Rubina Khan Shapoo

Thursday, December 6, 2007 (Bhopal)

It’s a small effort to honour unsung heroines. In Bhopal, women are taking on fighting corporate giants in rural areas who threaten them with eviction in the name of development. This is kind of world’s first award, decided by women for women.

Forty-five-year old Mukta Jhodi, a tribal from Orissa’s Rayagada district is the proud winner of the first Chingari award.

She tirelessly led a 14 year struggle against the Hindalco-led Utkal Alumina’s bauxite mining project, when her tribal community was threatened with eviction to make way for mining companies. She stopped the consortium from exploiting her ”bheetamati” - the Motherland and vowed to protect the fragile environment.

”I will not leave my motherland and will not let the company take over,” said Mukta.

What makes the award more significant is that it is purely an initiative of two women survivors of the world’s worst ever-chemical disaster that struck Bhopal in 1984.

They fought relentlessly for justice in one of the longest running fights against corporate crime. And set up an award from the 1,25,000 dollar Goldman Environment Prize, they received in 2004.

”This is an award out of an award and it would be presented every year to a woman who is taking on corporate giants,” said Rashida Bi, Goldman Environment Prize winner of 2004.

A six member all-women jury, led by eminent writer Mahashweta Devi chose the winner after screening nominations from rural areas in the country.

Nandigram, Bhopal gas victims and thousands of displaced people across the country are fighting for justice for survival. It is ironical, today the world’s most powerful corporations seem to be pitted against some of the most marginalised people.

Sify News
Wednesday, 05 December , 2007, 13:27

New Delhi: The 14-year old struggle against mining giants in Orissa got a shot in the arm on Wednesday after Mukta Jhodia, a tribal woman leader fighting against the Hindalco-led Utkal Alumina’s bauxite mining and processing project in Kashipur, Orissa, won the first Chingari Award for women fighting corporate crime. Goldman Award winners and leaders of the struggle for justice in Bhopal Rashida Bee and Champa Devi Shukla will hand over a trophy and citation, while writer Jyotsna Kamal will present a Rs. 50,000 cheque to Jhodia.

The awards will be presented at a festive ceremony, which will be presided over by Chief Guest Mr. Achyutanandan, vice-chancellor of Makhanlal Chaturvedi National University for Journalism and Communication in Rajendra Bhavan in Bhopal two days after the 23rd anniversary of the Union Carbide disaster.

Jhodia’s award comes at a time when communities in her home state are threatened with eviction to make way for a range of mining and mining-related industries. A resident of Sriguda Goudaguda village in Orissa’s Rayagada district, 45-year old Mukta has locked horns with a Birla-led mining consortium and has mobilized her community to successfully stave off plans to mine the bauxite rich plateaus in her motherland. The mother of a married son and a daughter, Mukta has been a key source of inspiration and awareness among Kashipur’s tribal communities. A fiery speaker, she has tirelessly traveled to tribal villages around Rayagada, often on bicycle with her husband or son, informing them about Birla’s plans to exploit their bheeta mati – motherland.

The Kashipur struggle has seen intense repression. In December 2000, the Orissa police shot dead three tribal men who were part of a gathering to protest Government plans to hold a pro-mining meeting in their village. Jhodia was among the women leaders who stayed behind braving the violence to drive the police away and reclaim the bodies of their dead brethren. Thanks to the steadfast fight put up by the Baphlimali Suraksha Samiti and other adivasi organisations, the project has seen an exodus of mining companies including Norsk Hydro, Tata and Alcan. Jhodia has been a central figure in resisting the damming of Khandani Kharak river for supplying water to the alumina plant. Besides the mining struggles, she has also worked with other villagers to reclaim illegally acquired land from big landlords and distribute it among adivasi farmers.

Inspired by their slogan – “We are Flames, not Flowers” – two Bhopali women survivors from the 1984 gas disaster instituted the Chingari (Embers) Award for Women Against Corporate Crimes. The award is one of three things that Rashida Bee and Champa Devi Shukla decided to do when they set up the Chingari Trust with the $125,000 Goldman Environmental Prize received by them in 2004. Shukla and Bee received the award for sustaining the struggle for justice for the Bhopal survivors against the combined might of the Indian Government, Union Carbide and its successor Dow Chemical. The Trust also aims to provide medical assistance to pollution-affected children born with deformities, and promote ecologically sustainable and socially just livelihood opportunities for gas-affected people. Chingari trustees, members of the awards jury and the award winners are all women.

“The Chingari Award is particularly relevant at this juncture where the Government has made its intentions of submitting to corporate-led globalization extremely clear. The coming years will see some of the world’s most powerful corporations pitted against some of the most marginalized people – adivasis, dalits and peasants – with the police playing hitman for the investors,” said Mukta Jhodia.

A six-person jury, led by Mahashweta Devi, screened 10 nominations from rural areas around the country, and short-listed four women. Other jury members include Ajitha George (Jharkhand), S. Usha (Kerala), Sujata Gothoskar and Mira Sadgopal (Maharashtra) and Pamela Philipose (New Delhi).

“To fight corporate crime, one needs patience, courage, staying power and the ability to withstand mental and physical hardships – all inherently female qualities. We hope that the recognition and the solidarity that will come in the wake of the award will not only strengthen the award recipient’s campaign but also inspire more women to lead struggles against environmental and human rights violations of corporations,” said Chingari managing trustees Rashida Bee and Champa Devi.

The Awards panel clarified that the prize was “more inspirational than competitive.”

