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Didi, Dida, Baini, Daju, Bhuli, Bhula, All our relations,

This issue of Prayaga takes the bull by the horns and discusses the Kashmir issue from the point of view of the common Jawan and the average Kashmiri caught in the crossfire. What do we Uttarakhandis, fellow Himalayan people, have to contribute to the discourse that has all but been suppressed by the Kargil conflict? How is Kashmir's predicament common to Uttarakhand? How is it different? What can we do to stop the war and bring peace to the valley other than send our sons to distant battlefields to be sacrificed? How can we best repay the debt they have paid in blood?

The casualties were high, but Garhwal and Kumaon are unfortunately no strangers to sacrificing for the military. However, we owe our Jawans some answers, just as we owe ourselves the truth, however hard it might be. Let us not be afraid to seek it.

Moreover, let us not forget the struggles that continue in all parts of India today. From Narmada to Tehri, Chipko to Bachpan Bachao, people are fighting for their rights. In Uttarakhand, our struggle continues. In this issue, we pause to remember the victories of the past, and in their words, we hear from some of the activists that won the day.

With the sacrifices in Kargil, it is that much more imperative that we make India a better place. Some have given their lives -- Let us dedicate ours.

All our love to you and your family,

R. Rawat
Secretary

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With so many families in the hills of Garhwal and Kumaon who have sons (and daughters) in the military, the conflict in Kashmir has taken a terrible toll. The Garhwal Rifles, as well as other Himalayan regiments (the Gurkha Rifles, Ladakh Scouts, Naga Regiments, and Jammu and Kashmir Infantry) were all entrusted with operations in Kargil. Over 35 men alone from the Rifles were lost, while the total for Uttarakhand has already surpassed 60. They joined their Sikh, Rajasthani, Mahar, and Bihari brothers as a multicultural and multifaith force on the frontlines, suffering the brunt of casualities in defense of the state. Although honoured by a nation in patriotic ferment, the sacrifice of these young men and their families weighs heavily in grieving villages throughout India.

When all is said and done, we must also know why they fought and why they died. Not to know, or to choose to ignore reality does a great disservice to the memories of our youth, sacrificed in the name of defending the country. Our Kashmiri brothers and sisters have an understandably different view, born of years of mismanaged state affairs, police heavy-handedness, and human rights atrocities that have been acute in their state and that has driven some into the arms of the mujahideen militants and others, like the Kashmiri Pandits, out of the state altogether. With the war being fought on their partitioned soil, it is they who have emerged as the true victims of over 50 years of hostilities. Although this time around in Kargil, the situation was clearly a matter of Pakistani-backed infiltration, Kashmir has been burning for the last decade, with no end in sight under the current stalemate over the line-of-control, with the forces of fear and hatred spiraling out of control. Furthermore, the deadly dance of the Indian and Pakistani governments, a bitter legacy of partition, seems set to continue, sapping the energy and resources of the subcontinent while holding hostage the people of the entire region to a neverending and ruinous war of attrition.

As such, the only real solution to Kashmir's problems is not more repression that continues in the name of national unity, but demilitarization of the Himalayan highlands and justice for her people. Rapes, disappearances, and torture should never be excused by the need to maintain "law and order". What the Kashmiris have suffered and what they continue to suffer is little different from atrocities carried out elsewhere, whether in Punjab, Assam, Nagaland, or even our dear Uttarakhand -- ironically lands from where the bravest and most dutiful Jawans of India have come. Militancy arises under such conditions, a simple lesson that goes unheeded in state capitals year after year until bombs explode. As such, the callousness of governments throughout South Asia must end if we are to have a common future. We must stand with all our brothers and sisters who suffer. We cannot wait until "it" happens to one of us.

Therefore, we salute our fallen soldiers who have sacrificed their lives in the performance of their duty. In death, they join the long and distinguished line of brave warriors from the Himalayas. Yet we must continue their work by building a new India for which we can all be proud, free of human rights violations and the arrogance of power that sadly blackens her name in the world. Let us renew our dedication to uplifting our motherland and lead by example, so that the shortcomings of politics never again tarnishes the supreme sacrifice of our boys with more of the same. This is the task of the true patriot, to rejoice in the good, to honour the brave, and to fight evil wherever it may be, especially when done in our country's name, however hard the truth might be.

Jai Jawan!
Badri Vishal Ki Jai!
Kalika Mai Ki Jai!
Bharat Mata Ki Jai!
Jai Hind!

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To help the families who lost sons, brothers, and husbands to the conflict in Kargil, you can send contributions to the Army Central Welfare Fund:

Army Central Welfare Fund
Deputy Director (CW-8)
Adjutant General's Branch
Army Headquarters
West Block-III, R K Puram
New Delhi - 110066 INDIA

Tel : 91-11-6196217; 3018112
Fax : 91-11-3792511; 3375136

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NO OTHER area in India has been affected by the fighting in Kashmir as much as Uttarakhand -- the name given to the hill districts of the state of Uttar Pradesh -- a region which will be a state by itself in a few years. Over 60 bodies have been brought back to these rugged and beautiful mountains that form the rock and ice ridges of the Garhwal Himalaya, considered by mountaineers to be the most beautiful part of the gigantic mountain range.

