EASTERN THEOLOGICAL COLLEGE

JORHAT, ASSAM

Course: Eco-Justice Theologies (BID07)

Topic: Subaltern Eco-Justice Movements

Presenters: Hanna (L), Lino, Lupangailiu, John, Rentsamo, Veipu and Vabeipipatha
(Mawsynram Group)

Respondents: Ilo (L), Ningsepila, Rosemary, Haopu, Milton, Robert and Imtisunget (Shirui Lily
Group)

Moderator: Dr. Yangkahao Vashum

Class: BD-III (1st Semester)

Date: 20th Sep, 2020.

_______________________________________________________________________

Mawsynram

Mawsynram is a village in the East Khasi Hills district of Meghalaya state in Northeast India.
Crowned as the wettest place on Earth, the village is a nature lover’s dream and the best place to
witness the fury of rain. The ‘Maw’ in Mawsynram is a Khasi word which means ‘stone’, thus
referring to certain megaliths found in the Khasi Hill area. The village is most famous for the
gigantic formation of a stalagmite, which resembles the shape of a ‘shivling’. It is situated at an
altitude of 1400m and picturesque waterfalls and lush green lands make up for the landscape.
Contents

Introduction

1. Who are the Subalterns?

2. A Keynote Address to the Subaltern Eco-Justice Movements

3. Selected Case Studies on Subaltern Eco-Justice Movements

3.1. Chipko Movement

3.2. Gumti Dam Movement

3.3. Narmada Bachao Andolan

3.4. Save Aarey Movement

3.5. Save Dehing Patkai

4. Reflection

5. Implication

Conclusion

Bibliography

Webliography
Introduction

The subaltern eco-justice movement all begins with the native people experiencing severe
ecological strain due to the unsustainable extraction of resources by the government. In a
continuation of a colonial practice, the government systematically began to close off more and
more forest area from the natives. It gave contracts to private companies who ruthlessly
withdrew forest goods, rivers without a thought to the long term effects, which the locals were
very judicious in their use. The peoples' movement on eco-justice which we will be highlighting
in this paper are all struggles for peoples' rights, ecology and against social injustice.

1. Who are the Subalterns?

The word ‘subaltern’ was first coined by Antonio Gramsci to explain the socio-economic status
of ‘the native’ in an imperial colony. The subaltern is a technical term for a certain kind of
dispossessed person. Symbolically, we might say the colonizer is ‘Self’, the colonized is the
‘Other’, and all those who are invisible to both ‘Self’ and ‘Other’ are the subaltern. In India, the
subaltern are those indigenous and aboriginal people of the land such as the Dalits, Adivasis,
Minjung, Tribals, etc.1 These communities are more vulnerable to ecological crisis and they are
usually comprised of poor peasants who depend their livelihood on nature.2

2. A Keynote Address to the Subaltern Eco-Justice Movements

Prior to colonization in Indian soil, the indigenous people were self-reliant but once the
colonizers established companies and industries, the native people were deprived of their rights,
including plundering of resources, forced relocation, cultural genocide, militarization, forced
integration of indigenous peoples into market economies, bigotry and discrimination. These were
the factors that contributed to the development of ‘subaltern consciousness’ which ultimately
brought about social movement with the emergent themes to seek and affirm their ways and
secure land, forest and water.3 The main key concern for subaltern movement on eco-justice is to
conserve and protect the environment.

1 Bailey Betik, “Subaltern Studies,”

https://scholarblogs.emory.edu/postcolonialstudies/2020/02/17/subaltern-studies/?
utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=subaltern-studies (Accessed on 14/10/20).
2 Baiju Markose, Rhizomatic Reflections: Discourses on Religion and Theology (Eugene: Wipf and Stock,
2018), 91.
3 Velayutham Saravanan, The Environmental History and Tribals in Modern Indian (New Delhi:
Macmillan, 2018), 131.

