In A Time Of Universal Deceit, Telling The Truth Becomes A Revolutionary Act. (Orwell)
ALL TRUTH PASSES THROUGH THREE STAGES; FIRST, IT IS RIDICULED, SECOND, IT IS VIOLENTLY OPPOSED, THIRD, IT IS ACCEPTED AS BEING SELF-EVIDENT.(Arthur Schopenhauer)
I WILL TELL YOU ONE THING FOR SURE. ONCE YOU GET TO THE POINT WHERE YOU ARE ACTUALLY DOING THINGS FOR TRUTH'S SAKE, THEN NOBODY CAN EVER TOUCH YOU AGAIN BECAUSE YOU ARE HARMONIZING WITH A GREATER POWER. (George Harrison)
THE WORLD ALWAYS INVISIBLY AND DANGEROUSLY REVOLVES AROUND PHILOSOPHERS.(Nietzsche)
Nimmala Bayanna, long-headed and thickset, wields a bow and arrow not to hunt for food but to attack treasure hunters or trespassers in the lush green Nallamala forest which he inhabits.
While mining and land clearing continue to eat away the country’s largest remaining tiger reserves, the Chenchus, who live in 137 hamlets that dot the forest, are pushing back. Bayanna, who is in his 30s, is a member of Nallamala’s Chenchu tribe and has been spearheading the fight against the recent proposal of mining uranium that is likely to destroy a landscape rich in biodiversity, besides supporting the livelihood of the hunter-gatherer Chenchu community.
On a monsoon day, Bayanna and other Chenchus prepare to patrol the catchment area of the Krishna river, which flows through the forests marking up the boundary of Medimakala Penta (hamlet) in the interiors of tiger reserve. The land is inhabited not just by the Chenchus but also a variety of fauna. It is now under threat of uranium mining.
The Nallamala forest has been a permanent hunting ground for those who want to become rich quickly by digging into the suspected treasure.
While the Chenchu men patrol the forests, the women guard their hamlets by making sure their forest and all the living beings that survive on it are safe.
“If we go looking in our territory, we always find illegal things going on these days,” says Bayanna before he left with his men to patrol the forest.
“We patrol, we find intruders, we destroy their vehicles and we send them away. We’ve stopped many illegal miners and loggers by adopting this method. It’s working,” he said.
After the in-principle clearance granted for uranium exploration in the tiger reserve, the Chenchus fear re-location and have become more protective of their forest, says Y Balayya, general secretary, struggle committee against uranium mining.
Vigilant Chenchus caught a few trespassers suspiciously wandering near one of their hamlets.
“The Chenchus are well-known for their affinity with animals and understanding of the forest. Lack of enforcement by the state government has forced the Chenchus to take matters into their own hands,” said Balayya.
Tribal territories seem to be acting as the best line of control for the forests of Nallamala, and these Chenchus are ready to go to any lengths to defend their greenery amid a sea of destruction.
“We know it’s risky and we have enemies. But now’s no time for hiding. We are ready to die protecting this forest but will never let anyone take control of our lives,” said Lachamma, a Chenchu woman while guarding Medimakala hamlet located about 5km from the Krishna river.
The Nallamala forest has been a permanent hunting ground for those who want to become rich quickly by digging into the suspected treasure.
However, the number of treasure hunters trying to enter the core areas of the forests seems to have increased manifold after the recent in-principle clearance given by the central government for exploration of uranium. The Chenchus are well-known for their affinity with animals and understanding of the forest.
Tribal territories seem to be acting as the best line of control for the forests of Nallamala, and these Chenchus are ready to go to any lengths to defend their greenery amid a sea of destruction.
Vigilant Chenchus caught a few trespassers suspiciously wandering near one of their hamlets. “We have no idea from where they have entered the forest. They looked very suspicious. We deflated the tyres of their vehicles and warned them of serious consequences if they come back again,” said Nimmala Anjaiah of Medimakala Penta.
“When we asked them, they first told us that they came to do some research in the forests, but we did not believe them. If they really came for research, they would have come from the main entrance instead of taking other routes,” said Anjaiah.
