OneWorld.net (U.S.)

OneWorld.net note: The indigenous residents of the Indian state of Orissa expressed outrage and vowed to protest the Supreme Court's Friday decision to allow a British company to mine their sacred mountain and clear their land, reports an indigenous advocacy group.

• Girls from the Kutia Kondh tribe, Orissa, India. © Rita Willaert (flickr)

  The Dongria Kondh tribe is an isolated group of approximately 8,000 indigenous persons who live at the base of the Niyamgiri Hills in Orissa, India. The Indian Supreme Court ruling follows a three-year legal battle between the tribe and British mining company Vedanta. The Dongria Kondh opened the case after Vedanta began clearing their land in preparation for a mine without permission from India's Environment and Forest Ministry. According to the advocacy group, India Resource Center, the mine will destroy 660 hectares of forest and threaten the Vansadhara river, which the Dongria Kondh use to irrigate their crops.

• Last month, Vedanta's chairman, Anil Agarwal, stated that the company would not go ahead with the mining plans without "complete permission" from the government and the local people. Survival International’s Director Stephen Corry called on Vedanta to abandon the mining initiative but remains cautious. "We sincerely hope that Mr Agarwal’s words to shareholders today were not just empty promises," said Corry.

• The ruling was announced the day before the International Day of the World's Indigenous People, celebrated Aug. 9, 2008. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon made a statement at the UN headquarters today promoting reconciliation between governments and indigenous peoples in various countries around the world. Within the last year, Australia, Canada, and Japan have all made formal apologies to local indigenous groups for past injustices.

Supreme Court gives go-ahead to mine - Tribe vows resistance

From: Survival International

8 August 2008

India's Supreme Court has today dealt a devastating blow to the Dongria Kondh tribe by giving British FTSE 100 company Vedanta permission to mine their sacred mountain. The tribe say the mine will destroy their way of life forever.

Dongria Kondh man
© Jason Taylor

Vedanta's subsidiary Sterlite plans to mine for bauxite, the raw material for aluminium, from Niyamgiri mountain in Orissa, eastern India. Vedanta is majority owned by London-based Indian billionaire Anil Agarwal.

The Dongria Kondh say the huge open cast mine will destroy a vast swathe of untouched forest, and will reduce their most sacred site to an industrial wasteland. Last month, thirty Dongria Kondh men blockaded a road that is being built through their forest towards the site of the proposed mine. The tribe say they will stage mass protests if mining goes ahead.

The Dongria Kondh cannot appeal this decision by the Supreme Court, but they plan to submit another petition to the Court focusing on the ways in which the mine will violate their cultural and religious rights.

Dongria spokesperson Jitu Jakesika said, ‘We will become beggars if the company destroys our mountain and our forest so that they can make money. We will give our lives for our mountain.'

Survival's director Stephen Corry said today, ‘Today's ruling is a devastating blow not just to the Dongria Kondh, but to all of India's tribal peoples. International and constitutional rights are being trampled for the sole benefit of distant shareholders. But the Dongria Kondh are not giving up, and Survival will continue to support them in their campaign to save their land.'

To read more about India's indigenous peoples, visit Survival International.