Tag Archive for 'Dongria Kondh'

13
Oct

Tribe vows to fight mine with axes and arrows

“One of India’s most isolated tribes, the Dongria Kondh, is preparing to stop British FTSE 100 company Vedanta from mining aluminium ore on their sacred mountain, after police and hired thugs forced protesters to dismantle a barricade over the weekend,” reports Survival International.

“About 150 people had blocked the road in Orissa state on Wednesday [October 8] after hearing that Vedanta intended to start survey work for a planned aluminium mine which would destroy an ecologically vital hill, and the Dongria Kondh’s most sacred site. Vedanta employees visited the blockade repeatedly, threatening the protestors. On Friday the villagers gave in and took down the barricade, but about 100 are still at the side of the road, blocking traffic when Vedanta vehicles approach,” Survival continues.

“Today, Dongria Kondh from all over Niyamgiri, the hill range that would be decimated by Vedanta’s mine, are making arrows and …

Published on
October 13, 2008
  3 Comments 571 views

04
Oct

Voices from the Niyamgiri Hills

In this eight-minute video, you will hear members of the Dongria Kondh, the custodians of the Niyamrigi hills in Orissa, India, speaking out against Vedanta resources and the hardships they have had to endure as a result of the company’s aluminum refinery.

Placed at the foot of the hills, Vedanta manipulated and then drove out at least one community for the refinery. Now the Kondh suffer from a range of problems; from not being able to sleep because of the noise from the refinery, to getting sore throats when they drink the water and itchy skin when they bathe.

The situation may soon get much worse for the Kondh. Vedanta is currently poised to expand the refinery, and proceed with its plan to build a controversial bauxite mine at the top of the hills. This is despite the bold assurances from Vedanta’s CEO that his company would first consult and …

Published on
October 4, 2008
  0 Comments 457 views

15
Aug

Indian Court lashes out against Indigenous People, Farmers

Last Friday, the Indian Supreme Court issued two rulings against Indigenous People and rural farmers in the eastern state of Orissa. Favoring development over the people’s rights and livelihoods, the court gave the go-ahead to Vedanta Resources and their bauxite mine on the Nyamgiri Hills, as well as to the South Korean steel-maker Posco’s massive steel project in the same state.

“The announcements were hardly surprising, though they still had the power to shock,” notes a recent report by London Calling. “The court seemed determined to display its pro-industry credentials on both sleeves - perhaps (more cynically) also to divide the opposition by throwing it two challenges at once. And challenges there will be. Further legal recourse now seems heavily circumscribed.”

In the case of Nyamgiri, the court barred the threatened Dongria Kondh from appealing the decision to let Vedanta rip through …

Published on
August 15, 2008
  1 Comment 647 views

05
Aug

Vedanta says no mining without tribe’s ‘permission’

Following-up last week’s story about Vedanta and the Dongria Kondh, the company recently held it’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) in London, where it assured shareholders and the attending Kondh that it will not proceed with it’s bauxite mine in the sacred hills of Nyamgiri without the tribe’s consent.

“I can only promise that we will only start work if we have complete permission of the court and the people,” said Vedanta CEO, Anil Agarwa.

According to Survival International, “[this] is the first time the company has made any such commitment to comply with international law, which recognises tribal peoples’ right to give or withhold consent for developments which profoundly affect their future,” adding, “Vedanta’s Executive Director Kuldip Kaura backed up Mr Agarwal by emphasising, ‘the local people have to give their consent.’”

Meanwhile, on the same day of the AGM, the non-profit group …

Published on
August 5, 2008
  0 Comments 477 views

01
Aug

Underreported Struggles #16

Indigenous peoples and farmers faced multiple attacks in Guatemala last month; while in Brazil, the government began preparing to station military forces on indigenous lands circling the border. In Canada, the Takla Lake First Nation continued blocking access roads on their territory, and in Fafak, 46 West Papuans were arrested, beaten, and humiliated for holding a flag-raising ceremony.

Meanwhile, Indigenous People in Guam, Papua New Guinea, Peru, India, America, Bolivia and elsewhere, positioned themselves to resist a series of new development projects that threaten to devastate their lands, contaminate their waters, and help destroy their way of life.

Underreported Struggles #16, July 2008

July 30
Brazil army to permanently occupy indigenous territories
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva signed a decree last week to permanently station the military on every indigenous reserve along the border. The indigenous peoples are concerned the army will start taking their …

Published on
August 1, 2008
  0 Comments 528 views

29
Jul

Tribal group refuses to abandon homes for Vedanta

The Indian Supreme Court has postponed its judgment on whether or not Vedanta’s controversial bauxite mining project in Orissa can go ahead.

The court announced its decision last Friday, July 25, following a promise by the company to spend five percent of its profits from the $800 million project on “rehabilitation” for the Dongria Kondh, who’s homes and sacred sites are facing destruction.

Following the announcement, ActionAid stated in media release that the Kondh, no matter the decision of the court, will not sacrifice their land for the mine.

“The resolve of the people of Niyamgiri is strong as ever. They will not leave their mountain,” says ActionAid campaigner Bratindi Jena.

“They will not allow the company to destroy their homes and livelihoods and blast open their most sacred site. For them this is a life and death struggle.

“And they are …

Published on
July 29, 2008
  1 Comment 533 views

Video activism and the Chiapas Media Project

In the following presentation, Claudia Magallanes-Blanco from the University of Western Sydney talks about the role of video activism as a world-wide tool for empowerment and the Chiapas Media Project, a collaborative effort based in Mexico that provides indigenous Zapatistas in Chiapas and peasants in Guerrero with training and equipment to produce their own videos.

Since forming in 1998, CMP has distributed over 6000 videos, including: Zapata’s Garden, a film that looks at the society the Zapatista’s are building; …


I Am A Defender of the Rainforest

Known as ‘Soy defensor de la selva’ in Spanish, I am a Defender of the Rainforest is an award-winning documentary that was filmed, edited, and directed by members of the Sarayaku community in southern Ecuador.

The film shows how the …


Underreported Struggles #19, October 2008

In this month’s Underreported Struggles: 400,000 Guatemalans Reject Development Model, Philippines Indigenous People Unite for the Land, Riot Police Target Algonquin Blockade, Chagos Islanders Denied the Right of Return, and 17 other stories …


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