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a Peasant History

 

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Reports and Long Articles

See also: Issues

Stop Land Grabbing!

Via Campesina
a Global Peasant Movement

Via Campesina is a global peasants' movement fighting for food sovereignty. It published a lot of booklets about all political issues relating to peasants. For example: 'Stop Land Grabbing', 'Peasants Can Feed the World', 'No To Violence Against Women' and 'Small Scale Farmers Are Cooling Down the Earth'. Read more

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Water Problems and Solutions in the Himalayas

A group of students from Delhi went to the Himalayas to meet villagers and learn about their lives. In their report they wrote: "We came across a cobweb of problems related to water in that area and came very close to understanding that “water is life”. On the other hand we were amazed at the enthusiasm of some of the local villagers towards bringing about the change in the existing system. A Pani Panchayat (Water Forum) was organized by the villagers in which the zest within their hearts was evident. In that meeting the villagers took many decisions regarding cleaning and restoration of their springs."

Download the students report (Word, 163 KB) In the Adobe of the Great Himalayas - an account of the mobile workshop. Or go to the article Struggling to overcome waterproblems. map

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Water Issues in the Himalayas. Activities under-taken by Himalaya Seva Sangh and its partner organizations on water and sanitation issues in the Himalayan region. About: water forums, ponds and springs, filter for clean drinking water, work camp and march, newsletter and documentation center. Download the report (Word, 28 KB). map

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Activities of the UJJS, campaign and development organisation in Khaddi, Uttarakhand. Download report (Word, 5 MB). map

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Activities of the HPSS, campaign and development organisation in Uttarkashi, Uttarakhand. Download report (Word, 45 KB). map

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Long March Against Dams and Tunnels in Uttarkhand. With a lot of information about the situation in many villages. Download the report (Word, 285 KB). map

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Trees are Brothers, an article in Civil Society of Agust 2009. About the 'Raksha Sutra' movement of protection of the trees by villagers in the Himalayas. Download the article (Word, 62 KB). map

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Pollution by Iron Factories in Chhattisgarh, a risk appraisal study by the Cerana Foundation, Hyderabad; October 2006. Download the report (pdf 7 MB). map

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Arundhati Roy about Narmada dam

'Who owns this land? Who owns its rivers? Its forests?'

The famous Indian writer and journalist Arundathi Roy wrote a long article for Outlook magazine about the Narmada Dam Project in the West of India. She also discuses the question how useful big projects are. Who are the winners, who the losers and who are resisting.
"In India over the last ten years the fight against the Sardar Sarovar Dam has come to represent far more than the fight for one river. (..) It became a debate that captured the popular imagination. (..) From being a fight over the fate of a river valley it began to raise doubts about an entire political system. What is at issue now is the very nature of our democracy. Who owns this land? Who owns its rivers? Its forests? Its fish?"
Go to the introduction or download the whole article (Word, 400 KB). map

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Arundhati Roy With the Guerillas

roaming around in the forest for several weeks

Traveling through the forest.

Arundhati Roy traveled around with the Maoists in the center Indian state Chhattisgarh for several weeks. The guerillas are mostly young tribals (women and men) fighting against oppression and displacement for dams and mines and for their autonomy as small farmers with their own local culture.

Roy: "The antagonists in the forest (of the government and companies) are disparate and unequal in almost every way. On one side is a massive paramilitary force armed with the money, the firepower, the media, and the hubris of an emerging Superpower. On the other, ordinary villagers armed with traditional weapons, backed by a superbly organised, hugely motivated Maoist guerrilla fighting force with an extraordinary and violent history of armed rebellion."

Go to the introduction or download the whole article (Word, 1.5 MB). map

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Bon Bibi Legend and 'Ethnic Cleansing' of India's Forests

Amitav Ghosh

Indian writer Amitav Ghosh is very angry about the Indian forest policy: "Over many decades, there has been a kind of 'ethnic cleansing' of India's forests: indigenous groups have been evicted or marginalised and hotel chains and urban tourists have moved in." With the help of the beautiful Bon Bibi legend from the Bengal mangrove forests Ghosh describes the relationship between the villagers and their forests. He warns the political disempowerment of the forest dwellers will not continue forever.

Go to the summary or download full article: 'Wild Fictions', (Word, 7 pages, 7 photos; 400 KB). map

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Mother Earth - a New Future for Small Farmers

A parade of bullock carts travells from village to village, to celebrate the richness of the traditional seeds.

Documentary about poor women farmers in the South of India who turned their back to modern agriculture in order to bring new life to their traditional ways of farming. With a lot of success! Read more; link to the documentary. map

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Damming the North East

Idu Mishmi tribals oppose fake public hearing, March 2008.

No fewer than 168 big dams in the North East of India will be constructed in the coming decades. That is what the central Indian government, the banks and contractors have in mind.
But the resistance is growing. Lepchas and Idu Mishmis tribals in Sikkim protest and in Assam there is a major political debate on the downstream impacts of dams.

Read more or download the full report (pdf, 1400 KB). map

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Dam Building in the Himalayas

Many big dams are build already in the Himalayas, many more are planned.

When you want a quick overview about the several hundred dam projects in the Himalayas for the next twenty years, you will find a lot of information in the report Mountains of Concrete - dam building in the Himalayas.

Read more or download the full report (pdf, 2900 KB). map

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See also: Issues