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Tribals hold prayer service for Aarey trees at Nauschapada
Twenty-year-old college student Manisha Dhinde, who was detained on Friday night by the Mumbai Police, burst into tears at a prayer service held at Nauschapada on
Twenty-year-old college student Manisha Dhinde, who was detained on Friday night by the Mumbai Police, burst into tears at a prayer service held at Nauschapada on Tuesday, for the trees cut down at Aarey Milk Colony last week.
Her regret was not that she was in police detention, but that they couldn’t save the trees despite the efforts by community members.
“Our only intention to head to Picnic Spot on Friday night was to stop the hacking of trees, but we couldn’t stop it,” said Dhinde.
The prayer service was organised by members of various tribal communities within Aarey and was attended by students, protestors and their families.
A poster recreating Friday night’s scene was painted in Warli art, with the message: “We tried a lot to save you, some also went to jail. Despite that, we couldn’t save your lives. Please forgive us”.
“It is difficult for authorities to understand what trees mean to us. For us tribals, the loss of a tree is similar to losing a life because trees are our God. We need to take this as a lesson and ensure that no more trees are cut,” said Shashi Sonawane from Bhumiputra Bachao Andolan.
“We didn’t hit or harm anyone; we were only singing our traditional folk songs in protest. If stopping the hacking of trees is illegal, and cutting trees is legal, then what kind of laws are the government making?” said Pramila Bhoir, a resident of Keltipada.
Both Sonawane and Bhoir were among the 29 protestors arrested on Friday night.
According to official figures, after the Bombay high court (HC) order, more than 2,100 trees were cut at Aarey to make way for the Metro-3 car shed since last Friday.
The Supreme Court (SC) on Monday, made an urgent intervention into the Aarey
Colony deforestation row and asked the government to seize cutting any more trees until
the matter is heard in further detail.
An SC green bench will hear the matter on 21 October and the Union environment ministry will also be made a party in the case.
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