Juhar Niyamraja

Abstract

The Niyamgiri mountain straddling Rayagada and Kalahandi districts is the abode of Niyamraja—a god very sacred to the Dongria Kondhs—who they believe has also nurtured the mountain since generations. This bauxite-rich mountain is coveted by Vedanta Alumina Ltd. The company set up an alumina refinery plant at Lanjigarh in 2007 with plans for bauxite mining in the mountain. The struggle of the adivasis has evoked international support and solidarity. The Odisha government had to appeal to the Supreme Court for environmental clearance when the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) denied it to Vedanta. In 2013, Gram Sabhas gave a unanimous verdict against mining asserting their cultural and religious rights. However, neither the company nor the government has given up. The heavy deployment of security forces and combing operations continue. Arrests and incarcerations have increased in recent years. This chapter provides an overview of the entire saga of events focusing on the ongoing struggle of the adivasis to save the Niyamgiri.

The earth was created by the assistance of the sun, and it should be left as it was…The country was made without lines of demarcation, and it is no man’s business to divide it… The earth and myself are of one mind. The measure of the land and the measure of our bodies are the same. … I never said the land was mine to do with it as I chose. The one who has the right to dispose of it is the one who has created it. I claim a right to live on my land, and accord you the privilege to live on yours.

Heinmot Tooyalaket (Chief Joseph) of the Nez Perces

—Dee Brown, 1970