THE OTHER HALF / THE HINDU

by KALPANA SHARMA

Fighting for the right to have a say: Mukta Jodia.

 Unresolved corporate crimes

And then there are corporate crimes that also remain unresolved. Remember Bhopal 1984? In one night, 3,000 people died because a leaking plant using poisonous chemicals continued to operate with impunity in the vicinity of a crowded locality of urban poor. Until one cold December night when there was an “accident”. Thousands died, many more lived impaired lives for years and then died and still more continue to carry the burden of poor health for the crime of being near the Union Carbide plant on that fateful night. Yet, the corporation responsible for this “accident” has escaped virtually unscathed.

For the victims of the Bhopal Gas Disaster, the 23-year-old struggle for justice has been relentless and quite often thankless. For every bit of additional compensation, for basic health facilities, for a clean up of the rotting plant that closed down after raining death on its neighbourhood, they have had to petition, demonstrate and fight.

Leading the struggle have been women. Two of them, Rasheeda Bee and Champa Devi were recognised for their efforts when they received the Goldman Environmental Prize (considered an alternate Nobel) in 2004. Now these women have used the prize money of $1,25,000 to set up the Chingari Trust that will seek out others like them around the country and recognise their efforts.

This year, the first ever Chingari Award for Women Against Corporate Crime was given to a 45-year-old tribal woman from Rayagada district in Orissa, Mukta Jhodia.

I haven’t personally met Mukta. But I’ve met others of her sisters from Orissa, women who have fought long and hard for justice — over rights to collect minor forest produce, against corruption in the forest department, for fair wages, and now for the right to decide whether their beautiful land will be gouged out by ugly bauxite mines leaving them without the forests that have sustained their communities for generations.

Women like Mukta are asking: Who has the right to decide how their land should be used? Who are the real owners of the wealth that lies beneath?

These questions have been raised in many different locations around the world — in Australia by the Aborigines, in the United States and Canada by the native Indians, in South America, Africa and in other parts of Asia by indigenous groups. There are no easy answers. In the name of “progress” and “development”, activities like mining and industrialisation are justified. Those pushing for such use of the land argue that tribals and indigenous communities cannot and should not remain “backward”, that ultimately they will benefit from the “development” and that the wealth beneath the ground will be shared by all.

Understanding the issues

So, if these communities resist, are they idiots who do not know what is best for them? From the response of the State, you would imagine that this is what the government thinks. Illiteracy and intelligence are equated. So, because many of the people are unlettered, it is assumed that they cannot understand issues like development, or what is best for them. But they struggle and resist because they do understand, because they do know that in the end they will be left with nothing, not even the ground beneath their feet. So they fight a life and death struggle.

Ask women like Mukta. In her short life, she has been involved in many struggles. But the most daring has been her participation in the resistance to the Utkal Alumina International Limited (UAIL) bauxite mining and processing project in Orissa’s Kashipur district.

In 2000, when the State sent police to break the barricades set up by villagers, Mukta was one of three women who went out to confront the police. In the ensuing firing, three tribal men were shot. That marked the beginning of a more determined phase in the resistance that continues until today. Meanwhile, as a result of this opposition from the local people, several of the big companies that were earlier part of the project have pulled out. But the government is determined to push it through just as much as the local people are determined to stop it.

Lack of transparency

What triggers these struggles is quite often the lack of transparency. The tribals of Kashipur wanted to know from the district officials why their land was being acquired and what would become of them. They did not get straight answers. In a democracy people have the right to ask, to agree or disagree and to resist if their voices are not heeded. We see this repeated in so many different locations around India.

If we want development with a human face, then this dichotomy between the demands of so-called development and the needs of the poorest have to be reconciled. But somehow this is not an area of concern or debate in the India of booming growth, burgeoning cities and self-congratulatory rhetoric.

In the long term, women like Mukta might be bullied and cowed down but they will not give up that easily. They are a reminder of that other India, the real India. An India where there is no electricity, where women still walk miles for water, where children die at childbirth or if they survive the first year, die a few years down the line of hunger, where the only real resource that people have is being snatched away from them in the name of “development”. And where there are many unrecognised heroines like Mukta.

Email the writer: sharma.kalpana@yahoo.com

Mukta Jhodia, tribal woman leader and first recipient of the Chingari Award for Women Fighting Corporate Crime 2007, talks about her relentless struggle against the Utkal Alumina bauxite mining and processing project in Kashipur, Orissa

As Rashida Bee announced the Chingari Award for Women Fighting Corporate Crime 2007, in a crowded auditorium in Rabindra Bhavan, Bhopal, a diminutive, frail woman made her way to the stage and turned to face the flashing cameras with a smile that was both shy and gritty. Champa Devi Shukla read out the award citation, before the garland, trophy and prize money of Rs 50,000 was handed over to Mukta Jhodia, tribal woman leader and first recipient of the award, for her relentless struggle against the Hindalco-led Utkal Alumina bauxite mining and processing project in Kashipur, Orissa

The Chingari Award, which is given annually on December 5, is as unique as the ceremony that marked the event. The audience consisted of survivors of the world’s worst industrial disaster, the Bhopal gas tragedy, and their children (born with congenital defects), friends and well-wishers. They were all there in large numbers to applaud an evening that saw the confluence of woman power, both in the shape of the two women who were giving the award and the woman who was receiving it.

