Rise of Popular Movements

The Chipko Movement: • The Chipko Movement ('Chipko' means 'to hug' or 'to cling to') was a grassroots environmental movement that emerged in the Garhwal Himalaya of Uttar Pradesh (now Uttarakhand) in 1973. • It is famous for its method: villagers — primarily women — hugged trees to prevent them from being cut by commercial contractors. Background: • The Himalayan forests had been subject to increasing commercial logging — contractors from outside came to cut trees. • Local communities depended on forests for fodder, firewood, water, and their livelihoods. • Deforestation was causing soil erosion, floods, and landslides — devastating local agriculture. Key Events: • 1973: In Mandal village, women hugged trees to save them from a sporting goods company's contractors — the immediate trigger. • Gaura Devi and the women of Reni village (1974): The most iconic Chipko action — women embraced trees for three days, preventing felling. • Sunderlal Bahuguna: The key intellectual and publicist of the movement — spread its message nationally and internationally. His rallying cry: 'Ecology is the permanent economy.' • Chandi Prasad Bhatt: An early organiser who connected Chipko to cooperatives and village development. Demands: • A 10-year ban on commercial felling of green trees in the Himalayan region. • Local communities should have rights over forest resources. • Afforestation and restoration of degraded forests. Achievements: • The Uttar Pradesh government imposed a 10-year moratorium on commercial logging in the region in 1980. • Chipko inspired environmental movements across India and globally. • It became a model for 'environmental feminism' — showing women as key defenders of natural resources. Significance: • Chipko showed that forest conservation was not just an elite, urban concern — it was a survival issue for poor, rural communities. • It connected ecology to livelihood — a powerful synthesis. • Influenced India's Forest Policy (1988) which recognised local communities' rights.

Narmada Bachao Andolan (Save Narmada Movement): • The NBA was a social movement opposing the construction of large dams on the Narmada River — particularly the Sardar Sarovar Dam in Gujarat. • It became one of India's most significant and long-running environmental-social movements. Background — The Narmada Valley Project: • The Narmada River is India's largest west-flowing river, shared by Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Gujarat. • The Narmada Valley Development Project proposed 30 large, 135 medium, and 3,000 small dams. • The Sardar Sarovar Dam (Gujarat) and Narmada Sagar Dam (MP) were the flagship projects. • Promised benefits: Irrigation for millions of acres in drought-prone Gujarat and Rajasthan; drinking water; hydroelectric power. Key Concerns Raised by NBA: • Led by Medha Patkar and Baba Amte — grassroots activists. 1. Displacement: • The Sardar Sarovar Dam alone was projected to submerge hundreds of villages and displace over 200,000 people — mainly Adivasis (tribals) and Dalits. • Critics argued displacement was massively underestimated; rehabilitation was inadequate or non-existent. • 'Oustees' (displaced people) were rarely given replacement land of equal quality. 2. Environmental destruction: • Submergence of forests, wildlife habitat, and sacred sites. • Environmental impact assessment was inadequate. 3. Questioning the 'big dam' model: • The NBA raised fundamental questions: Are large dams the best way to deliver water and power, or are smaller, community-managed water systems more appropriate and equitable? • Critics argued the benefits (irrigation) went to large farmers in Gujarat while the costs (displacement) fell on Adivasis in MP. Response: • The World Bank, which was funding the project, withdrew (1993) after an independent review (the Morse Report) found serious problems. • The Supreme Court issued multiple orders — ultimately allowing dam construction to continue to a certain height with conditions on rehabilitation. Legacy: • The NBA shaped India's rehabilitation and resettlement policy — the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition Act (2013). • It became a model for anti-displacement movements globally.

The Dalit Movement in Post-Independence India: • The Dalits — formerly called 'untouchables' — are India's most marginalised social group, subjected to millennia of caste-based discrimination, forced into degraded occupations, denied education and property. • B.R. Ambedkar's legacy was the foundation of Dalit political assertion in post-independence India. Constitutional Provisions: • Article 17: Abolition of untouchability. • Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities Act, 1989). • Reservations: Articles 15 and 16 provide for reservations in education and government employment. • Political reservations: Reserved constituencies in Parliament and state assemblies. Ambedkar's Legacy: • Ambedkar converted to Buddhism in October 1956 — along with half a million followers — rejecting Hinduism's caste system. • Neo-Buddhism became an assertion of Dalit identity outside the Hindu caste framework. • The Republican Party of India (RPI) carried Ambedkar's political legacy. Naxalite Movement: • In areas of extreme agrarian inequality (Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh), landless Dalit and Adivasi labourers launched revolutionary movements. • Naxalbari (1967): A sharecropper uprising in West Bengal inspired a Maoist movement. • CPI(Maoist) and its predecessors waged armed struggle — significant security challenge. Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP): • Founded by Kanshi Ram in 1984 — built on the concept of 'Bahujan' (majority) — Dalits, OBCs, and religious minorities. • Mayawati led BSP to four terms as UP Chief Minister — demonstrating Dalit political power at the highest level. • BSP's rise represented a revolution in political representation — Dalits as rulers, not just vote banks. Dalit Atrocities and Continuing Struggles: • Despite legal protections, caste violence persists — manual scavenging, untouchability in villages, Dalit women's sexual violence. • Una incident (2016): Dalits beaten for skinning a cow — sparked nationwide protests. • 'Jai Bhim' movement: Growing assertion of Ambedkarite identity among young Dalits. Evolution of Dalit Politics: • From accommodation within Congress (pre-1960s) → Ambedkarite assertion (1950s–70s) → Bahujan movement (BSP, 1980s–) → diverse social movements and political parties.