1
3. Selected Case Studies on Subaltern Eco-Justice Movements

3.1. Chipko Movement

The Chipko Movement which started in the 1970s, was non-violent movement that aimed at
protection and conservation of trees and forests from being destroyed. 4 The movement originated
in the Himalayan region of Uttar Pradesh in 1973, in the village of Mandal under the leadership
of Chandi Prasad Bhatt and quickly spread throughout the region within the next few years. The
protestors used the tactic of embracing trees to impede the loggers/forest contractors from felling
the trees.5 This movement was initially started in response to the allotment of an entire ash tree
forest to the Simon Company (Sporting Goods Manufacturer) for commercial purposes, which
was earlier denied to the villagers when they appealed for small number of trees to build
agricultural tools. When their appeals were denied, Chandi Prasad Bhatt led the villagers into the
forest and embraced the trees to prevent logging. The protest was a success whereby the permit
issued to Simon Company was cancelled. This tactic of ‘tree hugging’ quickly spread to the
neighbouring villages and regions and each confrontation was non-violent and successful. 6 The
Chipko Movement was an uprising against the people destroying ecological balance by
following Gandhian philosophy of peaceful resistance. 7 Through this movement, the indigenous
people effectively thwarted commercial felling of trees. Women such as Gaura Devi and Sudesha
Devi played a major role in the success of this movement.

3.2. Gumti Dam Movement

In Tripura, the construction of Gumti Hydel project generated environmental awareness and fight
for ‘right to land’ among the people of Tripura. Gumti is the longest, largest and sacred river of
Tripura. This 30 meter high dam has been constructed across the Gumti river about 3.5 km.
upstream of Tirthamukh in South Tripura district for generating 8.60 MW of power from an

4 “Explain the Chipko Movement,” https://www.toppr.com/en-in/ask/question/explain-the-chipko-

movement/ (Accessed on 7/10/20).
5 Melissa Petruzzello, “Chipko Movement: Indian Environmental Movement,”
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Chipko-movement (Accessed on 9/10/20).
6 Pallavi, “Remembering Chipko Movement: The Women-led Indigenous Struggle,”
https://feminisminindia.com/2019/07/11/chipko-movement-indigenous-women-movement/ (Accessed on 14/10/20).
7 “Chipko Movement: When Villagers Hugged Trees To Save Them From Cutting,”
https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/chipko-movement-in-1970-chipko-andolan-people-hugged-trees-to-save-them-
from-cutting-2012950 (Accessed on 11/10/20).

2
installed capacity of 10 MW. The dam submerged a valley area of 46.34 sq. km.8 The Gumti
Hydel project was commissioned in 1974, despite fierce protests by nearly 40,000 indigenous
tribes people whose fertile lands went under water. Not even one-fifth of the people who were
forced to give up their land were compensated because most tribesmen had no land records to
prove ownership.9 According to Subir Bhowmick, the official estimates vary between 8,000 to
10,000 families or about 60,000-70,000 tribal people displaced by the project. 10 The
environmental impacts were loss of biodiversity, floods, deforestation, weather cycle,
displacement of tribals and loss of their livelihood which led to mass unemployment, violation of
human rights and also led to the rise of insurgency in the region.

3.3. Narmada Bachao Andolan

The Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) arose as a movement against the building of complex
number of dams along the river Narmada by the Indian government under the Narmada Valley
Development Project (Narmada Project) of 1978. This project included the construction of 30
large dams, 135 medium dams and 3000 small dams along the river Narmada, which runs
through the states of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. The Sardar Sarovar project in
Gujarat and the Narmada Sagar project in Madhya Pradesh were the biggest projects undertaken
and the Sardar Sarovar dam alone was said to displace more than 320,000 people. The protest
started over the rehabilitation and resettlement of these people. Though the projects were to
provide electricity, irrigation and potable drinking water to the villages, it came with the cost of
environmental degradation that is why the people protested against the construction of the dams.
This movement which was formed in 1989 under the leadership of Medha Patkar has been active
ever since its formation and has been demanding for resettlement and rehabilitation for the
subaltern people.11

3.4. Save Aarey Movement

8 Jhimli Bhattacharjee, “Dams and Environmental Movements: The Cases from India North East,”
http://www.ijsrp.org/research-paper-1113.php?rp=P232007 (Accessed on 15/10/20).
9 “Gumti Hydroelectric Project, Tripura, India,” https://ejatlas.org/conflict/gumti-hydroelectric-project-
tripura-india (Accessed on 15/10/20).
10 Bhattacharjee, “Dams and Environmental…,” (Accessed on 15/10/2020).
11 Suyoggothi, “The Story of Narmada Bachao Andolan: Human Rights,”
https://essentialthinkers.wordpress.com/author/suyoggothi/ (Accessed on 12/10/20).

