TOPIC OF THE DAY –
“A New Kind Of Chipko”
When environmental impact assessments have become a ritualistic farce in each country and governments react with great prejudice against environmental activists, it is little wonder that the Chipko Movement of Uttarakhand is erased from memory. Today, environmental activists all over tend to be lampooned in the media and social media as anti-national, anti-development saboteurs.
Meanwhile, the task of preserving the forests and landscapes has mostly been relegated to the indigenous communities. You will have the Adivasi communities of the Deccan organising to save ancestral forests, and the indigenous Lepcha fighting against the odds to protect the upper reaches of the Teesta. The urban middle class is not visible in environmentalism, other than in ‘beautification projects’.
Perhaps we have been foolhardy in waiting for another Chipko to emerge, and the changed times may require new approaches. Tomorrow’s activists must work to quantify the economic losses of environmental destruction and get local institutions to act on their ownership of natural resources. The activists must harness information technology so as to engage with the public and to override political frontiers, and they must creatively use the power of the market itself to counter non-sustainable interventions.
As we have seen, the highs of environmental movements are invariably followed by lows, and so to exit the cycle what is needed is an “environmental system” inbuilt into the infrastructure of state and society. Work towards ecological sustainability must go beyond ritual, with the path seeming to lie in the empowerment of local government all over. Elected representatives in cities and districts must be challenged to emerge as the bulwark of environmentalism even as the provincial and national governments are asked to rise to their regulatory responsibilities.
When ‘organic environmentalism’ rises from the grassroots and makes state authority accountable, South Asia and its peoples will be protected. At that point, no force will be able to stop activism across the frontiers and South Asia will begin to tackle pollution and dislocation as one.
WORDS AND MEANINGS –
Ritualistic
Meaning: Invariably performed in the same way.
Example: “The party’s ritualistic display of support for their leader”
Farce
Meaning: An event or situation that is absurd or disorganized.
Example: “The debate turned into a drunken farce”
Synonyms: Absurdity, Mockery
Lampooned
Meaning: Publicly criticize (someone or something) by using ridicule, irony, or sarcasm.
Example: “The actor was lampooned by the press”
Synonyms: Satirize, Mock
Saboteurs
Meaning: A person who engages in sabotage.
Indigenous
Meaning: Originating or occurring naturally in a particular place; native.
Example: “The indigenous peoples of Siberia”
Synonyms: Native, Aboriginal
Antonyms: Expatriate, Migrant
Foolhardy
Meaning: Recklessly bold or rash.
Example: “It would be foolhardy to go into the scheme without support”
Synonyms: Reckless, Rash
Antonyms: Wise
Bulwark
Meaning: A person or thing that acts as a defence.
Example: “The security forces are a bulwark against the breakdown of society”
Synonyms: Protector, Guard
Grassroots
Meaning: Ordinary people regarded as the main body of an organization’s membership.
Example: “You have lost touch with the grass roots of the party”