What added to the excitement was the media attention that the event had generated. Rashida Bee (Appa) and Champa Devi Shukla (Didi), both gas survivors and leaders of the impacted community, were realising a collective dream — to recognise and felicitate a woman who represented the most marginalised people, adivasis, dalits, peasants, and their struggle against powerful corporations.

The Chingari Trust was set up in 2004 with the $ 125,000 Goldman Environmental Prize money Appa and Didi received in recognition of their sustained struggle for justice against the combined might of the Indian government, Union Carbide, and its successor Dow Chemicals. By instituting the award, they sought to create a common platform that would bring together women who were highlighting as well as challenging the pitfalls of a corporate-led globalisation.

In the words of the citation: “Mukta Jhodia, a resident of Sriguda Gaudaguda village in Orissa’s Rayagada district, is a courageous leader who has been speaking truth to power for the last 13 years. She has, through her work, come to represent the voice of the marginalised communities of the region who have been struggling against the powerful company, Utkal Alumina International and its consortium of partner companies, which have been involved in bauxite mining in the plateaux of the Kashipur Kalahandi region. Mukta Jhodia along with a group of committed colleagues has had to face brutal repression perpetrated by the government of Orissa and the mining interests. She has proved to be a tenacious crusader against the violation of human rights and the plunder of natural resources by a venal bureaucracy and avaricious business interests… Hers has been, ultimately, a battle to protect her motherland or, as it would translate in the local dialect, her ‘bheeta mati’. Her struggle has the potential to grow and encompass important issues of equity and livelihoods for the local communities.”

I ask permission to interview Mukta Jhodia on the day she is leaving Bhopal. Instantly, she makes space for me in the room they are staying in, in the Chingari office. She speaks with enormous clarity and conviction, and she pauses at every point so that the translator can get across the meaning of what she is saying. When I ask her to express her feelings about receiving the Chingari Award, she looks at me with twinkling eyes and says: “I have to put a question to you. On what basis was I given the award?” I explain as best I can, but I think she was letting me know that awards are only institutional recognition. The story of her people’s struggle goes way beyond any formal endorsement.

What follows is the story of this remarkable woman, in her own words.

Glimpses of Mukta Jhodia’s early life: “I come from a family of farmers, and right from the early days I have been involved in sowing, cutting and harvesting the fields. We own about five acres of land where we grow rice, ragi, makki. We also grow fruits such as leetchi, mangoes and bananas. I never went to school but my children are more educated. My daughter knows how to read and write, and my younger son has gone to primary school. The village I stay in is very remote. But it is also very beautiful. Nature is lovely and grand; the beauty, tranquillity was all lost after the company came and spoilt the peace in our lives.”

How the company changed their lives: “Once the company began intruding into our lives, village life changed. Now peace is lost, and there is trouble. People are divided along lines of those who support the resistance movement and those who support the company. I think the root cause of all this is fear of the police. Fear because the police can pick anyone up, without cause or reason, even as we go about our daily lives. One man, Vishwanath, was picked up and sent to jail. He has been there for the last two months. His wife and children are left without anyone to work in the field. Some villagers help in the field work so that they do not starve. Soon after his arrest, we held meetings. But we cannot trust each other because the company pays money to some to win them over. They act as spies. They tell the company to arrest dissident villagers in order to frighten the rest and silence them.

“For the last many years I have been trying to mobilise members of my community to oppose the company. I have travelled to nearby villages and talked to people. I want them to realise that the company is acting out of greed, for our hills and plateaux are rich in bauxite and they want to set up mining-related industries there. In the process they are threatening to evict us from our own motherland. I make speeches and I try to fill them with the fire that rages in my mind. My husband and son are very supportive. They travel with me and take me from village to village. The path is dangerous, and in the rainy season it is difficult to travel by foot. What I want to tell everyone is that we are up against a powerful enemy; this company does not care for our rights and is ready to dispossess us of our land.”

Different phases of the struggle: “Our group is called the Prakrutik Sampada Suraksha Parishad. I am only a member of the group. I have no official position of power. We have more than 1,000 members. Yes, you can say I have the inner strength to fight for the rights of my people. I believe I have the power to lead my people and inspire them.

“The only way we can show the company that we will go on resisting their attempts to take away our land, where we grow our crops and which provides us with our livelihood, is by actively stopping them from evicting us. So we did a chakka jam in Rukma village by stopping company cars and buses from entering the factory site. We were more than 2,500 people, and we sat from 10 am to 6 pm right in front, blocking the road and shouting slogans and carrying banners. The police surrounded us and literally formed a wall. People from three villages who have been displaced joined us. Ultimately, 26 villages will be affected. The government knows that the problem will keep becoming bigger and bigger if people’s opposition to the mining project keeps growing in strength. So the police is instructed to use maximum force. We are constantly being threatened and false cases are being put on us. Many of us are in hiding and cannot travel openly. We take the path through the interior jungles and we do not travel during daylight. Life has become very difficult. The company also sends its goondas to attack our peaceful meetings, and if we protest then we are charged with kidnapping and even murder of company officials. But nothing can stop us. We keep creating blockades by digging up roads and taking out rallies and sitting in dharnas.

“Once we gheraoed the panchayat of Gaudaguda village and placed before them the larger issues of livelihood, public distribution system, healthcare and government schemes to rehabilitate displaced people. We did this because we wanted to draw in people who had stopped participating in the movement out of fear. We wanted to draw attention to the real problems faced by villagers. We wanted to keep the struggle going. In this connection, we held a rally. As a reaction to our action, the BDO (block development officer) advised the sarpanch to start providing ration to stop the movement. They believe in dividing the villagers by promising jobs. But the fight has to continue for there is real threat to our freedom.”