The population of this area, where hamlets are often accessible only on foot alongsteep bridle paths, has had a long tradition of army service. Almost every village has a few retired army personnel. Many have lost family members to previous conflicts.

Earlier this month, military ambulances wound their way through the mountains and cremation ceremonies were held throughout the area. One regiment alone, the Garhwal Rifles, lost 35 men in the Kargil battle. One of these men, ironically named Kashmir Singh, had lost his father in the 1971 Indo-Pakistan war. Only three members of their immediate family are still alive, all of them women.

The hills of Uttarakhand -- including the districts of Tehri and Pauri Garhwal and Kumaon -- are underdeveloped in many parts, a condition that led directly to the campaign for full statehood which began in the early 90s. Statehood would mean greater autonomy and a greater share of revenues. Because of the underdevelopment -- and lack of economic opportunity combined with environmental degradation -- the male population has traditionally migrated, either to New Delhi to work or to the armed services.

Growing up in rough conditions in a rugged mountain environment, the Garhwali villager is known for his physical toughness and resilience. Enduring monsoon winds and rain, thousands have been turning out for the cremation ceremonies of Garhwali soldiers, brought back from Kargil to their home villages for military funerals. Schools and bazaars have closed as a mark of respect.

India says that it lost over 400 men in the Kargil conflict. Indian generals say 691 Pakistanis were killed. The Pakistanis say 187 of their men were killed by shelling across the ceasefire line, and estimate that about 1,700 Indian soldiers were killed in the conflict.

The Kargil Conflict has caught hold of the country's imagination like no other crisis in recent memory. Everyone seems to be moved by tales of brave Jawans sacrificing their lives in defense of India's borders. Instant heroes, India has rallied around their "boys", showering them with affection and honouring them in death. From the bazaar to vast multi-nationals, everybody is donating to the Prime Minister's National Defence Fund for the Armed Forces. Yet all this comes with reports in the media that the veterans of 1971 and 1965 wars have still not received their rightful due.

Behind all this sudden patriotism there is a dark side. Many of those same Indian middle class families that are donating blood and sending chocolates and pickles to soldiers on the frontlines, hold those same boys in contempt in civil society. Their valour, but not their anguish, can be safely recalled at a distance from air-conditioned rooms of Delhi by people who would not even glance at these poor army men in peacetime. We all know of army officers using poor Jawans for their personal use, right from cleaning their house, polishing their shoes, cooking for them, or taking their children and wives on outings. All these officers seem to take pride in having two or three serving their families. Indeed, Uttarakhandi boys are often favored by these people for their simplicity, honesty, and gentleness. In no other country are so many indignities and so much humiliation heaped on soldiers.

Now, we have heard of people's concerns for the wives and children of Jawans and hence the state government declaring compensation for their kith and kin from RS 500000 to RS 1000000 with plots for houses, agricultural land, and so on and so forth. Some people have offered to adopt the children of the Jawans. Some good souls are also carefully thinking of providing scholarships to the children of the Jawans, who have sacrificed their lives for the country. The stream of good gestures continues. However, no such compensation is in the offing for those brave soldiers who have become "physically challenged". After the war and years in the future, they are destined to become persons of mercy in their own house, looking desperately for odd jobs.

It is nobody's surprise that those killed in Kargil have been in the age group of 18 to 25. A few of them were over 25 but below 30. These Jawans come from poor families in villages. Most of them are married to girls 6-7 years their junior. Hence a Jawan, who has sacrificed his life at the age of 22, has left a widow of 16-17 year of age, with a possibility of a one-year-old child or even younger, left without their Papa.

Here lies the most outrageous part of our society when wrapped up in the hypocrisy of Patriotism. We want to dole out money. We want to adopt a child of a Jawan, but we would never think twice about the future of the widows of these Jawans. The Jawan has to follow the orders of his elders, right or wrong. There is no question of questioning. The widow is herself a Jawan. She has to follow norms of a society that still treats women terribly. Would we not want them to remarry? No, it would amount to treachery in this age of patriotism. She could not even think of another man. She would have to live with the tattered photograph of her husband all through her life, dressed in white with her head covered. She could not wear ornaments and she could not enjoy freedom. Her husband's death no matter how heroic, would be her permanent bondage. Furthermore, can scholarship or adoption really help the children of these Jawans? Don't they require the love of their Papa? Don't they require the care that only a Papa can provide?

