Voice of Randal, Hiramal and Laxman from the Jail of Kalahadi & Raygada, must not die
Randal, Hiramal, Laxman the Leaders and protestors of buxite minining of Kalahadi are in jail. They are for local inhabitants’ rights and they are adding voice against minining. But they have never crimed against mining. “To voicing against mining, is not criming?”
Bahh re govt, bahh re judiciary, bahh re police bahh re legislatures bahh re public.
Tell me, is mining taking place for catering to the almunium and boxide need of India or to give business profit to corporate houses.
Jal, jangal, jamin and jan, if gone from Lanjigarh and Thuamul Rampur for buxite mining, your Kalahadi and my Kalahadi will become a desert. The big question is, whether you and me, the present generation, are we going to hand over desert to our next generation?
The worst consequences of mining include the deadliest historical accident at China’s Honkeiko coal mine (1,572 deaths in 1942), catastrophic toxic waste spills like Brazil’s Brumadinho dam collapse (270 deaths in 2019), widespread water destruction via acid mine drainage, and massive global deforestation and habitat loss.
If we will not fight, who will fight?
The landless of Lanjigarh and Thuamul Rampur are too Indians. They are mostly wage earners or forest dwellers or petty business men.
They have lived for generation being ustracised by the high cast, rulers, administrators. Most of them are scheduled cast who are always considered lowly and had lived without basic amenities, mostly being dependent on others without ownership but always owned the jal, jangal, jamin, jantu, jan. They had lived life as forest dwellers, hunters, forest gatherers being one with the Kutiakandha. Often kutiakandha consider them low. But they dwell together.
They were silent preserver of the jangal. During Kings and British Raj they provided comforts by supplying forest products in low price often free. After independence they are restricted to forest. absolutely depended on agriculture and construction work. Few of them had agriculture but most of them became seasonal migrants.
Now these people together they want to protect the troposphere of Lanjigarh and Thuamul Rampur. From Delhi or Mumbai or from foreign land, if the bauxite can be taken like gas from arabin countries to other countries, hope these people would not have protested.
But destroying jungal, jantu, jal, jan of troposphere for buxite minining is inevitable. Second the revenue that is going to be generated for this mineing will be beneficial to corporates and government may be minimal portion will go in compansession. But there is no compansession for its insects, reptiles, herbs, trees and streams.
Few may become employee but not the owner or share holders.
Before 1947, Kalahandi functioned as a sovereign princely state (also known as Karond State) under the British Raj, and briefly joined the Eastern States Union in August 1947 before its merger into India. Had Kalahandi been Indipendent State, today Indravati, Tel River, Niyamgiri and Malies would have been absolutely of its people and it’s ruller. Odisha holds roughly 41% to 59% of India’s total bauxite reserves, and the Koraput-Kalahandi belt represents a massive share of these national deposits.
The amount of deprivation Kalahadi has beared, the amount of natural resources of Kalahadi has been evaquated, the amount of job opportunities that Kalahadi has given to other nationals of the state in that ratio, people of Kalahadi have not got the benifit, in other districts and state. In Lanjigarh and Thuamul Rampur, people from other regions have got govt and non government jobs. But our people have not got jobs and financial opportunities in their regions. Excluding few we are just migrant, distressed wage labourers.Kalahandi is one of the most severe epicenters of seasonal distress migration in Odisha and India, with roughly 45,000 to 60,000 workers—predominantly from blocks like Golamunda, Thuamul Rampur, and Bhawanipatna—leaving annually for informal labor in Surat, Mumbai, and South India due to chronic poverty and limited local non-farm jobs
Today our ghumura, our kapta, our minor millets, our songs and folklores, natural sights have been hijacked and have been destorted by others and have fatched them profit in international market.
Tomorrow due to buxite industry, how many persons from ThRampur and Lanjigarh will get jobs and recive financial benifits. Are our people prepared to be it’s staff, be it’s deciding factors of other businesses and development changes in economy, administration and it’s local bodies.
China and other countries do mining and indurial activities for the interest of its nationals, here this minining is in the interest of corporates. if mining is done by government, why govert need envirmental clearance, forest clearance etc. I think it’s the requisite of corporates. Gram sabha clearance is quistion of its locals.
Every body is after development, and for people in general mining is a way out.
But if agriculture of Kalahandi would be commercialised, multi cropping, mixcroping, poultry, dairy, cottage industry could be developed, with our forest resources, Kalahadi could be a heaven on earth.
Now we have law college, engineering college, medical college, agriculture college, and universities with many dependents but, most of the students and facilities are from our side.
Dr Randal is a challenge to the elites of Kalahandi, who are silent on Sijimali, Niyamgiri and other Malies of Kalahandi.
We the social workers, who were for jal, jangal, jamin and jan where are we? We are selfish. We were once soughting a lot before 2014. Now what is our stand. We were once after big salary and big projects, in the name of jal, jangal, jamin and jan but in reality we are not for them. Our silence speaks not our inability, silence speaks our selfishness.
The Voice Must Not Die. Randal, Hiramal and Laxman may be behind bars, but their questions cannot be imprisoned. Development must not mean the destruction of our land, forests, rivers, culture and future. Let us stand for justice, protect the rights of local communities, and demand development that benefits our people without sacrificing our natural heritage.
Jal, Jangal, Jamin and Jan are not commodities to be sold; they are our life, our identity and our legacy. Let us not leave a desert to our children when we can leave them a living Kalahandi. (numeric data are from Google)
Dwit David Philip
Bhawanipatna , Kalahandi
