An international day of protest is planned this Wednesday May 11 against plans by the Indian authorities to mine tribal
forests for coal.
Adivasi (Indigenous) people in the unique Hasdeo Forest in Chhattisgarh have been passionately resisting the destruction
of their lands and futures for coal. Across central India, tens of thousands of Adivasi people’s lands and livelihoods
are under threat from coal mining. As India gears up to increase coal mining to one billion tonnes per year, 80% of new
planned mines are on Adivasi lands.
Protests:
• London, UK: India House, Aldwych, WC2B 4NA | 9am BST – supported by South Asia Solidarity Group and London Mining
Network.
• Washington DC, USA: Embassy of India, 2107 Massachusetts Ave NW, Washington, DC 20008 | 9am EST – supported by Hindus
for Human Rights & the Indian American Muslim Council.
Authorities in India recently approved the vast Parsa mine in Hasdeo. Thousands of Gond and Oraon Adivasis, and Dalits, will see their lands and livelihoods
destroyed by the mine. The existing PEKB coal mine in the Forest has also had a huge expansion project greenlighted.
Both mines will be operated by mining giant Adani.
In approving these mines, the Indian government has defied a vociferous and determined Adivasi protest movement, which
has seen rallies, marches, and vigils to protect trees from being felled.
Adivasi resistance movements across central India are striving to keep their forests standing and the coal in the
ground. They are fighting for their rights to be respected and the law to be followed, but their leaders are under
threat from police crackdowns despite their dissent being both peaceful and law-abiding.
One Adivasi man said: “We are facing a critical situation now and so we are doing an indefinite protest. If our lands
are taken away, our future generations will lose their identity and our existence will be lost forever.”