All those who genuinely care about the conditions of our Jawan's families, must think more clearly on these matters. Money is not enough. Our society still treats the average Jawan and Jawan's wife shabbily, and this will not change in the future unless our society changes. Before sending our boys to distant battlefields, only to return in body bags or crippled and maimed, all the consequences must be considered. Brave pronouncements on pride in dying for one's country cannot absolve the responsibility of politicians or military commanders in the devastation wrought on whole families by war. Lest we forget, soldiers are human beings too.

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Now my lunch is ready on the table 'rohu' fish that I had cooked last night, and rice. And I remember my brother, my cousin, who is now in the army. For a long time now I have had no contact with him.

He was then very small. He had just started going to school. Everybody used to gaze at him when he ate, because he ate a lot. He was always hungry. He looked at anyone eating anything with his eyes protruding, and saliva drooling down his tongue. His mother, my aunt, scolded him and caught him by ear, "you eating-monger, don't let others eat! Go away. Go! Water the plants in the yard or go study!" He would cry and leave.

Ours was a joint family of fifteen members. All of us stayed in the village except my father who worked in a small distant city. He was the only earning member of the family. We did not always have much food to eat. So we never willingly shared our thali with my little cousin, Badal. He could eat away everything!

We all grew up together. Till I finished my secondary education, we shared our poverty in that huge joint family. Then I obtained a National Scholarship. My father began to see a bright future in me and wanted me to study in the city. We moved to the city and left behind our uncles, aunts, cousin brothers and sisters in the village. My eldest cousin brother, by then, had got a job, a job as a schoolteacher. My eldest uncle took care of the paddy fields. We had a few small paddy fields in the village. My uncle and brothers worked in the fields and grew vegetables in our small yard. Harvest did not last round the year and vegetables were never sufficient. My brothers often caught fish and my auntie set crab-traps in the rainy season. Since my father had now to run a family in the city he was not in a position to send as much money as he used to send earlier. Once in a year he sent clothes for the entire family.

Whenever we went to the village or somebody came from the village, we talked of so many things, of paddy fields, vegetables, each others schools, marks in the half yearly exams, final exams, and many other things. But whenever we spoke of Badal, it was the same old story, "Nowadays he is eating like a horse. His meal is equal to a meal of three or four people! Nobody can feed him!" Everybody laughed, so did Badal. I saw him when he was hardly twelve years old. He was growing up to be a healthy boy. Unbelievable even to my eyes, he could work in the sun for hours without showing any sign of fatigue. A small child as he was, he never complained about food. And everybody liked this quality in him.

He was never good at studies. No one was bothered about his education, and neither was he. He failed once in the matriculation exam but just managed to pass in the next attempt. That remained his only qualification in this world of technology and progress! Now he is eighteen, tall and strongly built. No one can feed him anymore. No one can clothe him anymore. He is a man. He has to look for his own food and clothing.

Meanwhile I was selected by IIT [Indian Institute of Technology], Bombay to continue my higher studies. Before leaving for Bombay, I visited my village. I came to know that Badal had left for Bombay to work in a factory. Wonderful! I will be there as well. I asked for his address. But nobody knew. Strange! "What's the matter?", I inquired. It was for sure that he would work in a factory. But which factory and where it was we didn't know. The contractor said that the boys would be kept in different locations. Only when they were given proper accommodation would the address be communicated, my family members informed me. The story sounded weird. One of my brothers tried to convince me, We had asked him to write to us immediately after he reaches Bombay. I had given him some self-addressed inland letter cards. I wanted to know the matter in detail. So I was told. Badal looked desperately for a job; he moved from place to place but was disappointed wherever he went. In his desperation he saw a ray of hope. A contractor from a nearby village was looking for young boys for recruitment in a factory at Bombay and Badal went to meet him. The contractor gathered some twelve to fifteen boys in all and took them to Bombay for a negotiated salary of Rs.1, 000/- per month.

I realised that too long a time with a half-empty stomach and unending drudgery had pushed him into this uncertain future. I left my contact address with my family members and instructed them to communicate it to Badal as soon as possible. They should also not delay in sending me his address. It was not even a couple of months in Bombay that I received a letter from home about Badal. I went through the contents with utter dismay. Badal had managed to come back home half-dead. After my semester exams I went to the village and heard the rest of his story.

All these boys were given accommodation in a small single room in a slum. They worked in a factory, lifted iron rods and plates from morning till night. Loading and unloading iron, sometimes they worked at construction sites. They worked for two and a half months. At the end of the first month the contractor gave them only half a months salary. The reason given for not paying the full amount was that they might run away. For the whole of the second month they did not see the contractor.

At the end of the month they spoke to the operating manager about their salary. He informed them that their salaries were already given to the contractor. The young men were at a loss. They felt terrorised. They were new to the city. They were all from villages. They had never seen a city before. And this was a huge metropolis. They could not even talk of their state to anyone, as they didn't know how to speak in Hindi. They didn't have enough money to buy the return ticket. And home - two thousand kilometres away!