3
The Aarey forest is located in the Northern suburbs of Mumbai, it is the only green cover in the
region, and is known for its lush greenery, with tall trees, grasslands and rocky hills. Around 27
Adivasi settlements are spread across Aarey.12 Aarey is a forest located within the city limits of
a metropolis; it is home not only to flora and fauna, but also to many tribal communities who
have been displaced because of various government projects. 13

The ‘Save Aarey’ movement started in 2014 against the decision taken by Mumbai Metro Rail
Corporation Limited (MMRLC) for the construction of Metro 3 car shed project which required
the felling of approximately 2700 trees in Aarey forest.14 The ‘Save Aarey’ protest rallies had
been going on since the proposal of the construction of Metro 3 car shed, but it gained
momentum after the approval in August 2019. Since then, the protestors have fighting to protect
and preserve this natural ecosystem. 15 This movement has been fighting for several years now.
And the impact of this movement has been large enough to include people from all walks of life
in Mumbai to come together to save the ‘city’s lung’. 16 This subaltern movement was started
mainly to safeguard the forest and preserve the natural ecosystem. After relentless efforts to save
the forest, the movement experienced its major victory on October 11, 2020 after the Chief
Minister of Maharashtra, Uddhav Thackeray announced the decision to shift the proposed Metro
car shed from Aarey in western suburbs of Mumbai to Kanjurmarg in the eastern suburbs.17

3.5. Save Dehing Patkai

Dehing-Patkai is a wildlife sanctuary located in Dibrugarh and Tinsukia districts of Assam. Save
Dehing Patkai is a movement that started to protests against the April 2020 decision by the
National Board of Wildlife (NBWL) to allow North-Eastern Coalfields (NEC) to do open cast
mining in 98.59 hectares of Dehing-Patkai Wildlife Sanctuary. The 111.19 hectare sanctuary is
home to over 40 species of fauna, over 300 species of birds, 40 species of reptiles and 100

12 “Understanding the Aarey Issue #SaveAarey,” https://www.sabrangindia.in/article/understanding-aarey-

issue-saveaarey (Accessed on 14/10/20).
13 Sadhana Nadathur Jayakumar, “Here are 5 Recent Environmental Movements You Need to Know,”
https://feminisminindia.com/2020/06/16/5-recent-environmental-movements/ (Accessed on 14/10/20).
14 “Save Aarey Movement,” https://aareyconservationgroup.org/save-aarey-movement/ (Accessed on
15/10/20).
15 Reethu Ravi, “From Save Aarey Forest to Anti-CAA Protest: Six Times When Indians Took To Streets
in 2019,” https://theologicalindian.com/story-feed/awareness/save-aarey-caa-protests/ (Accessed on 15/10/20).
16 “Understanding the Aarey….,” (Accessed on 15/10/20).
17 “To Save Forest, Mumbai Metro Car-Shed Relocated: CM,”
https://www.nationalheraldindia.com/national/to-save-forests-mumbai-metro-car-shed-relocated-cm (Accessed on
17/10/20)

4
varieties of orchids. It also has the highest diversity of wildcats and has rich flora and fauna. 18
Moreover, it is a designated elephant corridor. This decision has generated reaction in the form
of protest. The forest department also filed FIR against the official responsible for the alleged
activity on around 73 hectares of land inside Dehing Patkai Elephant Reserved Forest. This
movement started as a means to save the wildlife reserve and also to protect the ecosystem which
is already tackling the problems of logging, hunting and illegal mining. That is why the
protestors of this movement are against the coal mining activities and they believe that giving
legitimacy to the coal mining company will only compound to existing problems.

4. Reflection

Contemporary cosmological studies and green sciences teach us that everything is internally
related. God upholds an eco-just society (Joel 1:17-20) and intervene through the prophets to
condemn the rich who exploited the poor for their own greed and luxurious life (Amos 5:10-12,
Micah 2:2-3). Over the decades, the subaltern eco-justice movements tried to look at economic
issues through the lens of environmental sustainability and environmental issues through the lens
of economic justice. This people’s movements, has raised fundamental issues on democratic
decision-making, large scale displacement of people, damaging disturbances of the eco-system,
submergence of the cultural heritage, and possible steps towards viable alternatives. 19 These
movements were against the abuse and over utilisation of natural resources, false developmental
policies of the government, harmful socio-economic impacts, environmental degradation and
destruction of ecosystem. Environmental sustainability and human rights are indivisible as earth
is the only life sustainable home. With the above insights, it becomes natural to represent
theology in terms that are both ecologically and socially alert as we see from subaltern eco-
justice movements. The eco-injustice crisis demands a coherent, spirited ethical response that
attends to ecological integrity and social equity together.