The brutal face of repression: “The worst face of repression happened in 2000 when the police came to Maikanch and tried to stop us from taking part in a peaceful gathering to protest against the government’s plans to allow mining to take place. The police was brutal and killed three tribal men. My co-workers and I, we stayed behind and faced the police and reclaimed the bodies. We refused to give information about our leaders and this enraged the police. They were armed and they threatened to rape the women and to attack those who are vulnerable, like women, old people and children. But no amount of threats can prevent us from being united. A few days later, thousands of people gathered to plan the next phase of action. I spoke to the gathering so that I could give them courage.”

What inspires Mukta Jhodia: “It is our struggle that keeps me going. I remember my father’s village. They were displaced. My father, his brothers and sisters had to leave the village. It is 15 years since I have met them. It is this separation from my loved ones that strengthens my resolve to fight. My land is being ravaged, lives are being torn apart. It is not enough to give us compensation. Money will finish one day, but land is forever. It is our natural wealth. Tribal festivals continue for 12 months of the year. But all that is gradually going. Once the company succeeds in displacing us, our heritage, our religion, our cultural practices will all vanish. I will never give up the struggle. I never feel fear. I feel angry and sad. And the smallest of our successes makes me happy. I fight for my‘bheeta mati’, which is my property, my right. I am ready to die for the hills, forests and the rivers.”

On winning the Chingari Award: “Vidyaji was in Bhubaneswar and she gave me the news over the phone. I was happy for the recognition. My fellow members of the Parishad were also very happy. Our movement is going through a critical phase. People are afraid to come out and fight. What we need is strength of numbers. I want to ask more people to join. The award will be good for our struggle. When I go back I will show everyone the trophy and the pictures, and take them around the village. Also, people have taken my interview and I hope it will spread news about our struggle and make our movement stronger.

“It has been a good experience to meet people who are here fighting another company, which caused so much damage because of the gas leak. I am impressed by their work. I want to thank them for their 23 long years of struggle. If so many people can hold on to such a long struggle, then it gives us hope. I feel proud to have got the Chingari Award.”

(Suroopa Mukherjee is staff advisor of We for Bhopal, a students group based at Delhi University and committed to the fight for justice for survivors of the Bhopal gas tragedy. The aim is to create awareness about the pressing issues of environmental pollution, violations of human rights and corporate crime)

Bywords, Indian Express

Suroopa Mukherjee

Mukta Jhodia is a diminutive tribal woman who has displayed exemplary courage

On December 5, Bhopal’s Rabindra Bhavan witnessed an unusual event. Rashida Bee and Champa Devi Shukla, two women survivors of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy, announced the first ‘Chingari Award for Women Against Corporate Crime’. This year’s awardee was Mukta Jhodia, a 45-year-old tribal woman leader from Sriguda Goudaguda in Orissa’s Rayagada district. She was being recognised for her relentless battle against the Hindalco-led Utkal Alumina’s bauxite mining and processing project in Kashipur, Orissa. The audience, consisting of the gas tragedy survivors of the world’s worst industrial disaster that took place in Bhopal on the night of December 2-3, 1984, along with friends and well-wishers, applauded the unique nature of the award.

Rashida Bee and Champa Devi, who had been awarded the Goldman Environment Prize — worth $125,000 in 2004, have set up this annual award, which consists of a trophy, citation and prize money of Rs 50,000. They wanted it as a means to recognise women who have resisted or have helped organise resistance to corporate and government wrongdoing. A six-person all-women jury, led by Mahashweta Devi, screened the ten nominations for this year and short-listed four women from different parts of the country.

As Mukta Jhodia climbed on to the stage and turned to face the flashlights, one saw a frail, diminutive, shy tribal woman transform herself into a gritty leader, who had shown rare commitment to a cause despite enormous personal risk and hardship. Some 60,000 people in her region faced the danger of getting displaced and the villages there stood to lose 75 per cent of cultivable land in the area because of the mining activities. Mukta has been in the forefront of a resistance movement, which began in 1995 and has successfully organised chakka jams, dharnas, road blockades.

Given this background, Mukta Jhodia’s words at the award ceremony have great resonance: “The award will strengthen the movement, which is going through a critical phase. The state government is spreading terror by arresting leaders and using police repression to divide villagers. The peace and harmony is lost. In the year 2000 in Maikanch, three tribal men were killed during a peaceful demonstration. When I and my fellow activists refused to give information on our leaders, the police beat us up.”

Despite false charges levelled against her and other members of the Prakrutik Sampad Suraksha Parishad, she continues to inspire the villagers with her fiery speeches and her indefatigable energy that takes her across villages through rough terrains — sometimes in the dead of night to avoid arrest — so that her people can unite against the violation of their human rights. For Mukta Jhodia, ‘bheeta mati’ — the motherland — is the natural heritage and property of her people. For its forests and its rivers, she is willing to sacrifice everything.

The writer is a fellow at Nehru Memorial Museum and Library Teen Murti

Chingari award honours unsung heroines

Rubina Khan Shapoo, NDTV, December 6, 2007

It’s a small effort to honour unsung heroines. In Bhopal, women are taking on fighting corporate giants in rural areas who threaten them with eviction in the name of development. This is kind of world’s first award, decided by women for women.

Forty-five-year old Mukta Jhodi, a tribal from Orissa’s Rayagada district is the proud winner of the first Chingari award.

