CAMPAIGN
It was a unique way of celebrating Women's Day. Women in the Uttarakhand region of Uttar Pradesh dedicated March 8, 1999, to "Save the Forests'.
Chanting slogans such as " jungle bachyega, desh bachyega, gaon kushal rehyega ' (we will save the forests, the country and make the village prosperous), a 1,000-odd women took part in a protest rally in Dhautri, Tehri Garhwal. They were led by Suresh Bhai, leader of the Raksha Sutra Andolan (RSA).
While passing through the market area, the protesters saw a forest department truck carrying timber passing by. They immediately blocked the roads, got on top of the truck and started shouting slogans against the forest officials and the loggers. What ensued was a fight between the protesters and the people on the truck.
The protesters allege that there is a nexus between forest officials and timber smugglers. Further, they say that the truck carrying timber was made to pass through the market at the time of the rally to scare the protesters and also to send a message that "that nothing will deter them from felling trees'.
Suresh Bhai praised the local women for their brave act against timber smugglers and said, "The wrong policies of the government are leading to the destruction of forest resources and this is why all the mountains are becoming bare.' He called upon the women activists to protect the forests with their life. The women have been fighting against commercial exploitation of forests since 1996.
The RSA was formed by the Himalayan Paryavaran Siksha Sansthan (Himalayan Environmental Education Society) to protect the forests in the Garhwal Himalaya. The society believes that, instead of forest departments, the women organisations working in the villages should be made responsible for the production, felling and auction of timber.
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