“There has been an increase in the number of people trying to enter the forest for gold and diamond. The Chenchus have increased their vigil and make sure no illegal activity takes place inside the forest,” said Balayya. (TNN | Sep 8, 2019)
The Central government has permitted the mining of radioactive uranium in the NALLAMALA FOREST ZONE. This operation requires deforestation of majority of forest in both Telangana and Andhra pradesh regions. Once the land is exposed to the nuclear particles, the plant growing capacity of the land comes to zero, completely turning out into a waste land. Also it will destroy "Nagarjuna sagar- Srisailam tiger reserve" which is known to be the second largest tiger reserve in the world. Also the tribal region named "Mannanuru" will have to face the toxic effects of this mining.
“Amrabad Tiger Reserve, one of the two reserves in Telangana, a proposal from Department of Atomic Energy being given an ‘in-principle’ approval for exploratory drilling for uranium ore in 76 sqkm inside the reserve. Amarabad Tiger Reserve is home to about 24 tigers and boasts of a rich array of wildlife including leopard, sloth bear, wild dog, different kinds of deer among other animals. The hilly tiger reserve, part of the Nallamala hills, also serves a as a catchment area for River Krishna which flows through the hill range. the area being sought for mining are rich in RARE wildlife and RARE plant species. Environmental damage, contamination resulting from leakage of chemicals” that will affect the health of native wildlife.On the road that pilgrims take from Hyderabad to Srisailam, lies the unassuming lush green forest of the Amrabad Tiger Reserve. Before the separation of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, huge boards would suggest that you were in India’s largest tiger reserve.
Despite the division, it still happens to be India’s second-largest tiger reserve, next only to its sibling, the original Nagarjunasagar Srisailam Tiger Reserve. Together they form what is probably India’s largest protected dry forest. Amrabad Tiger Reserve lies in the Nallamala hills, a landscape that is recovering after over two centuries of degradation by the British and the Nizam of Hyderabad. It is a mystifying landscape of lofty hills and cavernous valleys, perennial rivers and exciting winding roads that have thick, forested topography on one side and deep and vast valleys on the other along with different hues to mark the seasons. Inhabiting this mesmerising forested landscape is the most charismatic cat of the world — the tiger. Richness is synonymous with this tiger reserve as it harbours great biodiversity, comprising of around 70 species of mammals, more than 300 hundred avian varieties, 60 species of reptiles and thousands of insects, all supported and nourished by more than 600 different plant species.
Although the proposal for mining in Amrabad suggests that the site is of no archaeological value, this area is, in fact, renowned for its archaeological significance. It contains ruins of the ancient Nagarjuna Viswa Vidyalayam run by the great Buddhist scholar Nagarjunacharya (150 AD).
The relics of the fort of Ikshwaku Chandragupta, a ruler of the 3rd century BC are also found. The ancient fort of Pratap Rudra, a king of the Kakatiya dynasty of Warangal and many other forts are seen on the banks of the Krishna river. An ancient wall of length of 105 miles, constructed by the Kakatiyas is an interesting feature.
Geo-morphological rock shelters and cave temples such as Akka Mahadevi Bhilam, Dattatreya Bhilam, Umaa Maheswaram, Kadalivanam, and Palankasari are characteristic of the area. The area proposed for mining falls under the Amrabad and Nudigal Reserved Forests of the ‘core area’ of the tiger reserve. It has a good diversity of forests and wildlife.
The rich diversity of wildlife includes tiger, leopard, dhole, wolf, Indian fox, jackal, honey badger, nilgai, sambar, chowsingha and sloth bear. There is also the endemic yellow-throated bulbul and the star tortoise.
Despite the rich wildlife, there is very little human-wildlife conflict. The streams and rivulets drain into the Krishna, which has an amazing diversity of acquatic life including the mugger crocodile, water monitor lizard and turtles. The forest area is pristine and provides numerous ecosystem services like being the major catchment of the Krishna, which quenches the thirst of the two Telugu-speaking states.
The proposed area is hilly and highly undulating. The drilling of 4,000 deep holes will disfigure the reserve, ruining the wildlife habitat. Proposed to cover 20,500 acres, the project seems poised to destroy the ecology of the entire tiger reserve.