Without money, without ticket they boarded the train. The little money in their pockets was soon gone. No food to eat. Got caught by the ticket checker thrice. At Bhusaval they were jailed for two days, and for eight days at Secunderabad. When Badal reached home he was beyond recognition, no flesh on his body, sunken eyes; he had lost his speech. What remained was only a drooping skeletal body. With a faint voice he had gasped, "I have not eaten anything for the past three days. Give me something to eat..."

I did not see Badal around. I inquired after him. I was informed that he had opened a tailoring shop in a nearby village. He got enough work. He remained so busy that he did not find time to come home.

I went to see him. His shop was a small cottage with mud walls and a thatched roof. It was by the side of a 'kachha' motorable road near a grazing field. There was not a single person, no one around. I entered the shop. He was working with a paddle sewing machine. I managed to control myself when I saw him he was yet to recover. He stood up to greet me. I could not dare ask, "How are you?" The whole story was clearly visible on his body. I asked him, "How long do you work?" "Till late night. There is enough work." "Do they pay?", I inquired. "No, not really. But I think the business will pick up. Not a single tailor around", he said. His voice was low, yet convincing. He inquired about my studies. We talked for sometime. I mildly joked, "Are you eating heavily now?" He chuckled. I asked him to come home for lunch. He said, "No, not now. I will come in the evening." I left the place. I could hear only the noise of his sewing machine in that lonely sunny deserted place.

After a year or so I met him once again in the village. Looking healthier, though he was not at his best. He was never jovial again. His face was dry and pale. He said, "I have to work hard. No rest since I have opened the shop. People pay very little. I am not able to give even a handful of coins at home. Very difficult to sustain." I noticed that there are many stitches on the seat of the trousers that he was wearing.

Later I come to know that he had joined the army.

It is almost three years now since I saw him last. That was the time when my brother died in a road accident. He had rushed home after getting the news. While discussing his job he expressed his unhappiness.

He did not like the life he was leading at the army camp. He spoke with frustration when he described the hardship he had to undergo and the routine humiliation he had to face. But on killing in a war, he spoke with passion and heated blood, "If the Pakistanis attack us we will kill them." I ask him, "Who are the Pakistanis that attack you? Are they not like you who have joined the army in search of a job? For a meal?, And to send money home? Do they attack you of their own? Or, do you attack them of your own?" He kept quiet. I told him, "The news of the death of your brother has shattered you. And has brought you instantly from Kashmir to Cuttack. Have the Pakistani soldiers a different heart?" He looked at me strangely. He stayed home for as long as a month. Before he finally left for Kashmir he told me, "When I become eligible for pension I will leave the job. I myself don't like to kill anybody."

Now I miss him and I remember him. Once he had returned home half-dead. This time? I don't know. I am afraid. War is on. Hundreds are dying. I see Badal in each and every one of them. They are dying. They are dying because most of them did not have enough food to eat at home. What a life? And now you ask me for donation in the name of Kargil? Enough. You humiliate them in their daily lives and adore them publicly as patriots. You garland them after having killed them and name them martyrs. You have used them and are using them still. What is the reason for? You lie when you say that they are born patriots and love to be martyrs. Stop this. I cannot take it anymore. Bring them back home. Bring them back alive. There is enough food on my table, I have cooked it last night.

-- Bombay, 8 July 1999

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I come from a region that has given birth to some of the most fierce and patriotic soldiers in the world. In 1948, 1965, and now in 1999, the Kumaon and Garhwal regiments have defended our nation with unprecedented ferocity and valor. In fact, the first Paramveer Chakra was awarded to Major Somnath Sharma of the Kumaon regiment posthmously. And all of us stand with pride and honor bequeathed to us by such young men. They have fought for a country that was founded on the principles of equality and justice. A nation born with the dreams of Ramarajya and Swarajya - none of which have become reality.

I cannot forget what Mulayam's government did to the mothers of the men who are laying down their lives for the country today. I cannot because I look upon those women as my mothers and sisters -- a part of my extended family. And that is precisely why I cannot blame a Kashmiri young man of 20 who is seething with rage against the oppressors. To you and I, India is our motherland -- it brings hopes of a bright future and memories of lush green fields, close parents, a great culture, and Sachin Tendulkar. We love India. Yes we do. But does this 20-year-old Kashmiri -- who has the same dreams and hopes love India too? This young man who had his sister gang-raped and father probably tortured to death by our "heroes". Can he? Should he?

And should a Sikh, whose brother was burnt to death in the '84 riots -- should he love India? Are these young men traitors? What would you do if you were them?