She tirelessly led a 14 year struggle against the Hindalco-led Utkal Alumina’s bauxite mining project, when her tribal community was threatened with eviction to make way for mining companies. She stopped the consortium from exploiting her ”bheetamati” - the Motherland and vowed to protect the fragile environment.

”I will not leave my motherland and will not let the company take over,” said Mukta.

What makes the award more significant is that it is purely an initiative of two women survivors of the world’s worst ever-chemical disaster that struck Bhopal in 1984.

They fought relentlessly for justice in one of the longest running fights against corporate crime. And set up an award from the 1,25,000 dollar Goldman Environment Prize, they received in 2004.

”This is an award out of an award and it would be presented every year to a woman who is taking on corporate giants,” said Rashida Bi, Goldman Environment Prize winner of 2004.

A six member all-women jury, led by eminent writer Mahashweta Devi chose the winner after screening nominations from rural areas in the country.

Nandigram, Bhopal gas victims and thousands of displaced people across the country are fighting for justice for survival. It is ironical, today the world’s most powerful corporations seem to be pitted against some of the most marginalised people.

Jhodia to get Chingari Award

Statesman News Service

BHUBANESWAR, Dec. 5: Mukta Jhodia, the champion of 14-year old struggle against the mining companies in Orissa, has won the first Chingari Award for Women Fighting Corporate Crime. She will be handed over a trophy, citation and a cash award of Rs 50,000 in Bhopal. A six-person jury, led by Mahashweta Devi, had screened 10 nominations from rural areas around the country, and short-listed four women for the award.

A resident of Sriguda Goudaguda village in Orissa’s Rayagada district, the 45-year old has mobilised the local populace to stave off plans to mine the bauxite rich plateaus.

According to Debjeet Sarangi, she has played important roles in mining struggle in Kashipur and reclaiming illegally acquired land from big landlords and distribute it among adivasi* farmers.

The Chingari Award is particularly relevant at this juncture where the government has made its intentions of submitting to corporate-led globalisation extremely clear. The coming years will see some of the world’s most powerful corporations pitted against some of the most marginalised people like adivasis, dalits and peasants, with the police playing hitman for the investors,” said Mukta Jhodia in a statement.

Mukta Jhodia wins first Chingari Award

*Pioneer News Service | Bhubaneswar*

After fighting relentlessly against industrial houses in Rayagarh’s Kashipur block, tribal icon 45-year-old Mukta Jhodia on Wednesday was chosen for the first Chingari Award for women fight against corporate crimes, sources close to Mukta told *The Pioneer* here.

Inspired by the slogan — “We are Flames, not Flowers” — two Bhopali women survivors from the 1984 gas disaster instituted the Chingari (Embers) Award for Women against Corporate Crimes. A six-person jury, led by Mahashweta Devi, screened 10 nominations from rural areas around the country, and short-listed four women. Other jury members include Ajitha George (Jharkhand), S Usha (Kerala), Sujata Gothoskar and Mira Sadgopal (Maharashtra) and Pamela Philipose (New Delhi). Jhodia, a tribal woman leader fighting against the Hindalco-led Utkal Alumina’s bauxite mining and processing project in Kashipur will receive the award with a cash prize of Rs 50,000 at a special function in Bhopal.

Leaders of the struggle for justice in Bhopal Gas Tragedy Rashida Bee and Champa Devi Shukla will hand over a trophy and citation, while writer Jyotsna Kamal will present a sum of Rs 50,000 to Jhodia at a festive ceremony, which will be presided over by Achyutanandan, Vice-Chancellor of Makhanlal Chaturvedi National University for Journalism and Communication in Rajendra Bhavan in Bhopal two days after the 23rd anniversary of the Union Carbide disaster.

A resident of Sriguda Goudaguda village in Rayagada district,Mukta has locked horns with a Birla-led mining consortium and has mobilised her community to successfully stave off plans to mine the bauxite rich plateaus in her motherland. The mother of a married son and a daughter, Mukta has been a key source of inspiration and awareness among Kashipur’s tribal communities.

Photos of the awards event:

Sify News, 05 December , 2007

Inspired by their slogan – “We are Flames, not Flowers” – two Bhopali women survivors from the 1984 gas disaster instituted the Chingari (Embers) Award for Women Against Corporate Crimes. The award is one of three things that Rashida Bee and Champa Devi Shukla decided to do when they set up the Chingari Trust with the $125,000 Goldman Environmental Prize received by them in 2004. Shukla and Bee received the award for sustaining the struggle for justice for the Bhopal survivors against the combined might of the Indian Government, Union Carbide and its successor Dow Chemical. The Trust also aims to provide medical assistance to pollution-affected children born with deformities, and promote ecologically sustainable and socially just livelihood opportunities for gas-affected people. Chingari trustees, members of the awards jury and the award winners are all women.

“The Chingari Award is particularly relevant at this juncture where the Government has made its intentions of submitting to corporate-led globalization extremely clear. The coming years will see some of the world’s most powerful corporations pitted against some of the most marginalized people – adivasis, dalits and peasants – with the police playing hitman for the investors,” said Mukta Jhodia.

A six-person jury, led by Mahashweta Devi, screened 10 nominations from rural areas around the country, and short-listed four women. Other jury members include Ajitha George (Jharkhand), S. Usha (Kerala), Sujata Gothoskar and Mira Sadgopal (Maharashtra) and Pamela Philipose (New Delhi).