The exploration will expose and pollute surface water, ground water and leech the minerals and dangerous chemicals into the Nagarjunasagar dam. The roads will fragment and degrade the dry forests, which may never recover after such a massive exercise. The proposal to mine for uranium in this Eden will not only kill its wild denizens but will also take away the livelihoods of the Chenchu, besides exposing them and hundreds of others to uranium contamination. Is it a bit too much to ask for the rescinding of the proposal? If India’s largest tiger reserves are not sacrosanct then the future of tiger is really bleak in the new India we are making. Chenchus are perhaps the first habitants of mainland India. In Tribes of India: The Struggle for Survival, Christoph von Fürer-Haimendorf describes Chenchus: "They are short and slender in stature, with very dark skin, wavy or curly hair, broad faces, flat noses, and a trace of prognathism (extension or bulging out of the lower jaw), which is a sign of their connection with ancient human beings that roamed the Earth. There are no people in India poorer in material possessions than the jungle Chenchus; bows and arrows, a knife, an axe, a digging stick, some pots and baskets, and a few tattered rags constitute many a Chenchu’s entire belongings. They usually owns a thatched hut in one of the small settlements where he lives during the monsoon rains and in the cold weather. But in the hot season, communities split up and individual family groups camp in the open, under overhanging rocks or in temporary leaf-shelters".
HENCE IF WE DON’T PROTEST A GREAT NATION WITH VARIED CULTURES WILL BECOME THE VICTIM OF EXPLOITATION.
(Dear friends,We request you to sign and circulate widely the ongoing e-petition campaign against opening of urnaium mining in Nallamala Forst in India’s Telangana state.)
This award-winning ethnographic documentary film made by Sathya Mohan PV, deals with the socio-economic and religious life of the Chenchus, the only Telugu speaking prehistoric hunting-gathering tribe living in the Nallamalai forests of Andhra Pradesh, India. They are a conservative tribal group and have not made many changes in their lifestyle or tried to adapt to modernity. They live in the enclosed space and geography leading a life of an unbroken continuity.
A massive eviction of tribals is taking place in the State of Andhra Pradesh from the virgin forests of Nallamala range for the exclusive benefits of *De Beers*, a diamond mining corporation that wants the kimberlite or diamonds from the forest.
But that is not the only thing De Beers is after. What De Beers is after is the buried wealth of *Vijayanagara Empire* to be hauled permanently into western fold.
The efforts of De Beers started at least 13 years ago when it was told to us that “they realized the massive diamond, gold and granite deposits in Mehaboob Nagar and Kurnool districts of Andhra Pradesh”. These deposits are spread under the thick jungles of Nallamala forests. These forests needed to be cleared first for the diamond mining or De Beers should have to resort to the latest technology called horizontal drilling under the forests.
*East India Companies* when they ruled India tried to locate these kimberlite mines and declared that they were all exhausted and thus shifted their focus to South Africa.
In South Africa they found diamonds and set up African gold and diamond mining companies under the ruthless exploitative ownership of *Oppenheimers*, who were one of the owners of the East India Companies. De Beers is also one of the East India Companies owned by these *Houses of Rhodes and Oppenheimers*.
It is these Nallamala diamond mines that were the source of the riches of all the kingdoms of India including the Vijayanagara Kingdom, which at its height sold diamonds on streets not in carats but in kilograms.
This fact was recorded by Portuguese, Russian, French and other chroniclers who had business and diplomatic ties with Vijayanagara Kingdom.
So, where are these diamonds and gold these people are talking about if these kimberlite mines were exhausted couple of hundreds of years back?
And why every central mining minster states in parliament that India has no technology to exploit these resources and that is why we have to call MNCs to do the job?
Is it only to hand over the same resources to De Beers or other companies?
Was there a tacit agreement across all political parties that for some return (read kickbacks or in normal English bribes) these non-existing or exhausted diamond and gold mines should be given only to De Beers?
De Beers Hunt For The Hidden Treasures Of Indian Kingdoms
SAVE NALLAMALLA
A massive eviction of tribals is taking place in the State of Andhra Pradesh from the virgin forests of Nallamala range for the exclusive benefits of *De Beers*, a diamond mining corporation that wants the kimberlite or diamonds from the forest.
But that is not the only thing De Beers is after. What De Beers is after is the buried wealth of *Vijayanagara Empire* to be hauled permanently into western fold.
The efforts of De Beers started at least 13 years ago when it was told to us that “they realized the massive diamond, gold and granite deposits in Mehaboob Nagar and Kurnool districts of Andhra Pradesh”. These deposits are spread under the thick jungles of Nallamala forests. These forests needed to be cleared first for the diamond mining or De Beers should have to resort to the latest technology called horizontal drilling under the forests.
