW-free zone.

What: We choose to call it a protest-picnic! Come with your friends and family, ideas and musical instruments!! And get some food along! We have planned a lot of exciting things for you! To top it all, Hackney’s favorite graffiti artist Stik has a special surprise for you!

Where: Victoria Park, Hackney, London (http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=victoria+park,+hackney&ie=UTF8&hl=en&hq=Victoria+Park&hnear=Victoria+Park&ll=51.538968,-0.034504&spn=0.028401,0.084543&z=14) (more details soon)

When: 10am-1pm

Note: This event is completely unsponsored by DOW or any other tainted corporation. You can come without any ethical dilemmas involved. You have every possible freedom, including the most urgent of all: the freedom to voice your support for the victims of DOW/Carbide’s many poisons around the world (http://www.thetruthaboutdow.org/section.php?id=27).

You may also like to put this invite on your facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=110682322296818&ref=mf

Saving the world the New Labour way: the Department for International Destruction (DfID)

Where is UK aid really going?

PUBLIC MEETING with Film Showing

Samarendra Das

South Asia Solidarity Group

Kofi Mawuli Klu

London Coalition Against Poverty

Film Excerpts from:

‘Wira Pdika (Earthworm and Company Man)’

Samarendra Das’ film in which people speak about their struggles against Vedanta, which came to displace them from their lands after the DFID’s reforms had ‘developed’ their state.

‘Dodgy Development: A DFID Education’

Indian teachers and academics speak about the decline in public education which the DFID has contributed to, and its use of education aid to ‘get in’ to the Indian economy

Saturday 17^th April, 6pm

West London Trade Union Club, 33-35 High Street, London, W3 6ND Tube: Acton Town (Piccadilly line), Acton Central (North London Line)
Buses: 207/607

During this election campaign New Labour will boast how it has increased foreign aid through its Department for International Development (DFID) and been a leader in the fight against global poverty. The Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats have both agreed to continue DFID’s work along the same lines.

But the so-called beneficiaries of this aid have seen it privatize and commercialize their public services, displace people from their homes and further open up their countries to multinational corporations – in other words exactly the same policies that New Labour have been pushing on us here!

Set up by the New Labour government, DfID has been driven by a ‘corporate imperative’. In the name of development, it has facilitated the take over by multinational companies of land and resources (minerals, oil, forests and fertile land) across countries in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America and the Caribbean.

Because of the nature of global capital and the key role which DFID has in implementing neoliberal policies, it is clearly a key link in the process of looting of resources outlined above. Increasingly, people who live in Britain and North America, where the main centres of decision making about neoliberalism are based, have a role to play in exposing and pressurizing organizations such as DFID. Because of this, International groups in solidarity with people’s movements, workers’, women’s, and other progressive organisations in the countries of Africa, the Middle East, Latin America and the Caribbean, can now achieve more than ever before.

Come to the West London Trade Union Club on 17^th April to hear about the exploits of ‘the Department of Labour’s conscience’ over the last ten years and take inspiration from movements around the world that are opposing the DFID’s discredited vision of development.

Called by: South Asia Solidarity Group, London Coalition Against Poverty, Corporate Watch.

Email: sasg@southasiasolidarity.org, tel: 07944 565620

The suffering of the humble.. and our complicity.

by Miriam Rose

Orissa is the most mineral rich state in India. It is green and fertile, a patchwork of tiny fields and thickly forested mountains with waterfalls tumbling over their red rocks. Like many of the world’s remaining areas of natural fertility, these mountains are largely populated by tribal peoples, which in India are called Adivasis – meaning literally ‘the original inhabitants’ – and are thought to be one of the oldest civilisations in the world. One quarter of the Orissan population are tribal, making it also the ‘poorest’ state in India according to the World Bank. But its figures judge well-being only by monetary exchange, and fail to mention that there has never been a famine recorded here, and that many Adivasis never use money, living in balance with the mountains, streams and forests which provide everything they need. In thanks for natures’ providence many Adivasi cultures worship the mountains on which they depend as Gods, and vow to protect their bountiful natural systems from damage. Some of the Orissan mountains are among the last ancient forest capped hills in India, thanks to the determination of tribal inhabitants against British colonial efforts to log them.

When I stayed with Adivasis in India several years ago I was struck by the differences between their society and modern Indian culture; there seemed to be greater gender equality, openness and freedom compared with the strict caste system and repressive religious and gender divides which are so evident in much of mainstream India. They were more fortunate and they knew it. They were not wooed by the cities, the promise of money or the discourse of ‘development’ which has repeatedly threatened their ancient existence. If you think this sounds romantic and idealistic, you are right – and it is interesting in itself that we are often so cynical when we are confronted with these qualities  in humanity – but the reality of this description has earned them the title of ‘the real Na’vi’ from the blockbuster film Avatar – a nature connected people who have captured public imagination with a sense of something mostly lost in our over-developed (Western) world.