I do not blame my high school batchmate in the Army for opening fire when the guy he dined with falls to the ground with blood gushing out of his neck. He is a hero if he dispatches the mercenaries from across the border and he deserves love and respect. Yet I would kill him if I found that he raped a 16-year-old to take revenge on an entire community. The first guy is my friend and he is still a hero -- the latter guy is a war criminal -- he is a barbarian and deserves to be treated as such. So is my relative in the police who savors the memory of having shot three peaceful peasants at the heart of a peasant revolt in Pantnagar. So does the policemen in Bhagalpur and Meerut.

At the same time, we should not forget that the special forces are living in a reign of fear themselves. They are so afraid of even 16-year-olds and this is not always without a reason. They do not perpetrate rapes and murders for fun. They do it because they are scared of death that can come in the form of a child, teenager, or adult. Some of them seek revenge for their fallen comrades while others do it in fear -- in general. The conflict has thus claimed a terrible psychological cost as well.

With all this, we get confused by the terms "nation" and "government." We may elect the people in power but do we get to elect the system in power? The system that raped Atri, the system that killed at least 2,477 Kashmiri civilians in 7 years? Do we get to change it? Do we have the courage to face the reality that such a system indeed exists and that system is not the nation -- at least not MY nation. So what if the Pakistanis and the so called Islamic militants are doing it? They aren't a part of me, but India is such a big part of me. The worst part is that this violence has acquired a systemic shape over the years and there is this feeling somewhere in the administration's psyche that 'they' can be 'controlled' by oppression. It is the same psyche that governed British rule in India. It is this violence that must be stopped now. The government blames Amnesty for being a propaganda machine and we believe the government -- "till it happens to one of us".

My nation does not condone systematic violence against a community or a class. This system doesn't represent me and you and therefore it must go. But as long as this system keeps on perpetrating inhuman atrocities on any of us - be we Kashmiri, Assamese or Naga -- I share in the crimes it commits. I share the guilt because I kept quiet too long, because I escaped into my artificial sanitized world of patriotism.

India is not about the land in Kashmir or the land in Garhwal. India is not Vajpayee or Advani or the political system they represent. India is the people who live in Kashmir and in Garhwal. I am a patriot in that I stand with those people. But I am not a patriot if the word means killing the same people -- whatever the cost may be.

if we want our children to enjoy their lives in the next century, we must ask - Am I beginning to look like Hitler, Roosevelt - or Slobodan Milosevic? Let's give the 21st a chance to be better than the 20th.

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Uttarakhand, the hilly region of Uttar-Pradesh has a very distinct identity from the rest of Uttar Pradesh, yet it was hardly amusing to learn of the Akali leadership of Punjab raising such a hue and cry over the issue of Shaheed Udham Singh Nagar. That the Sikhs could not live within Uttarakhand, as if Uttarakhandis are demons or Uttar Pradesh is a heaven, is a clear mockery of history and historical fact. That Shri Hemkund Sahib is located near the shrines of Badrinath is ample proof of the closeness of the Sikh community with the Uttarakhand region.

The past fifty years have been years of political betrayal for the Uttarakhand people. They were not only betrayed by the anti-Uttarakhand political class but by their own people who did nothing but hand over several plump positions to a few select castes and communities. Uttarakhand remained by and large backward -- where health care is atrocious, where roads are as dangerous as those in Kargil, where students have to travel regularly in the dangerous slopes for their education, where women have to go miles to fetch water. These problems have gone unaddressed by the political as well as social class of Uttarakhand, while the small elite of Uttarakhand has been very effective all over India from media to government machinery. However for them, Uttarakhand meant a certain caste and community like Kisan for Devilal meant Om Prakash Chautala and his family.

Uttarakhand's current problems are not related to Udham Singh Nagar but with Uttarakhand itself. It is based on a money order economy where 70% inhabitants are working in the lower ranks of the Indian armed forces. Other segments of the Uttarakhand population migrated to Delhi and other parts of the country and have ended up securing domestic jobs. Their plight is heartbreaking. Initially, the young Uttarakhandi would join the army rather than coming to Delhi to serve as domestic servants or to wash utensils in hotels, but today that has changed. Even recruitment in the army needs the payment of a bribe, a difficult proposition for Uttarakhandis who do not have land to cultivate and other economic resources to survive.

While, the number of NGOs in other parts of UP is growing, they are relatively few in number. In Uttarakhand, they are working on the core issue of the environment. Uttarakhand is facing huge environmental problems, exacerbated greatly however by the desperate human condition. Unless the NGOs enter the area, there is very little to gain. The youths need training and guidance. Like other parts of the country, there is an elite dominating Uttarakhand who have gained everything in the name of Uttarakhand. This elite has a super status in Delhi. They would not mind appointing their relatives in the areas where they have a manageable presence but they do not feel ashamed when stopping the march of others.

The dirty politics in every sector of Uttarakhand has spoiled the age-old relationship between various communities. There would be no need of the massive migration from Uttarakhand to the Delhi slums had there been a proper socio-cultural movement in Uttarakhand and proper guidance for youths on the hazards of migration. The grim reality is that even in government jobs, the sole criteria is caste and community. This has further widened the gulf among various communities in the region.