5. Implications

The environmental sustainability is always a part of social and economic justice, and intersects
major social problems which affect every sector of society especially the subalterns. Therefore,
we should endeavour to build ethical projects and develop hopeful vision of an alternative eco-

18 Jayakumar, “Here are 5 Recent...,” (Accessed on 14/10/20).

19 Bas Wielenga, Towards an Eco-Just Society (Bangalore: Centre for Social Action, 1999), 79.

5
friendly future for global society, to be embodied in ecologically and socially appropriate public
policies, technologies, and institutional and individual lifestyles, and judicious democratic
decision. At this juncture, we need to develop an ethic of eco-justice which recognizes the
transformation needed in our production, consumption and investment patterns. This ethic is also
required to show respect towards nature’s diversity, to respond to the world’s abject poverty and
to build a sustainable community.

Conclusion

The subaltern fits within the model of the oppressor and oppressed, as they are being so
marginalized that they do not even have the ‘voice’ of the oppressed. The subaltern has no voice,
not because they do not have activities and activists in which we can locate a subaltern mode of
life, culture and subjectivity, but because they do not have space and position in the hierarchical
structure of the society. The subaltern eco-justice movements were sometimes successful in their
resistance, while a lot of time these movements and its activists were crushed by the government.

6
Bibliography

Markose, Baiju. Rhizomatic Reflections: Discourses on Religion and Theology. Eugene: Wipf
and Stock, 2018.

Saravanan, Velayutham. The Environmental History and Tribals in Modern Indian. New Delhi:
Macmillan, 2018.

Wielenga, Bas. Towards an Eco-Just Society. Bangalore: Centre for Social Action, 1999.

Webliography

Betik, Bailey. “Subaltern Studies.”

https://scholarblogs.emory.edu/postcolonialstudies/2020/02/17/subaltern-studies/?
utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=subaltern-studies (Accessed on
14/10/20).

Bhattacharjee, Jhimli. “Dams and Environmental Movements: The Cases from India North
East.” http://www.ijsrp.org/research-paper-1113.php?rp=P232007 (Accessed on
15/10/20).

Jayakumar, Sadhana Nadathur. “Here are 5 Recent Environmental Movements You Need to
Know.” https://feminisminindia.com/2020/06/16/5-recent-environmental-movements/
(Accessed on 14/10/20).

Pallavi. “Remembering Chipko Movement: The Women-led Indigenous Struggle.”

https://feminisminindia.com/2019/07/11/chipko-movement-indigenous-women-
movement/ (Accessed on 14/10/20).

Petruzzello. Melissa. “Chipko Movement: Indian Environmental Movement.”

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Chipko-movement (Accessed on 9/10/20).

Ravi, Reethu. “From Save Aarey Forest to Anti-CAA Protest: Six Times When Indians Took To
Streets in 2019.” https://theologicalindian.com/story-feed/awareness/save-aarey-caa-
protests/ (Accessed on 15/10/20).

Suyoggothi. “The Story of Narmada Bachao Andolan: Human Rights.”

https://essentialthinkers.wordpress.com/author/suyoggothi/ (Accessed on 12/10/20).

7
“Chipko Movement: When Villagers Hugged Trees To Save Them From Cutting.”
https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/chipko-movement-in-1970-chipko-andolan-people-
hugged-trees-to-save-them-from-cutting-2012950 (Accessed on 11/10/20).

“Explain the Chipko Movement.” https://www.toppr.com/en-in/ask/question/explain-the-chipko-

movement/ (Accessed on 7/10/20).

“Gumti Hydroelectric Project, Tripura, India.” https://ejatlas.org/conflict/gumti-hydroelectric-

project-tripura-india (Accessed on 15/10/20).

“Save Aarey Movement.” https://aareyconservationgroup.org/save-aarey-movement/ (Accessed

on 15/10/20).

“To Save Forest, Mumbai Metro Car-Shed Relocated: CM.”

https://www.nationalheraldindia.com/national/to-save-forests-mumbai-metro-car-shed-
relocated-cm (Accessed on 17/10/20)

“Understanding the Aarey Issue #SaveAarey.”

https://www.sabrangindia.in/article/understanding-aarey-issue-saveaarey (Accessed on
14/10/20).