2. What is the relevance of India’s first environmental movement, the Chipko movement
today? in answer 500 words
Answers
Answer:
The Chipko movement or Chipko Andolan, was a forest conservation movement in India. It began in 1973 in Uttarakhand, then a part of Uttar Pradesh (at the foothills of Himalayas) and went on to become a rallying point for many future environmental movements all over the world. It created a precedent for starting nonviolent protest in India.[1] However, it was Sunderlal Bahuguna, a Gandhian activist, who gave the movement a proper direction and its success meant that the world immediately took notice of this non-violent movement, which was to inspire in time many similar eco-groups by helping to slow down the rapid deforestation, expose vested interests, increase social awareness and the need to save trees, increase ecological awareness, and demonstrate the viability of people power. He used the slogan , "Ecology is the permanent economy." Above all, it stirred up the existing civil society in India, which began to address the issues of tribal and marginalized people. And it's true that the support for the movement came mainly from the womenfolk. The Chipko Andolan or the Chipko movement is a movement that practiced methods of Satyagraha where both male and female activity cests from Uttarakhand played vital roles, including Gaura Devi, Suraksha Devi, Sudesha Devi, Bachni Devi and Chandi Prasad Bhatt, Virushka Devi and others.
Chipko Movement: One of the strongest movements to conserve forests in India
Today, beyond the eco-socialism hue, it is being seen increasingly as an ecofeminism movement. Although many of its leaders were men, women were not only its backbone, but also its mainstay, because they were the ones most affected by the rampant deforestation,[2] which led to a lack of firewood and fodder as well as water for drinking and irrigation. Over the years they also became primary stakeholders in a majority of the afforestation work that happened under the Chipko movement.[3][4][5] In 1987, the Chipko movement was awarded the Right Livelihood Award "for its dedication to the conservation, restoration and ecologically-sound use of India's natural resources."[6]
Chipko-type movements date back to 12 September 1730 AD when in village Prasanna Khamkar of Rajasthan, 363 Bishnois sacrificed their lives to save Khejri trees.
Answer:
According to the Centre for Science and Environment, Chipko began in 1973 in the remote hill town of Gopeshwar. That morning, representatives from a sports good factory in Allahabad arrived to cut down ten ash trees for their use. At first, the villagers requested them not to do so; however, it became clear that contractors were not interested in negotiating with the villagers. So, the people sought to take direct action. Villagers marched into the Mandal forest, beating drums. The contractors soon realised, the villagers were well-organised and not willing to back down. They left without cutting down the trees. The Chipko movement spread quickly as villagers marched in Rampur Phata, another remote village, just a few weeks later. However, it was only in 1974, during a significant protest, that women began to participate more and in deliberate terms.
In 1974, the government announced an auction for over 2000 trees near the village of Reni, overlooking the Alaknanda River. The Garhwali people were acutely aware of the causes and results of the last flood. There were landslides that had obstructed roads, washing away villages and other infrastructure. Following the government’s announcement, students led demonstrations. To avoid protests, the government summoned the men of the surrounding villages to the nearby city for discussions on compensation. However, the meeting had been a ruse, to get the men away from the grove. The contractors seized the chance to continue logging without any confrontation.
Women had always taken interest in issues that dispoportiately affected their lives. Yet, up till this point, no one formally included them in such meetings. A local girl rushed to Gaura Devi, a 50-year-old widowed woman and the head of the village Mahila Mangal Dal, to inform her of the arrival of loggers. Gaura led the women of Reni and surrounding villages to the forest. They refused to move out of the forest and continued hugging the trees. The women kept up an all-night vigil to guard the trees. The next day, word spread to the neighbouring villages of Lata and Henwalghati. And as the men returned from the city, more people joined.
Explanation:
Chipko’s Influence
The Chipko movement has since expanded. Within a few years it began to spread further to Gandhmardan in Orissa, Bastar in Central India, Nahin-Barkot and Thano in the Himalayan foothills, and all over Karnataka and Kerala. The movement caught the imaginations of groups concerned with the environment in countries such as Switzerland, France, Mexico, Denmark, Australia, Canada and Malaysia. Yet, even now, the women of the region fight against other ecologically unsound projects, such as bauxite mining and the heavy logging of pine trees.
The Chipko movement emerged as a peasant and women’s movement for forest rights. The Garhwali women showed that women’s liberation was not only about liberation from patriarchal oppression, but also capitalist and economic oppression. It became a rallying point for future environmental protests and movements all over the world. It also stirred up the existing Indian civil society, which finally began to address the issues of tribal and marginalised people. As the women of Reni sang in 1974: “The forest is our mother’s home. We will protect it with all our might.” With the forest satyagraha, they did.