How did the Dongria tribe take on a huge multinational corporation and win? In this battle that the Dongria fought for such a long time, the group were confronted with many obstacles. Can you give us an idea of what they experienced? Their leaders have been arrested, there have been a lot of threats against them, there has been a lot of pressure and harassment for the community. Theres also been a lot of pressure from the company who have tried to buy them off by claiming that they will bring development. The Dongria have rightly said We dont want development, What sort of development is it, if you destroy our hills? The Dongria have a wonderful agricultural system where they have huge numbers of plants that they cultivate or collect from the forest that enable them to live well and very happily in their hills, as they have done for generations. They say Development for us is being able to live here and make our own choices. Defenders of this mining project have always said that the Dongria, like other tribal people, are among the most impoverished in the country and they need economic development. Isnt that also the case? They certainly dont see themselves as poor and in fact they told us We live like kings. They feel like they live a very wealthy and happy existence in the hills. They themselves look at people in the plains and in the cities and they feel sorry for them. They say, You have to pay for your water, You have to pay for everything, we get it for free in the hills, why would we want to leave. What they want is to be able to live their own way of life on their own land. And, of course, this land is also sacred to them.
Posted on: Sun, 05 Oct 2014 11:07:23 +0000
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