*East India Companies* when they ruled India tried to locate these kimberlite mines and declared that they were all exhausted and thus shifted their focus to South Africa.
In South Africa they found diamonds and set up African gold and diamond mining companies under the ruthless exploitative ownership of *Oppenheimers*, who were one of the owners of the East India Companies. De Beers is also one of the East India Companies owned by these *Houses of Rhodes and Oppenheimers*.
It is these Nallamala diamond mines that were the source of the riches of all the kingdoms of India including the Vijayanagara Kingdom, which at its height sold diamonds on streets not in carats but in kilograms.
This fact was recorded by Portuguese, Russian, French and other chroniclers who had business and diplomatic ties with Vijayanagara Kingdom.
So, where are these diamonds and gold these people are talking about if these kimberlite mines were exhausted couple of hundreds of years back?
And why every central mining minster states in parliament that India has no technology to exploit these resources and that is why we have to call MNCs to do the job?
Is it only to hand over the same resources to De Beers or other companies?
Was there a tacit agreement across all political parties that for some return (read kickbacks or in normal English bribes) these non-existing or exhausted diamond and gold mines should be given only to De Beers?
Mine, narrated by Joanna Lumley, tells the story of the remote Dongria Kondh tribe's struggle to protect Niyamgiri, the mountain they worship as a God. London-based mining company Vedanta Resources plans a vast open-pit bauxite mine in India's Niyamgiri hills, and the Dongria Kondh know that means the destruction of their forests, their way of life, and their mountain God.
A massive eviction of tribals is taking place in the State of Andhra Pradesh from the virgin forests of Nallamala range for the exclusive benefits of De Beers, a diamond mining corporation that wants the kimberlite or diamonds from the forest. But that is not the only thing De Beers is after. What De Beers is after is the buried wealth of Vijayanagara Empire to be hauled permanently into western fold. The efforts of De Beers started at least 13 years ago when it was told to us that “they realized the massive diamond, gold and granite deposits in Mehaboob Nagar and Kurnool districts of Andhra Pradesh”. These deposits are spread under the thick jungles of Nallamala forests. These forests needed to be cleared first for the diamond mining or De Beers should have to resort to the latest technology called horizontal drilling under the forests. Fortunately, or unfortunately, this forcible eviction was stopped when the state government that wanted to promote this was voted out of power.
Now here comes the kicker.
East India Companies when they ruled India tried to locate these kimberlite mines and declared that they were all exhausted and thus shifted their focus to South Africa. In South Africa they found diamonds and set up African gold and diamond mining companies under the ruthless exploitative ownership of Oppenheimers, who were one of the owners of the East India Companies. De Beers is also one of the East India Companies owned by these Houses of Rhodes and Oppenheimers.
It is these Nallamala diamond mines that were the source of the riches of all the kingdoms of India including the Vijayanagara Kingdom, which at its height sold diamonds on streets not in carats but in kilograms. This fact was recorded by Portuguese, Russian, French and other chroniclers who had business and diplomatic ties with Vijayanagara Kingdom.
Every crown jewel of every European kingdom in those days came from India and from these mines along the banks of Krishna or Tungabhadra rivers. World famous diamonds like Kohinoor, Hope, French crown jewels all came from these mines in Krishna river as it winds through the expansive Vijayanagara Kingdom through the Nallamala forest reserves. As this reserve was empty of all diamonds and gold as a result of mining over centuries by many kingdoms, the British never exploited these forest reserves. Otherwise all Chenchus (tribals living in these forests) would have been dead by now and all diamonds and gold looted by this time till the last diamond and ounce of gold was exploited from these Nallamala areas. India would never have got her independence as South Africa never got till all her diamonds and gold were exploited to the last carat and ounce.
So, where are these diamonds and gold these people are talking about if these kimberlite mines were exhausted couple of hundreds of years back? And why every central mining minster states in parliament that India has no technology to exploit these resources and that is why we have to call MNCs to do the job? Even for IT and Computers, India never had expertise. In a matter of a decade we now are leading in IT and computer field. How difficult is it to set up education in mining in India to train and prepare thousands of engineers in a span of 5 years? Why are we waiting from 1990 until 2016, for 26 years without setting up mining colleges or training Indian students to do the job?