“To fight corporate crime, one needs patience, courage, staying power and the ability to withstand mental and physical hardships – all inherently female qualities. We hope that the recognition and the solidarity that will come in the wake of the award will not only strengthen the award recipient’s campaign but also inspire more women to lead struggles against environmental and human rights violations of corporations,” said Chingari managing trustees Rashida Bee and Champa Devi.

The Awards panel clarified that the prize was “more inspirational than competitive.”

MORE IMAGES FROM TODAY’S PRESS CONFERENCE

<small>(First First Row Left to Right Ambai Majahi, Gharsel Thodia, Suman Thodia- Second row: Tilai Thodia, Bhaghrati Thodia, Dipti Mudah)</small>

CITATION

The Chingari Trust is proud to announce the first recipient of the annual Chingari Award for Women Against Corporate Crime, 2007. Mukta Jhodia, a resident of Sriguda Goudaguda village in Orissa’s Rayagada district, is a courageous leader who has been speaking truth to power for the last 13 years. She has, through her work, come to represent the voice of the most marginalized communities of the region who have been struggling against the powerful company, Utkal Alumina International, and its consortium of partner-companies, which have been involved in bauxite mining in the plateaus of the Kashipur Kalahandi region. Mukta Jhodia, along with a group of committed colleagues, has had to face the brutal repression perpetrated by the government of Orissa and the mining interests, and do this with minimal resources and support. She has, over more than a decade, proved to be a tenacious crusader against the violation of human rights and the plunder of natural resources by a venal bureaucracy and avaricious business interests.

Despite her frail and diminutive frame, Mukta Jhodia has through this difficult struggle displayed a rare tenacity and admirable qualities of leadership. While she inspires the respect and admiration of her associates, her opponents have come to regard her as a formidable force. Hers has been, ultimately, a battle to protect her motherland or, as it would translate in the local dialect, her ‘bheeta mati’. Her struggle has the potential to grow and encompass important issues of equity and livelihoods for the local communities.

Mukta Jhodia has steadfastly kept the “chingari” spirit of struggle alive. It is therefore with pride and gratitude that we salute this outstanding torch-bearer of justice and bestow upon her the Chingari Award for Women Against Corporate Crime, 2007.

CHINGARI AWARD FOR WOMEN AGAINST CORPORATE CRIME, 2007

This is arguably the world’s first award for women fighting corporate crime and the first time recipient of the award is being honored in a ceremony in Bhopal on the 5^th of December, 2007, as part of the week-long activities surrounding the 23^rd anniversary of the 1984 Bhopal gas disaster. This award is also unique in that it celebrates the strength of women.

Inspired by their own slogan – “We are Flames, not Flowers” – two Bhopali women survivors from the 1984 gas disaster instituted the Chingari (Embers) Award for Women Against Corporate Crime. The award, which includes a trophy, citation and Rs. 50,000 in cash, is one of three things that Rashida Bee and Champa Devi Shukla decided to do when they set up the Chingari Trust with the $125,000 Goldman Environmental Prize received by them in 2004. Shukla and Bee received the award for sustaining the struggle for justice for the Bhopal survivors against the combined might of the Indian Government, Union Carbide and its successor Dow Chemical.

The struggle for justice in Bhopal is one of the longest-running fights against corporate crime and Government collusion. The December 3, 1984, gas leak from Union Carbide’s pesticide factory in Bhopal killed more than 8000 and hurt lakhs more. Survivors of the disaster are now joined by their children in a fight to force the Government to hold Dow Chemical – Union Carbide’s new owner – accountable for the lingering liabilities in Bhopal.

The Chingari Award will annually recognize one woman who is working at great personal risk and hardship to expose and fight human rights excesses of corporations. The Chingari Award is particularly relevant at this juncture where the Government has made its intentions of submitting to corporate-led globalization extremely clear. The coming years will see some of the world’s most powerful corporations pitted against some of the most marginalized people – adivasis, dalits and peasants – with the State flexing their power against the very sections of society they are meant to protect.

The all women, six-member jury, is led by renowned Bengali writer and activist Mahasweta Devi and includes social activist and author Sujata Gothoskar (Mumbai), eminent journalist Pamela Phillipose (New Delhi), health activist Meera Sadgopal (Pune), environmental activist S. Usha (Trivandrum) and social activist Ajitha Susan George (Jharkhand). The jury received and screened 10 nominations from rural areas around the country, and short-listed four women.

KASHIPUR STRUGGLE AND MUKTA JODHIA

In 1992, Utkal Alumina International Limited (UAIL) formed a $1 billion joint venture between Alcan(Canada), Hindalco (Aditya Birla group), Tata and Norsk Hydro (Norway) to mine 200 million tones of bauxite every year from Baplimali hills and transport it to a distance of 22 km to a refinery at D. Karol in Kucheipadar village in Rayagada. The company proposed to produce 1 million tonnes of Alumina to begin with, to be expanded to 3 million tonnes during the course of the project. In 2001, TATA and Norsk Hydro withdrew from the project following large-scale public protests. Finally in 2007, Alcan was forced to withdraw from the project due to allegations of large scale human rights violations and use of state sponsored terror to forcibly acquire land.

A scathing report published by an independent researcher Robert Goodland in March 2007 says “Violence is one of the biggest impacts of the Utkal project. The literature shows that violence by government officials against Adivasis is widely used as a tool in the name of development in Orissa, and Utkal is no exception”. This report formed the basis for Alacan’s withdrawal from the project. Meanwhile the 325,000 tonne bauxite smelter near Kucheipadar has been approved for SEZ status.

