India:
Dehradun Declaration of forest people
On
10-12 June 2009, adivasis, forest workers and other forest dwellers
from 16 states of India held a conference on ‘Resisting commodification
of Forests; Establishing community governance over forest resources’.
After discussing and debating they united in a strong message called
the ‘Dehradun Declaration 2009’.
Forests
and forest people, and the whole world, are immersed in a crisis
which is more than that: “This is no ordinary crisis.
Not merely, a climate crisis - or in your words this magnified self-created
monster of a financial crisis. We believe it’s a crisis of
Civilizations.” On one side the civilisation that “rests
on ideas of power, territories, boundaries, profit, exploitation
and oppression”. The civilisation that tries “to own
everything, including Mother Nature. This is what drives your civilisation.
You need this world of oppression and exploitation; to survive and
feel good.” On the other side, the civilisation of the rest
of the people. Those who don’t see the world in terms of pure
merchandise. People like the forest people of the world who state:“We,
the forest people of the world living in the woods, surviving
on the fruits and crops, farming on the jhoom(1) land, re-cultivating
the forest land, roaming around with our herds have occupied
this land since ages. We announce loudly, in unity and solidarity
that let there be no doubt on the future: we are the forests, and
the forests are us and our existence is mutually dependent. The
crisis faced by our forests and environment today will only intensify
without us.”
It
is a fundamental clash: “ If you want to include us in
your world by ‘civilising’ us, we will happily choose
to remain uncivilised. Call us savages, we do not care! We have
learnt amidst these trees, this water, this air, and other forest
beings- a life of freedom, of being without boundaries, and yet
never forgetting the boundaries of nature.”
The
Dehradun Declaration becomes the voice of the Indian forest people
who speak loud: “We, therefore, reject your unnatural
law, your civilization of tyranny and cruelty. What freedom? We
see no freedom in being driven out of our forests, separated from
water, land, fields, trees, air, and friendly animals, to the ecosystem
to which we belong. What freedom, which doesn’t forget to
chain its own brothers and sisters. False Freedom! We see no truth
in a society that remains haunted by the prosperity of a few capitalists,
whilst, never forgetting to oppress the workers, adivasis, dalits,
women and poor of the world! We reject you!”
And
they warn: “There is a climate crisis around and no amount
of free trade, capital or technology will eliminate the roots of
this crisis. You forget that the crises has emanated from the way
your society is structured - an edifice based on an unending desire
for resources and a way of life that sees nature as an object of
exploitation and extraction. Fools! You are doomed to bear the brunt
and suffer the pains of your actions, but we ask you - Why must
we suffer? You have intruded in our lifestyle, in the rhythm of
Mother Earth. You have corrupted the environs by your vehicles,
industries, arms, and development and your actions have created
a crisis in our homes. You have sinned against the essence of our
being, and amidst our rage and tears, we reject the basis of your
being: a thought - of mistrust, of control, of vicious self-interest,
of injustice, and blame.
How
dare you blame us for a climate crisis? It is the product of un-natural
practices, and it has devastated our lives. How could you cut our
trees unthinkingly? Temperature is increasing, rainfall is diminishing
and the forests are burning- consuming themselves in pain. Now you
want us out of our habitats in the name of conserving our forests!
You kill, unsparingly, relish in “terrorizing” busts
of tigers, decorating your mantelpiece - all pointing to your moral
sensibility and - yet you have the audacity to tell us to
leave the forests so that you can protect the Tigers! What law do
you know? Who are you to teach what is legal? You are illegal -
contradicting the very law of nature - of coexistence. You have
no solutions - you only destroy.
You
may not care of our times, but, spare a thought for the coming generations,
their inheritance. Do you wish to present to them a world of chaos
and destruction? Are you so blinded by your greed? At least, now
- in this crisis - we need to unite, all civilizations, and forest
people of the world, to resolve the crisis, to restore our relationship
with nature.
Today,
at Dehradun, we call for and welcome the solidarity and harmony
of all world’s forest people; workers, adivasis and fellow
travellers, on this journey to realizing the fulfilment of our existence,
in communion with our forests. We warn your civilization that we
are a people, united in struggle against the structure of capitalism
- of greed, thievery and profiteering. We warn the nations of the
world, that you must not forget to honour our existence, or else
from deep within our hearts - we shout out loud: NO
MORE SILENCE! We will rise from the ashes of your devastating fire!
To resist your order, undeterred by your traps. We will rise - a
united forest people - together, in strength and solidarity, to
challenge the very fabric of your civilization, and become one with
nature, again!
Arise!
Forest People of the World Unite! Zindabad! National Forum of Forest
Peoples and Forest Workers, India”
(1)
A patch of arable land in the forest.
The
full declaration is available at: http://www.wrm.org.uy/countries/India/Dehradun.html
