--First Palli Sabha at Serkapadi--
RAYAGADA: All the participants of
the first ever Palli Sabha held at Serkapadi village under Muniguda block in
Rayagada district to decide the fate of Vedanta Company’s mining project,
unanimously rejected the proposal on the ground of religious and cultural rights
of the Dongria Kondhs. The tribals chanting ‘Niyamraja Zindabaad’ participated
at the Sabha and voted against the project.
Out of the total 46 eligible
voters, 38 voters including eligible female voters took part in the Palli Sabha
and aired their voice by raising their hands. The proceedings were overseen by
the Rayagada district judge Sarat Chandra Mishra in accordance with the Supreme
Court direction. The proceedings were initiated by Indra Sikaka, president of
forest rights committee of Serkapadi at the behest of the district judge.
The tribal villagers said that
Niyamgiri hill is their god and they have been worshipping it since ages. They
could not live without its blessing as they eke out a living by selling forest
produces. “We can’t handover our Niyamraja to the company or the Government as
it gives us livelihood, satiate our thirsts by providing water fountains and woods
for making our house,” said a tribal.
The whole proceedings including
verbal statements of the participants in the Palli Sabha was duly recorded and
written with an interpreter assisting in translation from the Kui dialect of
the Kondhs to Odia language.
Gobind Sikaka, a Kondh youth, said
that they worship the trees and every part of the hill. If anybody takes away
the Niyamgiri hills from us, it will undermine our religion and faith and the Dongarias
will perish.
A few tribals alleged that the
forest officials along with district administration have collected fake
signatures to dilute the Palli Sabha proceedings. They could not leave their
Niyamraja’s abode at any cost, the tribals argued.
The tribals were feeling free to
air their voice. The NGOs like Amnesty International and members of the
Niyamgiri Suraksha Samiti (NSS) stood outside the barricaded space. “The Palli
Sabha was success,” said a NSS member Kumuti Majhi.
“The tribals stated in the Sabha
that they are not going to leave the Niyamgiri hill for mining project,” said
the judge.
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