Over the years different estimates have shown that more than 60,000 people will be directly affected by the project and many villages will stand to lose 75% of cultivable land and will not even be considered displaced.

People of Kashipur started resisting the project in1995, when several teams started coming into the Kashipur Block to survey families who would be affected by the UAIL Project and conduct geo-hydrological studies. People of affected panchayats of Kucheipadar, Dongasil, Hadiguda, Maikanch, Kodipari wrote petitions to the District Collector asking for information about the project and how it would impact their life and livelihoods. Although people received no information from the officials, in 1996 a process of forced land acquisition was started. People were coerced using police force, false charges and arrests to give up their land. About 20,000 people gathered in front of the UAIL opposing the project and the state’s use of violence.

Villagers erected road blockades, dug up roads, stopped entry of all corporation and government officials to the area. In 1998, the state police used excessive force and violence to break people’s blockades to help UAIL vehicles to enter the area. The mercenaries of the company viciously attacked the peaceful meeting of the villagers. In 1998, in a public poll, 96% villagers rejected the project and boycotted the public hearing organized by the Orissa Pollution Control Board. Unmindful of people’s resistance, project officials and state government tried to build rehabilitation colony in 1998, tried to create tension within villagers. Visiting representatives of HydroNorsk were taken to kucheipadar village to a public hearing in 1998 where people voiced their opposition to the project. For this 60 people were falsely implicated for attempted murder and kidnapping of the company officials.

For the last 14 years, Mukta Jhodia has been a key figure in the resistance movement in Kashipur. In 1998, she led a 2000 strong chakka jam (road blockade) in village Rukma stopping entry of company vehicles. She led numerous rallies and made public speeches which inspired more women and men to join the struggle. She was also a tireless worker, going from village to village, frail, and tiny as she was. Her village meetings and her instant rapport enabled other women to develop the courage to come out of their homes and brave police guns.

In 1999, Mukta, and other people in her village were implicated in false case, even as they were attacked by a pro-mining lobby. This, however did not deter Mukta, nor the others in her village, and they kept the anti-mining struggle alive.

In December 2000, when three platoons of police came to Maikanch, Mukta and two other women faced them first. When Mukta and her friends refused to answer the queries of the police about the whereabouts of the leaders of the movement, they were beaten by the police. Three persons lost their lives in this instance of police brutality. This did not deter Mukta Jhodia but spurred her on in her struggle. Four days after this incident, Mukta made a fiery speech of courage and determination to a gathering of 10,000 people inspiring them to continue with their struggle to protect their motherland.

From December 2004 till mid-2005, the state armed police with the Indian Reserve Battalion laid seize of the area, threatened women with rape, brutally attacked men, women and children when they resisted construction of road to the mining area by the company. More than 200 people were falsely charged, 52 people were illegally detained and then imprisoned up to 4-6 months. Till date, people who were falsely implicated can not move freely in the area and are under constant threat of arrests.

In 2005, when the state tried to construct a police station in D Karol for protection of the corporation, Mukta and others protested against it since they knew that this would escalate violence against the peaceful resistance of the people.

This is the story of Kashipur struggle which has seen intense state repression and corporate abuse and fought back valiantly led by leaders like Mukta Jhodia, a woman inspiring people to fight for justice and to dare to keep the fight against corporate crime alive despite all odds.

PRESS STATEMENT

5^th December 2007, Bhopal/New Delhi:

The 14-year old struggle against mining giants in Orissa got a shot in the arm today after Mukta Jhodia, a tribal woman leader fighting against the Hindalco-led Utkal Alumina’s bauxite mining and processing project in Kashipur, Orissa, won the first Chingari Award for Women Fighting Corporate Crime. Goldman Award winners and leaders of the struggle for justice in Bhopal Rashida Bee and Champa Devi Shukla will hand over a trophy and citation, while writer Jyotsna Kamal will present a Rs. 50,000 cheque to Jhodia. The awards will be presented at a festive ceremony which will be presided over by Chief Guest Mr. Achyutanandan, vice-chancellor of Makhanlal Chaturvedi National University for Journalism and Communication in Rajendra Bhavan in Bhopal two days after the 23^rd anniversary of the Union Carbide disaster.

Jhodia’s award comes at a time when communities in her home state are threatened with eviction to make way for a range of mining and mining-related industries. A resident of Sriguda Goudaguda village in Orissa’s Rayagada district, 45-year old Mukta has locked horns with a Birla-led mining consortium and has mobilized her community to successfully stave off plans to mine the bauxite rich plateaus in her motherland. The mother of a married son and a daughter, Mukta has been a key source of inspiration and awareness among Kashipur’s tribal communities. A fiery speaker, she has tirelessly traveled to tribal villages around Rayagada, often on bicycle with her husband or son, informing them about Birla’s plans to exploit their “bheeta mati” – motherland.

The Kashipur struggle has seen intense repression. In December 2000, the Orissa police shot dead three tribal men who were part of a gathering to protest Government plans to hold a pro-mining meeting in their village. Jhodia was among the women leaders who stayed behind braving the violence to drive the police away and reclaim the bodies of their dead brethren. Thanks to the steadfast fight put up by the Baphlimali Suraksha Samiti and other adivasi organisations, the project has seen an exodus of mining companies including Norsk Hydro, Tata and Alcan. Jhodia has been a central figure in resisting the damming of Khandani Kharak river for supplying water to the alumina plant. Besides the mining struggles, she has also worked with other villagers to reclaim illegally acquired land from big landlords and distribute it among adivasi farmers.