We cannot defend the indefensible in the name of culture and tradition. But those of us who have migrated to cities and are in a better condition have a duty towards our people. How can we help the people of our region? Moreover, how can we contribute to the development of our region when no institution can be trusted, from the government to the political class, which have used power and position for their own benefit?

I am sure despite political differences, many of us share a common concern for the development of Uttarakhand and its people. Hence, it is required that we organise a seminar on various issues that the Uttarakhandi people are facing. A possible consensus could emerge after this and a programme chalked out for further action. Every year we have watched tragedies strike the Uttarakhand people. Last year it was Malpa's landslide, this year the earthquake, and soon after that we have seen innocent lives lost in Kargil. Many Jawans from the hills were killed and we do not know whether this will continue into the 21st century or not. If yes, and if we want to change course, then all those who owe their birth to Uttarakhand and love its culture, traditions, and heritage must respond to this call and ponder over what can be done for their fellow Uttarakhandis.

The following paper topics are suggested for activists and intellectuals belonging to Uttarakhand:

1. Uttarakhand Movement and It's direction: Does it represent people's sentiments?
   
   
2. Political leadership in Uttarakhand: Did it come up to the expectations of the people?
   
   
3. Who are backwards in Uttarakhand? Need for a caste-based census to find out castewise data on literacy, education, and employment profile.
   
   
4. Migration from Uttarakhand: Its pattern and people.
   
   
5. Difficulty of non-resident Uttarakhandis in other parts of India: The effect of cultural assimilation.
   
   
6. Agenda for development in Uttarakhand: Environmental groups need to talk to the people.
   
   
7. Need for development of tourism industry in Uttarakhand.
   
   
8. Networking of Uttarakhand Diaspora spread all over the world.
   
   
9. The issue of Dalits and backward classes in Uttarakhand.
   
   
10. Identity crisis of migrant Uttarakhandis.

The seminar can be organised in Delhi or any part of Uttarakhand including Dehradun, Kotdwar, Srinagar or Nainital.

Please e-mail [email protected] or [email protected] for more information or suggestions.

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Women's development goes high tech with the use of Computers and Internet according to the recently held workshop cum training program WENT'99 (Women Electronic Network Training) in Sookmyung Women's University, Seoul, Korea.

The initiative was taken up by the UNDP and Japan Foundation and the training organized by Asian Women's Resource Exchange (AWORC) involving women of the Asia-Pacific region to form a network of NGOs and activist women. SEWAA (Society for Environment, Wildlife Action, and Awareness), a Dehradun-based NGO was represented by Ms. Reena Jaggi at Seoul.

The goal of the workshop was to create links between women's development and electronic knowledge by training participants on Internet-based group communication. With this, women's groups will be able to effectively use this technology to exchange and disseminate information on the five-year review of the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action, according to Ms. Jaggi of SEWAA.

WENT'99 seeks to contribute to the review and appraisal of the Beijing Platform for Actions in Asia through developing regional women's Internet-based information and communication channels.

Furthermore, it represents a collaborative project that aspires to contribute to global efforts to address gender disparity on the Internet. It is geared towards building sustainable electronic resource-sharing among women's information centers in Asia as well as promoting Net literacy and enhancing social activities among individual women and women's organizations.

The WENT'99 was attended by participants from Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Pakistan, Mongolia, Cambodia, Nepal, Australia, and India. SEWAA presented a paper on "Women and the Environment in Mountain Areas", with a special focus on the socio-economic conditions of Uttarakhand Women.

AWORC is an Internet-based women's information network in Asia. It is an initiative geared towards developing cooperative approaches and partnerships in increasing access and exploring applications of news information and communication technologies for women's empowerment. It aims to help expand existing regional networks in the women's movement, promote electronic resources sharing, and build a regional information services that will support various women's advocacies specifically those that are critical for women in our region.

SEWAA is gearing up towards building and promoting sustainable Net literacy and enhancing social activism among individuals, advocacy groups, and NGOs says Ms. Reena Jaggi . One such project, C-LIFTT (Center for Local Information Facilities for Technology Transfer) has already been initiated in this direction.

For more information please contact SEWAA at: [email protected]

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The Uttarakhand Himalayas are well known for the active social and environment movements that had their genesis in the forests. Chipko originated and endures there -- the movement where village women, Gandhian activists, and local cooperatives came together to challenge the usurpation of indigenous forest rights by successive state and central governments.

Although a recent (1970s) phenomenon, the historical antecedents to the ongoing struggle go back two centuries. When the British pushed into this area in 1814, Garhwal and Kumaon, the two principalities comprising Uttarakhand, had just been conquered by the Gurkha (Nepal) Empire. According to British reports, the short Anglo-Gurkha war "liberated" the region from a tyranny that had carried a third of the population into bondage and brought ruin to the terraced fields. Most of the land was ceded to the Britain, with the remainder left to the surviving heir of the Garhwali throne.

