Tribes vow to fight as mining given green light, ActionAid calls for Vedanta investors to take action.
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New Delhi, 08 August: Indian tribes today vowed to fight to the death rather than leave their sacred mountain as the Supreme Court of India gave the go-ahead for controversial FTSE 100 Company Vedanta Resources to mine bauxite, from their home, the Niyamgiri hills in southern Orissa.
"Even if you kill us we will not give Niyamgiri. Our souls are in Niyamgiri. Our food, water, homes are in Niyamgiri. There is nothing without Niyamgiri," says Jairam of Parsali Village, Rayagada district.
"We are deeply connected with the mountain. It is home to our god Niyamraja," says Jitu Jakaka, 21 year old activist from the Dongria Kondh community. "We will not allow the company to mine our land, our sacred place," he adds.
The Kondh depend on the fertile forest and rivers of Niyamgiri for their food, water and livelihoods in an otherwise drought prone area. Cutting trees is a religious taboo for the Kondh. Their lifestyle and beliefs have protected the local environment for centuries.
Vedanta and the company’s Indian arm Sterlite are set to mine bauxite, the raw material for aluminium, from the summit which the Kondh worship as the seat of their god. In a first for India, environmentalists, tribal activists, wildlife experts and human rights watch-dogs are united in their opposition to the mining project.
Bratindi Jena of anti-poverty group ActionAid, one of the groups campaigning with the Kondh to save their mountain, says the cost of mining would be phenomenal:
"Niyamgiri bauxite would come at the cost of clean water and pristine forest in an otherwise drought-hit area. Extracting it would constitute an outright assault on the culture of the indigenous people who live there and denies protection for their religious beliefs."
"We are calling on Vedanta investors to take a stand against environmental and human rights violations. The Norway Pension Fund recently sold its entire shareholdings worth over US$13 million. We hope other investors will take action and push the company to abandon its plans to mine Niyamgiri."
Experts have pointed out that the project fails to make economic sense for India. Existing 'brown field' bauxite deposits are already well able to meet India’s projected aluminum needs. Under Vedanta’s proposals, the precious mineral in the 'green field' site of Niyamgiri would be transferred to the company at a fixed price divorced from the reality of the international aluminum market.
"Even at this late hour we call on the government of India to intervene decisively to allow the relevant authorities to reconsider such rapacious plunder of our natural resources, and protect the Kondhs livelihoods, home, identity and the sanctity of their most religious site," Jena adds.
Tribal rights watch-dog Survival International points out that, in common with other displaced tribal groups worldwide, the Kondh would also lose their health, their self-sufficiency and their expert knowledge about the hills, forests and farming systems that they have nurtured.
Activists, actors and Supreme Court advocates have signed a letter to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi to intervene to protect the rights of people living around Niyamgiri.
If mining is permitted here, lawyers say two of India’s strongest Constitutional guarantees will be overturned: The right to life and human dignity (Artice 21) the right to religious practices and beliefs (Article 25).
Notes to editor:
1. The Supreme Court’s Central Empowered Committee on environment and forests recommends in its latest report that if mining is permitted, that the price per tonne is determined periodically at 1% of the London Metal Exchange aluminum so that the transfer price of bauxite to the company fully reflects the value of the mineral cost.
2. Reports detailing human rights abuses in the Niyamgiri area include:
Vedanta Cares? Report Busting the myths around Vedanta’s operations in Lanjigarh by ActionAid, August 2007
3. The Norwegian Government’s pension fund, the world’s second-largest, last year sold its shares worth US$13.2 million in Vedanta Resources Plc. A Supreme Court judgment dated 23rd November 2007 concedes that Vedanta is not a trustworthy company, due to its worldwide pattern of human rights and environmental abuses, outlined in the Norway Government report.