DO SOMETHING: Ongoing legal challenge over plans for a bauxite mine might threaten the rights of the Dongria Kondh adivasi (Indigenous) people in India!
A villager standing on land he once owned, beneath an unfinished conveyor belt designed to transport bauxite ore from the Niyamgiri hills to the Vedanta Alumina plant, Lanjigarh, Orissa, India, June 2008. © Sanjit Das
For years, the state-owned Orissa Mining Corporation (OMC) and and Sterlite Industries India (Sterlite), a subsidiary of UK-based Vedanta Resources (Vedanta) have been proposing plans for a bauxite mine in Niyamgiri Hills.
In 2009, the Indian Minister of Environment and Forests (MoEF) gave clearance for their proposal – which led to protests among Dongria Kondh.
The Dongria Kondh living in the Niyamgiri Hills in the eastern state of Orissa, India, consider their home as sacred and depend on it for water, food, and cultural values. The proposed project would violate their rights as an indigenous community to water, food, health, work, and their cultural values and identity – not to mention that the Indian authorities didn’t ask the community for their consent or give them any information on the project!
Luckily, in 2010, the Indian MoEF rejected the proposal after finding out that the project would violate the rights of Dongria Kondh on the hills. BUT in April 2011, OMC filed a petition before the Indian Supreme Court, challenging the MoEF decision!
The Supreme Court is supposed to make a decision soon so we have a little time to do something to protect the rights of Dongria Kondh!
Got 3 seconds?
Send a letter to the Indian MoEF to take action to protect Dongria Kondh by adding your name below! We will add your names to AI’s petition and they will send the letters to the Minister.
Got 3 minutes?
Add your name AND copy and paste this link – http://bit.ly/rojwY1 - on Facebook and Twitter to share with your friends – can you challenge yourself to get 10 friends to take action?
Protect the Rights of Dongria Kondh Now!Dear Minister, I call on you to:
Your Sincerely, [your full name] ADD YOUR NAME TO THE LETTER |