Is it only to hand over the same resources to De Beers or other companies? Was there a tacit agreement across all political parties that for some return (read kickbacks or in normal Englishbribes) these non-existing or exhausted diamond and gold mines should be given only to De Beers. When mines were already exhausted why everyone is rushing into Nallamala for diamonds and gold? Where are they? How in post-independent India, when we can send our own satellites, explode our own atomic and thermo-nuclear weapons, make our nuclear submarines, none can find these resources and only De Beers found it in 1990?
So, where is the treasure?
During the battle of Talikota when the front line Vijayanagara armies were defeated, the backup army under the Commander in Chief Tirumala Raya was kept across the river Krishna, who decided to save the wealth of the kingdom rather than fight the battle from left flank. What Tirumala Raya carried was only guessable and exaggerated by many and made legendary by some others. It was estimated that on 7,000 elephants and 30,000 horses the wealth of Vijayanagara Kingdom was carried and with this wealth Tirumala Raya vanished into the dense jungles of Nallamala.
He resurfaced after six months took back Vijayanagara and then shifted the capital to Penugonda garrison. What he carried on these many horses and elephants is believed to be diamonds and gold mined in these kimberlite mines before they got exhausted by the time the British came. (Around 1835 when British soldiers sacked Amaravati near Guntur, they carried on 7,000 horses the gold that was removed from the buildings of this capital city.)
Since that time of Tirumala Raya’s movement with wealth untill now, thousands of treasure hunting parties tried to locate this wealth. According to one estimate around 1980 there were 125 full time treasure-hunting parties to find this wealth. And part time treasure-hunting parties must be ten times that number. Many temples around these Nallamala forests were destroyed and uprooted; dated thousands of years old and were real cultural treasures. Close to 125 to 150 people including a French treasure hunting party were killed in the process of finding the treasure in these Nallamala forest areas. So the then Government of India under Prime Minister Indira Gandhi restricted all human entry into the jungle areas except for religious tourism.
Even today many temples are uprooted and destroyed by many Indians in these Nallamala areas; while Archeology departments of state and center are resource-less and powerless to stop these greedy Indians who at times do these things with full backing of politicians. Regarding gold in these forests there was an estimate of a mining engineer who studied the Sri Sailam temple (Jyotirlingakshethra) surroundings and found that there was close to 2,500 tons of gold buried under the Temple premises. After this the state government banned all night travel in and out of Sri Sailam temple ghat road. This is what the western MNCs are aiming to dig out and take out of India.
Is it a coincidence that now every diamond mining company is back with renewed force into India to clear and decimate these Nallamala jungles in search of another Kohinoor or Hope or dozens of crown jewels and many ordinary diamonds? These ordinary diamonds are needed as they were needed during Second World War for manufacturing of jet engines, high temperature and high velocity war heads etc or in oil drilling industry.
Recently both state and central governments have become concerned about the protection of wildlife in the Nallamala forests. Now it is hard to understand how for thousands of years the human dwellings in the Nallamala ranges were never a problem to any habitat and how now they suddenly became. And how successive governments decided the only way to solve this problem of wild life protection is to evict all tribals who go by the community name CHENCHUS.
The Chenchus themselves may not be fully aware of the presence of Kali (Chenchu Lakshmi) in Nallamalais. They sleepwalk on her lap blissfully. She guards not just the life but also the ancient man-made treasure as well as diamond mines. Those who tried to steal from her got disappeared in her vicinity. If the present rulers don't grasp this and follow their predecessors thinking that their god Lucifer or the Illuminati can save them, they are mistaken. Let history not repeat itself!
Government of India collects many statistics every year on everything and anything except on the displaced people from the resource rich forests or river banks or fertile lands. None in India in government circles have any figure for the number of people that have been or are being displaced by big developmental projects or sacrificed on the altar of Developmental Mantra by every national government.
Where do these displaced people go?
Eventually they end up in slums of urban centers on government lands or on disputed lands. They become vote bank for urban political parties. In most cases once the land title is allotted these slum dwellers are uprooted from these slums so that big corporation can build shopping malls or apartment complexes for the development of the nation.
Various courts in India including the Supreme Court are either silent on this human tragedy of forcible displacement or in rarest cases sided with the government and big MNCs in pursuing their agendas. In many cases even if there were no environmental clearances for such huge ecology damaging projects like Tehri Dam or Tata and POSOCO or Vedanta, still they went ahead grabbing the lands of poor and destroying the ecology for MNC interests.
