The State of Jharkhand, that mineral rich southern part of the former
State of Bihar, which was hived off into a separate State in 2000, has
become famous recently for the achievements of Mahendra Singh Dhoni,
the Indian cricket captain who seems to be on a permanent winning
streak.

But Dhoni is not the only remarkable individual from this State. In
the wake of the 26/11 terror attack on Mumbai, when the media was
understandably concentrating on developments surrounding that tragic
incident, a woman from Jharkhand was honoured at a ceremony in New
Delhi. This went virtually unnoticed. She is not part of the
glitterati, the "beautiful people" who seem to dominate our television
screens these days. She will not be invited to television chat shows
to give a sound byte. She will not feature on the front pages of our
magazines and newspapers.

Yet, this exceptional 44-year-old tribal woman, a journalist and an
activist, could probably teach even Mahendra Singh Dhoni a lesson or
two about how to fight back even when you are down and everyone
expects you to lose.

Worthy recipient

Dayamani Barla was chosen for the Chingari Award for Women Against
Corporate Crime 2008. The award itself is remarkable because it has
been instituted by two women who took on one of the biggest
corporations in the world, Union Carbide in 1984 after one of the
worst industrial disasters killed thousands of people in Bhopal.
Rasheeda Bee and Champa Devi Shukla won the Goldman Environmental
Prize in 2004 for their work in Bhopal to get justice for the victims.
Instead of using the sizeable award money for their needs as they
could have given that they were victims of the gas disaster, they
decided to invest it in a trust that would recognise each year a woman
struggling on the same issues as them.

In Dayamani Barla they have found a worthy recipient for the award.
Like Rasheeda Bee and Champa Devi, Dayamani knows the cost of fighting
against the powerful. Born in a village in Gumla district of Jharkhand
to a landless family, Dayamani's father was forced to give up his
house to usurious moneylenders when she was still young. Her mother
had to find work as a domestic in Ranchi and Dayamani had to work to
supplement the family income from the age of nine. But she also
continued to study, and worked to support her family by giving
tuitions and typing, at the rate of Rs. 1 per hour. Many children
under such circumstances would have given up education. But Dayamani
persisted and cleared not just high school but even university. She
did her Masters in Commerce from Ranchi University and went on to be
an award-winning journalist and author. She was clear from the start
that she wanted to use her pen to give a voice to those who are
otherwise not heard.

There are many lessons one can learn from the struggles and lives of
women like Dayamani. Currently, she is leading the fight against
Arcelor-Mittal's plans to set up a giant steel plant in Jharkhand. Why
should she oppose industry that will create jobs in her State? Because
she believes that the price that the tribals pay when they are
displaced from their lands cannot be compensated through a few jobs or
money. "Natural resources to us are not merely means of livelihood but
our identity, dignity, autonomy and culture have been built on them
for generations," she is reported as saying. She believes that the
location of such a huge plant will adversely affect the forests and
water sources in the region.

Dayamani honed her skills for such a struggle when she joined the
tribal groups opposing the Koel Karo dam in the 1990s. The dam would
have submerged 66,000 acres and displaced 135,000 tribal families from
their lands. Because of their determined struggle, the plans to build
the dam were finally shelved.

Relevant journalism

As a journalist, she has used her pen to write about not just the
injustices meted out to tribals resisting efforts to displace them,
but also to expose the corruption in several government-run schemes
like the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. Here fake muster
rolls allow contractors to claim money on behalf of the poor. Only
vigilance by local groups or by the media can ensure that the scheme
actually serves the purpose for which it was designed. Through her
writing, primarily in the newspaper Prabhat Khabar, Dayamani has set a
standard for the kind of relevant journalism that is rare at a time
when celebrity and sensation dominate all media.

In Jharkhand as in other tribal dominated States, while State
governments are busy signing deals with industries and mining
companies to barter away tribal lands, the local people are organising
resistance to these projects. The winners and losers in these
struggles could well shape the future of economics and politics in
this country. These battles represent an opportunity to devise a
process of development that is inclusive, that is environmentally
benign, that acknowledges the rights of people who have cared for the
forests and the rivers, and that ensures that even if there is
industrial development, it is not at the cost of these irreplaceable
natural resources and vulnerable lives.

So as 2008 ends, I would like to salute women like Dayamani, for
reminding us that there are other ways to "develop" and that it is
possible to fight peacefully but with determination for your
convictions.

------------------------------------

Replying to this email will send an e-mail to 11000+ members of Jharkhand Forum

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

Jharkhand Forum's Posting Norms http://jharkhand.org.in/posting_norms.htm

MAKE FUNDING / DONATION APPEAL HERE @ http://FUNDING-APPEAL.blogspot.com

Get yourname@jharkhandi.com, Sign-up here http://email.jharkhandi.com

Learn more about Jharkhand Forum http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=vUe37cJ3BAA

Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://in.groups.yahoo.com/group/Jharkhand/

<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional

<*> To change settings online go to:
http://in.groups.yahoo.com/group/Jharkhand/join
(Yahoo! ID required)

<*> To change settings via email:
mailto:Jharkhand-digest@yahoogroups.co.in
mailto:Jharkhand-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.co.in

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
Jharkhand-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.co.in

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://in.docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/