The comparison to Avatar doesn’t end there. Adivasis across Orissa (and all over India) are threatened by a multitude of mining and heavy industrial projects, which plan to exploit the red-rocked hills for the bauxite, steel and iron ore they contain, dam the rivers for electricity to process these metals, and export them to the West. Theoretically this will generate hard cash for India’s modernising economy, but in reality it is exacerbating inequalities and mostly benefiting India’s richest people, and the multi-national mining corporations who profit from India’s cheap power and cheap people. Many of these projects are supported by the World Bank, Western governments and NGO’s under their programmes of  ‘development aid’.

One such project has recently come under major international scrutiny. In the Niyamgiri mountain range in Western Orissa, a London registered company called Vedanta are after the bauxite capped mountains which are sacred homes to the Khond tribes who live there. They want to take 18 million tonnes of bauxite per year from the Niyamgiri hills over the next 25 years, then leave the hills depleted and move on. The bauxite will be refined in the existing plant at Lanjigarh, at the base of the mountains, where local populations already suffer from dying crops, respiratory problems and birth defects caused by heavily polluted water and falling ash from the plant.

Vedanta claim that they will bring money, education and development to the area, and that their activities will follow the highest codes of environmental and social excellence. But the evidence on the ground does not agree, and the project has been plagued by controversy. In 2007 the Norwegian Government’s pension fund pulled its $13 million of shares in Vedanta as it believed its involvement could result in “an unacceptable risk of contributing to grossly unethical activities”, and just last week the Bank of England similarly dis-invested from the company on human and environmental grounds after UK authorities in India upheld allegations of illegal and unethical activity against tribal people in Orissa.

Despite this criticism the UK’s Department for International Development (DfID) and World Bank have been instrumental in encouraging such projects through massive ‘development’ loans which are conditional on “program(s) to reform the business and direction of government”. This means privatisation of the water and power sectors and promotion of mining opportunities for foreign companies through low rates of tax, which further diminish any economic benefits to the local government and people. Activists and social commentators have pointed out that resource extraction from India to the West is many times greater today than it was under the East India Company of British colonial rule. The only difference is that the neo-colonialism has a human face and promises  ‘development’ and an end to poverty, despite evidence to the contrary.

A recent documentary by respected film-maker Simon Chambers showed the realities of Vedanta’s corporate social responsibility programmes and public consultation in Niyamgiri; an empty village hospital bearing the company logo which had never had doctors or provided healthcare, a new Vedanta community where police patrol the streets and the residents were bribed to praise the company for the camera, and dissenters who were threatened by company security and thugs.

Both Vedanta’s subsidiaries Sterlite and MALCO have been charged in court with the criminal violation of Environmental laws, callous dumping of toxic wastes and illegal construction, yet the Supreme court has overruled other legal proceedings and granted the company permission to mine.

But the Adivasi inhabitants have not given up. They point out that the rich bauxite caps of the mountains are like sponges which guarantee a water supply to rivers in the whole district. Without them the streams will dry and many will suffer. They decry the waste of an ecosystem which has supported their people for hundreds of generations in only 25 years, and ask how we can call this ‘development’. As Adivasi movement leader Bhagaban Mahji has said;

“We cannot eat money, and we know it won’t last long. We have lost our land and livelihood. While they make promises of better life for us, we are left only with problems.”

The Khonds have fought tooth and nail for their right to exist sustainably here. In 2009 10,000 villagers and concerned citizens held hands to form a 17 kilometre human chain around the hills. They have blockaded the roads and lain their children in front of bulldozers saying ‘what future is there for them if you build this mine?’. They have faced police oppression, shootings and continual threats. Recent evidence suggests they are right to be so cynical about the project. Of half a million Indians displaced by mining in the last 10 years in just four states, 92% are much worse off, even if they receive the paltry compensation offered by companies. But tribal people are disposable in India, and the model of western development suggests that indigenous communities and undisturbed nature must go if they are to join the modern world.

For us in the West this is a harsh wake up call. The metals which make our planes, tower blocks, disposable cans, and most frighteningly our weapons, have a huge cost to the earth and to some of the people who live most sustainably on it. From the forests where the ore is found, the damming of rivers for refining and smelting, the polluted air and water left behind, to the dumped rubbish of yesterdays trendy phone, yesterdays redesigned house and yesterdays bombs; we are all complicit. It is also all of us, and our children and grandchildren who will ultimately suffer the effects of a world polluted and impoverished by resource scarcity. These effects are hidden from us by outsourcing them to desperate countries where human rights and environmental laws are lax, while our economic system keeps the real costs of the pollution and degradation separate from the end product – meaning we can get cheap flights now, but pay for the associated polluted water, displaced people, climate change and health problems later through taxation.

Today our institutions talk a lot about carbon, but they are wrong to dwell only on this by-product of modern civilization. Policies which reduce carbon, but ignore the rest of the damage inflicted on people, places and natural systems which support us, are dodging the issue; our use of almost all of the earth’s resources is unsustainable, wasteful and ultimately harmful to ourselves. Unless we can learn something from the Adivasis who live most sustainably on this earth, or even the mythical Na’vi of Pandora from the film ‘Avatar’ – who’s values run deeper than our mostly consumer based happiness – we have little chance of reaching our full human potential.