However, the British would soon recognize the great natural wealth of the Himalayas and begin timber extraction to feed both the Empire's industrial needs and the building of the Indian railroad system. The felling of trees was undertaken in both the British part and Tehri state, as the principality came to be known. Tree replanting also altered the the ecological balance of the hills -- replacing slow growing oaks and deodar (himalayan cedar) with chir pine, both for timber and resin use -- and the forest department became the main enforcer of both appropriated "reserve" forest boundaries and the new plantations.

The exploitation further marginalized the subsistence agriculture of the region, which was the backbone of the economy. The forest policy, along with the colonial and feudal administrations, came to represent the main oppressive force in the lives of villagers, whose leaders began challenging authority by reasserting traditional forest rights, staging protest fires as sabotage, and other demonstrations of discontent. Combined with the nationalist upsurge in the 20s and 40s, the area was eventually merged into Uttar Pradesh shortly after formal Indian independence.

The Indian state however continued in the footsteps of its British patron, although now, with industrialization turned inward, demands on resources grew fast. Coupled with the 1962 border war with China that saw the frontier closed to ancient trade routes with Tibet, the economic conditions in the hills declined precipitously. New scourges emerged such as liquor to deteriorate the livelihood of the inhabitants. Women were particularly impacted, as the mass migration of men to the plains for work picked up steam, leaving them to tend to the ever more onerous task of working the family farm.

Heavy deforestation came to be seen as the source of many of these problems, as landslips and floods became more devastating, springs dried up, and foraging for fuel wood consumed more and more of a villager's working day. By 1973, the stage was set for an uprising against the regional forest policy that had changed little since the British left.

Led by Gandhian activists in concert with village women, the Chipko movement achieved a remarkable mobilization of the peasantry. With this awakening, the hills burst into activity, as contractors were shut down or chased away by the strength of Garhwali women who dared the axes to fall on their backs. By 1980, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi finally accepted a 10-year ban on tree felling above 1000 metres.

Since then, much has changed in the hills, yet conditions have been exacerbated by illegal felling that continues unabated. Furthermore, many of the activists of the movement have since become bogged down in the bureaucracy of administering NGOs. Others still have been criticized for standing aloof from the main political, cultural, and economic events of the day, including the movement for statehood that arose in the mid 1990s. Indeed, their leadership was sorely needed during the time of the disillusionment and dissolution of the autonomy movement.

The future ecological and social well being of Uttarakhand lies with a new generation of activists that spring afresh from the Himalayas decade after decade. Many hard lessons were learned from Chipko and the more recent social movements, and the task for activists perhaps now lies with marrying these social and environmental concerns and bringing them finally into the political arena, where hitherto only vested interests have exercised power.

Colonial forest policy in Uttarakhand, 1890-1928 / A. Farooqui, Amar. New Delhi : Kitab Pub. House, 1997. * A comprehensive review of forest policies during years of successive uprisings in the region.

The Unquiet Woods: Ecological Change and Peasant Resistance in the Himalaya / R. Guha. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990. * One of the best books on the subject of peasant resistance, Guha traces Uttarakhand's long history of active social protest movements, particularly vis-a-vis the struggle for forest rights.

Forests: The People and the Government / R. Khator. New Delhi: National Book Organisation, 1989. * Khator discusses the more recent interactions of the government, people, and trees of Uttarakhand.

Hugging the trees : the story of the Chipko movement / T. Weber. New Delhi, India ; New York, N.Y., U.S.A. : Viking, 1987-1988. * An excellent and readable resource book on the Chipko movement.

Chipko movement : Uttarakhand women's bid to save forest wealth / A. Mishra, S. Tripathi. New Delhi : People's Action : Gandhi Book House, 1978. * Authentic text on the Chipko movement.

Aryal, M. "Axing Chipko." Himal January/February 1994: 8-23. * A depressing and demoralizing account of how the movement was dissipated and betrayed. Asks many important questions and broaches taboo subjects about the personalities involved in Chipko.

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This is a brief selection of quotes from testimonies gathered under the Panos Institute's Oral Testimony Mountains project. The testimonies referred to below were collected by and from local people living in the western Himalayan regions of Kumaon and Garhwal in India.

The importance of biodiversity for sustainable and profitable use of the forest is described by Jagat Singh Chaudhary, a 44-year-old a farmer and self-taught forester from the Alaknanda Valley (Chamoli):

"There should be every kind of tree in the forest, there should be fodder trees, fuelwood trees and those which keep the soil moist. Banj, kafal, ayar, buraans will keep our soil humid and their leaves will make humus which will have organic diversity. There should be fruit trees also and trees which will supply wood for building purposes - and the most important trees are those which will keep the environment clean: broad-leafed ones. The rest for industry, rambans, bans, ringal, and grass and creepers other than these. Creepers are the main resources for fodder. If you plant a grass creeper once then you get grass all the year round."

