‘Chipko movement had two distinct waves, women were more active’: Vijay Jardhari

Gandhian social activist and environmentalist Sarla Behn was a huge influence among environmental and Chipko activists in the Tehri region

Chamba: Chipko movement had two distinct waves with different priorities, said Vijay Jardhari, adding that women participated more actively than men on the ground level and various movements that sprung out of Chipko continue to be active in Uttarakhand.

Beej Bachao Andolan leader Vijay Jardhari (HT Photo)

Vijay Jardhari is known globally for leading the Beej Bachao Andolan and was also an important voice in the Chipko movement from Tehri Garhwal.

Jardhari focuses on natural farming, documenting the knowledge of traditional seeds and saving them through an informal but very large network of farmers across the Garhwal and Kumaon regions. He joined the Chipko movement in the 1970s as a young boy when he was in his early 20s and was deeply impacted by the Gandhian Sarvodaya philosophy.

In the summer of 1974, Jardhari joined Askot, the last village in Pithoragarh to Arakot and the last village in Uttarkashi Padyatra, which spanned over 700 km and took 45 to 50 days to be completed.

“I joined the padyatra with Sunderlal Bahuguna, Kunwar Prasun and Pratap Shikhar (Chipko leaders). Shekhar Pathak and Shamsher Singh Bisht also joined us along the way. There were four main objectives of this padyatra–publicising the Chipko Andolan, raising issues of women and youth and campaigning against alcoholism. During this padyatra, we got the opportunity to understand our mountains properly. It was also an effort to understand whether there is true progress or development at the village level,” recalled Jardhari.

“Before that, I did not feel for this cause very strongly. I used to run a bookstore in Chamba (a town in Himachal Prades). But I was so impacted by the padyatra that I closed my bookstore to join the cause for my state and our hills.”

Jardhari said it is important to understand that the Chipko movement had two waves. “At the beginning (1970s) the understanding was locals were being deprived of forest resources because people from outside especially, private companies, and their contractors were felling our forests. That led to the deprivation of livelihood opportunities among locals. It was thought whether locals could create small enterprises for livelihoods say of turpentine oil, wood products or of wool. So, people started making their own committees or labour cooperatives,” he said.

Gandhian social activist and environmentalist Sarla Behn was a huge influence among environmental and Chipko activists in the Tehri region, he informed.

“Sarvodaya mandals used to be popular here. Sarla Behn had come here and deeply influenced people in Garhwal. Two important issues at that time were stopping alcoholism and giving locals the right to use our forests. In December 1972, Sunderlal Bahuguna, Chandi Prasad Bhatt and Ghanshyam Sailani held a protest march in Uttarkashi and from there they went to Chamoli,” Jardhari stated, recalling his moment at the time.

He said that when they stopped in Rudraprayag, Sailani ji sang “khada utha bhai bandhu sab ikkatha hola, sarkari nito se junglu bachola…chipak adalon par ab na katun diya, junglun ki sampatti ab na lootan diya (Let’s all stand together, save our forests from government’s mindless policies. Let’s stick to our trees and branches, we will not allow loot of our forests anymore.”

The song also mentioned that Pahari boys from Garhwal are going out to clean utensils in the plains. “If Ghanshyam Sailani did not use the word Chipko then, this movement perhaps would have been called Van Bachao. The demand was then mostly for livelihood opportunities,” Jardhari said.

But around the late 1970s, gradually there was a move towards conserving the forests, he said, adding that in some places, people started covering and wounds made to the trees using mud to extract turpentine. They applied and covered the wounds.

“In 1977, when news travelled that Adwani’s forests (also in Tehri Garhwal) would be felled, people from the valley gathered there to protest. The demand was to save forests, not to establish local units. This was also reinforced by the fact that in some parts of the state, landslides were being recorded wherever forests had been felled. Villagers and jawans were dying in those events. That understanding marked a change in the movement,” said Jardhari, adding that the slogan gradually changed to kya hai jungle ke upkar? Mitti, pani and byar…zinda rehne ke aadhar (What are the benefits of forests? Soil, water and air, the resources for life).

Till then most village-level small industries and units were taking their share from the forests. Jardhari also remembered that labour committees from Garhwal were sent to Gujarat to understand forestry management practices. But after the protest march in Adwani, the direction of this movement changed, he said.

“The Tehri side of Chipko Andolan remained largely separate. The leaders did not really work together much (Chandi Prasad Bhatt and the likes of Sunder Lal Bahuga, Kunwar Prasun and others) possibly because of differences in their philosophies,” added Jardhari.

In 1980, appeals from Chipko leaders to the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi resulted in a 15-year ban on commercial felling of trees in the Uttarakhand Himalayas.

An important aspect that needs to be more widely understood is that women were more active in the Chipko movement. “Sudesha Bhen, Bachni Devi, and Kalavati Devi were important leaders back then. But their names did not come up as much as those of the men in the movement. It probably depends on the way media portrayed the movement and the fact that women did not figure in the higher leadership and remained at the village level,” said Jardhari.

For example, on February 9, 1978, in Narendranagar, there was a protest action by activists from the Tehri region against the auction of trees. “Sudesha took out a huge protest march, activists managed to break the gates where the auction was taking place. At night, we did not come out and we were later arrested, including Sudesha. Around nine women and 14 men were taken into custody. Some of these were still breastfeeding or taking care of cattle but they had to go to jail for 14 days. So, women were very active and involved,” said Jardhari.

An offshoot of Chipko is also the Beej Bachao Andolan. “It again stemmed from an understanding that chemical farming would harm our forests, our soil and water. This movement is still very active. Similar offshoots were Maiti Andolan, Tehri Bandh Birodhi Andolan, Khanan Birodhi Andolan among others,” Jardhari said.

Jardhari’s daughter-in-law, Madhu Jardhari, who is a farmer based in Jardhar gaon said women remain the main providers of food and crops in Uttarakhand.

“We grow at least 12 kinds of lentils and grains that sustain our families. Women mainly do farming except for certain rituals like ploughing with bulls. Women have a superior understanding of natural farming techniques though they may not be actively involved in any movements,” said Madhu.