Indian authorities harass tribal leaders
The Dongria have resisted
attempts to mine in their hills for years, but are
facing serious pressure to give in
© Survival The
Indian government is harassing and attempting to silence
the leaders of the Dongria Kondh tribe, famous for
winning a “David and Goliath” court battle against a
British mining giant.
The
Dongria’s resistance to mining on their lands has
continued since their landmark victory in 2014. Leaders
including Dodi Pusika feel that the risk of mining
remains as long as a refinery is operational at the foot
of the Niyamgiri hills, an area which the tribe have
been dependent on and managed for generations. A recent
protest at the refinery was met with a baton-charge from
police.
Pusika’s
daughter-in-law, Kuni Sikaka, was arrested in the middle
of the night of May 3 and accused of links with armed
Maoist rebels. In exchange for her release, Dodi Pusika
and other members of his family were made to “surrender”
as Maoists and paraded in front of the media.
There
has been an alarming increase in arbitrary, politically
motivated arrests of tribal people who are resisting
mining operations or government policies which endanger
their lands and communities. Typically, those arrested
are accused of Maoist links – usually without
evidence.
Human
rights activist and doctor Binayak
Sen and tribal teacher Soni
Sori have both been imprisoned for alleged Maoist
connections and only subsequently released after
national and international campaigns.
In
April, the Home Ministry issued a report claiming that
Maoists were “guiding the activities” of the Dongria’s
organization, the Niyamgiri Suraksha Samiti (NSS). On the contrary, Maoists
instructed the Dongria to boycott the very meetings at
which they delivered their decisive “no” to mining.
Lingaraj
Azad, a member of the NSS,
stated, ‘We have always opposed violence – either state
violence or Maoist violence. We will not bow down, but
continue our struggle to protect Niyamgiri from being
mined.’
Survival
is calling on the government to drop these fabricated
charges, stop this persecution of the Dongria Kondh,
respect their decision about the Niyamgiri mine, and to
uphold their right to protect their lands and determine
their own futures.
Read
this online: http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/11682
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