Jagat Singh had much to say about the importance of diversity:

"What we have heard from people before us was that there was no shortage of fodder in their times. Nature had given them enough, but now the jungle is under pressure from the population and it has lessened. Fodder trees have been replaced by pine. The jungle has become commercial and the availability of fodder has vanished. What the elders tell us is that earlier there were dense forests and there were many species in them. But now in the monoculture pine forests there is no (diversity). Now people are trying to plant trees for fodder, the people of my village are developing the forest."

He goes on to describe his ideas for development:

"And we have an excellent plan for this that you should certainly plant trees because they are one of the main factors in the environment, but also focus your attention on trees which will provide earnings, for example there is bhimal, the leaves are useful as fodder, its fibres can be used to make ropes, bags etc., shampoo can be made. The juice of the armora (a bush) can be made one of the best beauty aids. Trees can lead to economic prosperity, cottage industries can come up... if trees, grass, herbs, creepers etc, all grow then won't there be economic development?"

Mahesha Singh Rawat, a farmer and shopkeeper of 67 years, spoke more about the spiritual and cultural significance of the forests and mountains and the threat of a planned road:

"Today in our region, a road is to be made through the thickest forest and then farms will be made. The thick forest of Saunla will be destroyed. [Do we want this?] What does it matter what we think? This region of Saunla is a forest associated with our culture, it is the region of the Thakur (principal deity) of this land. Neither should the road go through here nor should the forest be cut."

Deforestation was probably at the heart of most villager's fears for the future. There were many examples of careful husbandry, but narrators like Jagat Singh Chaudhary also spoke with sadness:

"Earlier there were dense forests and there were many species. But now in the monoculture pine forests, there is no diversity... People had a deep feeling for the forests and when I asked [why] they said they got their vegetables, medicines as well as grass, fuel etc. from the forest. If there was [a forest fire] everybody went in a group to put it out. Today it is just the opposite -- people are indifferent because nothing which belongs to them is burning, it is the forest's department..."

Mohan Lal Uniyal, an ayurverdic physician from Garhwal, India, gave his view of the causes of deforestation and his ideas for the future, stressing the importance of committed public servants if government-run forest services are to succeed:

"[Deforestation] began with the construction of the roads and the advent of development. And since the forest department began to auction the forests, the matter became worse. The villagers also contributed to it. No one was there to teach them the importance of the forests. They were never told that the forests give fresh air, water and other many necessary things to us. Now the people are facing the problems of drought, scarcity of water and environmental pollution.

The remaining forests are partly under the jurisdiction of the forest department, and partly under van panchayats as community forests. Sincere government servants should be appointed in the forest department. At present they are destroying the forests instead of protecting and developing them. Some days ago the forests caught fire. The forest department did not pay heed at all. All the forests burnt down to ashes. That's why the need for devoted and sincere government servants arises. [The forest fire caught hold] due to the persistent feeling of indifference towards the forests. For this, seminars must be held, training centres established and people should be taught in community groups. Without mass cooperation it is not possible to protect the remaining forests. Either the forest be entrusted to the community or sincere persons be appointed in the forest department."

Jagat Singh, however frustrated by the government's interference said:

"The generation of today wants returns immediately. It talks of science in books, while the earlier generation practised it on the ground. Whatever the books of science say I don't have much faith in that. Because I haven't been planting trees after reading any books, nor have I been trained anywhere or had anybody's guidance. Whatever I have done is on the ground ... banj, deodar, bans, surai, angu, chir, bhimal, timla and sisam etc will all grow at the same place, if a person is determined.... [The attitude of] the government officials? Their thinking was bookish, that at this height this species will not grow with that species.... Yet you have seen them."

In the same region, Bachani Devi, now a widow of 72, recalled the days when, as a member of the Chipko movement, she defied her husband:

"My husband was a forest contractor. He cut a huge amount of timber... forest after forest. .... He was the major contractor and I was his enemy in this struggle.... The whole village backed me.... He never said anything to the [other] agitators. But he was very angry with me.... We even stopped speaking to each other.... It was a matter of sadness."

She went on to explain how their conservation work had been undermined by the advent of roads:

"Now that the road has come.... the availability of grass and firewood has dwindled. Now people come from far distant places. They cut grass and firewood and put in on the buses and take it away.... there is a crisis for us."

Another Himalayan farmer recognised the danger and warned:

"People believe that if there are roads in the village, development has taken place. But what is the direct benefit of having a road in our village? The people here are connected not with roads, but with their forests. The grass will go, the trees will go, the stone will go from our village."

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Courtesy

Siobhan Warrington and Olivia Bennett
Oral Testimony Programme Panos
(http://www.oneworld.org/panos/)

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