India

Posted on Foil Vedanta

On Monday 29 July the seventh village – Phuldumer – again voted unanimously to reject Vedanta’s mine. This means the majority have now spoken, and Niyamgiri is saved by the people’s vote as sanctioned by the Supreme Court of India! In Odisha activists are already celebrating after months of hard work to ensure this precedent legal process was fair, and not manipulated. This victory also shows the amazing strength of Niyamgiri’s the people. Despite all Vedanta and the Odisha state government’s attempts to subvert the process: by threatening villagers with guns and violence, by selecting just twelve villages, by choosing corrupt judges – Niyamgiri villagers have united, across caste, class and district to defend the mountain that gives them life and livelihood.

Felix Padel

There is a lot of evidence that the arms trade is an epicentre of corruption, and that it fuels conflicts around the globe. Andrew Feinstein’s brilliant new book, The Shadow World (2011, review by Padel 2012) shows this clearly. Less scrutinized are the centrality of the arms industry to the world economy, the industry’s links with mining, and its outstanding greenhouse gas emissions. However much we limit our individual carbon footprints, will this make any difference unless we curtail our wars?

By Rajagopal PV

In India, the most publicized land-movement was the Bhoodhan movement. In the 1950s and 60s, a disciple of Mahatma Gandhi, Vinobha Bhave walked across the country asking for land as gift. His strategy was to ask land-owning families to treat him as one of their own and give him one share of the land which can then be redistributed to the landless people. It took 14 years for him to walk across the country and collect a little more than 4 million acres of land. This was a very radical approach based on his philosophy of 'change of heart'.

Devi Prasad, WRI's General Secretary from 1962-1972 and chairperson 1973-1975, died on 1 June in Delhi. An artist and potter, Devi graduated from Rabindranath Tagore's Shantiniketan before moving to Sevagram where he worked with Gandhi from 1942 to 1947. Post-India's independence, he remained active in the Gandhian movement, especially in the field of education.

During the month of February (2011) I visited India. Why India? People go to India for different reasons, many are attracted by its cultural and natural diversity, or for a spiritual journey, with the aim of getting a new yoga certificate, etc. Last year I also visited India, that time organising the International Conference - “Nonviolent Livelihood Struggle and Global Militarism: Links & Strategies” - where I had the opportunity of working together with the people who would again host me, this time for a full month, and open their doors for me to live and follow them around wherever they went. Initially my hosts were my dearest friends Anand, Michael and Swati, but it got extended to the whole Mozda collective, Daniel, Krishnakant, Lakhanbhai and many others. Last year I was very impressed by the work of Anand, Michael and Swati (in short “trouble makers”) that I decided that it would be good to use my sabbatical month with them. I was particular interested in how you combine doing resistance work with constructive programme and all these within a day-to-day life reflecting this ethos.

Between October 2-9 the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space had another week of actions against the militariSation of space, under the slogan: “Keep Space For Peace”. There were number of actions during this week, focusing on the missile defence shield, drones and other forms of militarisation of space. For a full list of actions, go to: http://www.space4peace.org/actions/ksfpw10.htm.

Opening speech by Arundhati Roy at the WRI conference on the 22 of January 2010 in Gujarat Vidyapith, Ahmedabad, India

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On the 28th of July a large group of activists campaigning against mining corporation Vedanta, gather outside their AGM to protest against the wrong doing of Vedanta, especially to demand the withdraw of Vedanta from the Nyamgiri mountain in Orissa, India. Mountain that is sacred for the Dongria Kondh tribe.

Control Arms Foundation of India together with more than 20 partner organisations and think tanks from across India hosted the “Delhi Disarmament Events and United Nations Arms Trade Treaty Experts Conference and 2010” from 14 to 17 February 2010 in New Delhi. The events were held to coincide with India’s Defence Expo (http://www.defexpoindia.in/) where several hundred arms companies from around the world had gathered to display and sell their arms in New Delhi’s Pragati Maidan.

War Resisters' International, International Conference Ahmedabad, India, 22 - 25 January, 2010

Background

This was the third International Conference of War Resisters' International held in India, the previous two being in 1960 and 1985. The local hosts were organisations well rooted in the social movement history of India and with whom WRI has had a fruitful tradition of cooperation. They were:

Do people have a right to voice their concerns? Can people peacefully speak out against something they consider as injustice? It would seem not if you go by the recent action of Gujarat state and Police.

That Gujarat has one of the worst Human Rights track records in the country is no secret. That it is only hell bent on worsening it, if recent developments are to be believed, is new.

Humanitarian Disarmament for Sustainable Peace, Human Security & Development in India & United Nations Arms Trade Treaty Experts Meeting Conference 14 to 17 February 2010