Inspired by their own slogan – “We are Flames, not Flowers” – two Bhopali women survivors from the 1984 gas disaster instituted the Chingari (Embers) Award for Women Against Corporate Crimes. The award is one of three things that Rashida Bee and Champa Devi Shukla decided to do when they set up the Chingari Trust with the $125,000 Goldman Environmental Prize received by them in 2004. Shukla and Bee received the award for sustaining the struggle for justice for the Bhopal survivors against the combined might of the Indian Government, Union Carbide and its successor Dow Chemical. The Trust also aims to provide medical assistance to pollution-affected children born with deformities, and promote ecologically sustainable and socially just livelihood opportunities for gas affected people. Chingari trustees, members of the awards jury and the award winners are all women.

“The Chingari Award is particularly relevant at this juncture where the Government has made its intentions of submitting to corporate-led globalization extremely clear. The coming years will see some of the world’s most powerful corporations pitted against some of the most marginalized people – adivasis, dalits and peasants – with the police playing hitman for the investors,” said Mukta Jhodia.

A six-person jury, led by Mahashweta Devi, screened 10 nominations from rural areas around the country, and short-listed four women. Other jury members include Ajitha George (Jharkhand), S. Usha (Kerala), Sujata Gothoskar and Mira Sadgopal (Maharashtra) and Pamela Philipose (New Delhi).

“To fight corporate crime, one needs patience, courage, staying power and the ability to withstand mental and physical hardships – all inherently female qualities. We hope that the recognition and the solidarity that will come in the wake of the award will not only strengthen the award recipient’s campaign but also inspire more women to lead struggles against environmental and human rights violations of corporations,” said Chingari managing trustees Rashida Bee and Champa Devi.

The Awards panel clarified that the prize was “more inspirational than competitive.”

Contact:

Bhopal: Rashida Bee/Champa Devi Shukla: 0755-2747500 / 09425688215 (cell-Rashida)

New Delhi: Shalini Sharma: 09891442037

Chingari Trust
44 Sant Kanwar Ram Nagar
Berasia Road
462018 Madhya Pradesh
India

http://www.chingaritrust.org/

The world’s first award for women fighting corporate crimes will be announced in Bhopal on 5 December, 2007, as part of the week-long activities surrounding the 23rd anniversary of the 1984 Bhopal gas disaster. Inspired by their own slogan – “We are Flames, not Flowers” – two Bhopali women survivors from the 1984 gas disaster instituted the Chingari (Embers) Award for Women Against Corporate Crime.

The award, which includes a trophy, citation and Rs. 50,000 in cash, is one of three things that Rashida Bee and Champa Devi Shukla decided to do when they set up the Chingari Trust with the $125,000 Goldman Environmental Prize received by them in 2004. Shukla and Bee received the award for sustaining the struggle for justice for the Bhopal survivors against the combined might of the Indian Government, Union Carbide and its successor Dow Chemical.

The Chingari Trust and Awards are an all woman affair. Chingari trustees, members of the awards jury and the award winners are all women.

The Chingari Award will annually recognize one woman who is working at great personal risk and hardship to expose and fight human rights excesses of corporations. “The Chingari Award is particularly relevant at this juncture where the Government has made its intentions of submitting to corporate-led globalization extremely clear. The coming years will see some of the world’s most powerful corporations pitted against some of the most marginalized people – adivasis, dalits and peasants – with the police playing hitman for the investors,” said Suroopa Mukherjee, chairperson of the Trust and Reader at Hindu College in New Delhi.

A six-person jury, led by Mahashweta Devi, screened 10 nominations from rural areas around the country, and short-listed four women. One of the four will receive the 1st Chingari Award at a ceremony at Rajendra Bhavan, Bhopal, on 5 December. The award will be given away by Shri Achyutanand Mishra, Vice Chancellor of Makhanlal Chaturvedi Rashtriya Patrakarita Evam Sanchar Vishwavidyalaya, Bhopal. Other jury members include Ajitha George (Jharkhand), S. Usha (Kerala), Sujata Gothoskar and Mira Sadgopal (Maharashtra) and Pamela Philipose (New Delhi).

“To fight corporate crime, one needs patience, courage, staying power and the ability to withstand mental and physical hardships – all inherently female qualities. We hope that the recognition and the solidarity that will come in the wake of the award will not only strengthen the award recipient’s campaign but also inspire more women to lead struggles against environmental and human rights violations of corporations,” said Chingari managing trustees Rashida Bee and Champa Devi.

The struggle for justice in Bhopal is one of the longest-running fights against corporate crime and Government collusion. The December 3, 1984, gas leak from Union Carbide’s pesticide factory in Bhopal killed more than 8000 and hurt lakhs more. Survivors of the disaster are now joined by their children in a fight to force the Government to hold Dow Chemical – Union Carbide’s new owner – accountable for the lingering liabilities in Bhopal.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:

Bhopal: Rashida Bee/Champa Devi Shukla:
0755-2747500 / 09425688215 (cell-Rashida)

New Delhi: Shalini Sharma: 09891442037

Chingari Trust
44 Sant Kanwar Ram Nagar
Berasia Road
Bhopal 462018
Madhya Pradesh
India

Telephone: +91 (0)755 274 7500

Email: chingaritrust@gmail.com
Website: www.chingaritrust.org