URGENT: POLICE ATTACKS TRIBAL VILLAGES RESISTING STEEL FACTORY IN ORISSA’S KALINGA NAGAR

Like the tribal movement in Niyamgiri, the tribal resistance against the Tata steel project in Kalinga Nagar is also a battle for saving livelihood and ecology. Kalinga Nagar is located in Jajpur district of Orissa where thousands of acres of tribal land have been sold away to steel companies to create India’s biggest steel manufacturing hub. After the first dozen factories were setup people realised they were not getting employment, there was too much pollution and social chaos. See this video…

So they organised themselves and challenged the displacement… On 2nd Jan 2006 14 tribals including women and children were shot dead by the police for opposing the Tata steel project… After that there have been several attempts by the mafia to assassinate the tribal leaders of the movement… For the last 3 months the resistance villages have been surrounded by police forces with the steel companies even officially sponsoring a new police station in the area…. there have been repeated midnights raids upon the villages… Please see this video for more about this…

On March 28,2010 the Bisthapan Birodhi Jan Manch leaders and villagers welcomed Jajpur District Collector and had a discussion with him on the controversial common corridor though they knew it very well the district administration had other motives. After talks with activists of Bisthapan Birodhi Jan Manch and more than 300 villagers the Collector assured them that there would be no construction activity for the Common Corridor Road till the matter is resolved through dialogue. But the administration has gone back on its words. They started the work yesterday and made a huge media publicity of the event to provoke people. In today’s newspapers the SP has said ‘protestors will not be spared’ and the Collector is saying “construction of the road will happen at any cost.”

This gave the manch no other alternative but to protest. But today 29 platoons of armed police with 60 officers and hundreds of BJD and Tata goons reached the place of dispute. They first denied media any entry to the place and the started attacking the peacful protesters. Many have been injured including women and children as indisciminate rubber bullet firing and lathi charge has taken place. They have entered the villages and unleashed a reign of terror. The villagers have tremendous patience and are still resisting peacefully. The area has become a war zone and more than a dozen people including women and children have been seriously injured.

This is being carried out under the supervision of IG Special Operations, Arun Sadangi. Despite Sec 144 being imposed in the area large number of Tata supporters, BJD cadre have assembled at the site and are giving instructions to the police. All people who have a conscience must act now as democracy in Kalinganagra is being butchered in the most vulgar manner and the political and bureaucratic leadership of the state have completely sold themselves to the Tatas. There has been absolutely not even a murmur of protest from any of the mainstream political party leaders which signifies the absolute power Tata wields over them. Just now reports reach us suggesting that firing has started in Baligootha village and where about of the leaders are not known.

One person, Member Kalundia received bullet wounds in the chest and legs… Police has demolished houses and set them ablaze… Cattle have been indiscriminately shot at… Two days before Orissa Day the Govt celebrates with a bloodbath…

The latest update is that the police has vacated the village but has gathered about half a kilometer away in front of Rohit Ferro Chrome Factory where the construction of the common corridor road is to begin… All houses have been ransacked… foodstocks set afire… televisions, radios, etc have been destroyed… the girl who was beaten up by police has been admitted to the hospital… its not clear yet how many have been arrested but some 20-30 people have sustained serious injuries in the attack…

RBS AGM Edinburgh

The Royal Bank of Scotland’s Annual General Meeting will be held on April 28th in Edinburgh. The Royal Bank of Scotland is one of several UK banks that has received extensive funding from the UK Government, and which has a long record of unethical investments in projects and companies that undermine human rights and damage the environment, including financial backing of Vedanta operations in Orissa, India.

To bring public attention to these unethical investments, Amnesty International UK’s Scottish office plans to co-host, with Friends of the Earth Scotland, World Development Movement and People & Planet, an “Alternative AGM”, which will be open to members of the public as “unofficial shareholders” in the Royal Bank of Scotland. The event will take place on the evening of 28th April, in central Edinburgh.

Friends of the Earth, World Development Movement and People & Planet will be using the event, and related demonstration outside the RBS AGM, to draw attention to RBS’ investments in Tar Sands projects in Alberta, Canada, through companies such as Shell and BP. First Nation tribe members from the Lubicon Cree tribe of Alberta, whose land is severely affected by the Tar Sands projects, will be attending the events to speak about their experiences.

We will be using the event and demonstration to draw attention to RBS financial backing of Vedanta (through its subsidiary, Sterlite) which has connections to the smelting plant fed by the mine and refinery which have been the focus of Amnesty International’s recent report on Vedanta, Don’t Mine Us Out of Existence. I feel that there are many useful parallels to be drawn between these two issues, which make them well-suited for joint press coverage and public attention.

It would be wonderful if you could attend the event and speak on behalf of Amnesty about our campaign and your experiences in Orissa. We would also like to show some clips from your film, Cowboys in India, to supplement your presentation.

Please let me know if you would be interested in giving a talk at this event (Evening of 28th April 2010, Edinburgh), and let me know if you would like any further information.

All the best,

Graeme

Graeme McGregor
Scotland Campaigner

Amnesty International UK
Rosebery House
9 Haymarket Terrace
Edinburgh EH12 5EZ

Tel: 0131 313 7008