It would appear as though these problems are just the result of bad management, planning and a general lack of oversight and holistic perspective. However true that maybe it is just the partial truth. Upon a closer observation infact one would find that these problems are not the result of mis-management, instead they are the results of a very systematic and strategically charted out policies in motion through a very long time.
Most of these above mentioned displaced people are from virgin forests from where coal to diamonds, rare earth metals to gold could be hauled out at throw away prices, which would be used to make high technology cutting edge products again to be sold to India at 10,000 times more profit than the actual cost of the materials/products hauled out.
MNCs want these tribal Indians to go away from their resource rich lands sometime like yesterday. But they are afraid just like the East India Company, that such evacuation (read rehabilitation) may create revolt among people. To avoid such inconvenience MNCs are now using the very democratically elected governments to do the eviction of population in the guise of protection of wildlife and sustainable development.
A massive such eviction is taking place in the State of Andhra Pradesh from the virgin forests of Nallamala range for the exclusive benefits of De Beers, a diamond mining corporation that wants the kimberlite or diamonds from the forest. But that is not the only thing De Beers is after. What De Beers is after is the buried wealth of Vijayanagara Empire to be hauled permanently into western fold.
The efforts of De Beers started at least 13 years ago when it was told to us that “they realized the massive diamond, gold and granite deposits in Mehaboob Nagar and Kurnool districts of Andhra Pradesh”. These deposits are spread under the thick jungles of Nallamala Forests. These forests needed to be cleared first for the diamond mining or De Beers should have to resort to the latest technology called horizontal drilling under the forests.
Now here comes the kicker. East India Companies when they ruled India tried to locate these kimberlite mines and declared that they were all exhausted and thus shifted their focus to South Africa. In South Africa they found diamonds and set up African gold and diamond mining companies under the ruthless exploitative ownership of Openheimers, who were one of the owners of the East India Companies. It is these Nallamala diamond mines that were the source of the riches of all the kingdoms of India including the Vijayanagara Kingdom, which at its height sold diamonds on streets not in carats but in kilograms. This fact was recorded by Portuguese, Russian, French and other chroniclers who had business and diplomatic ties with Vijayanagara kingdom. Every crown jewel of every European kingdom in those days came from India and from these mines along the banks of Krishna or Tungabhadra rivers.
In the year 1600 East India Company was formed and given exclusive right to trade with India and South East Asia by the British Monarchy under the concept of Free Trade and Globalization. It was also given the right to civilize India. In the year 1965 the Club of Rome (top industrial houses-real owners of EICs or MNCs) divided the world in 10 economic segments and gave unbridled authority to ruthlessly exploit Segment 9 (India belongs to this segment 9), a group of mineral (diamond, gold, uranium, life saving medicinal plants, organic food and drinking water) oil and natural gas rich South East Asian nations consisting one third of the population of the world- under liberalization (liberalize domestic economy to globalize its owners) and privatization (privatize so that Free Trade can further control domestic economy via global owners) to a group of MNCs.
Commenting on the mercantile political economy, Mayer Rothschild (one of the owners of the East India Company) once made a historic comment which is resoundingly true even after centuries – “give me the control of the currency of any nation and I care not who rules it…”
Liberalization and Privatization were the tools of the mercantile world in the long history of 400 year struggle to dominate resource rich Asia in general and India in particular. Since the beginning of liberalization of Indian economy for the supposed ‘development’ of India many Indians within the border of India became second-class citizens or non-citizens in their own native lands, country and cultural settings. They became the Helots of India, a derogatory term used by the Romans to indicate non-Romans in their country, intermediate in status between slaves and citizens. However still for whose sake is this development, is still not yet answered as it is tacitly understood that it is for the western countries to continue their geopolitical fight with their yester year cold war adversaries.
It wouldn’t be farfetched to say that in the name of development India is now run only for the profit maximization of giant western Multinational Corporations (MNCs) which are in their latest avatar from the erstwhile East India Companies (EICs). In fact all the owners of current MNCs are the grand children of the previous East India Companies, in lineage, spirit, methods, tactics and business policies (read Business Intelligence).
For a detailed study of the origin of these EICs, their motives and the motives of MNCs along with the commodities EICs dealt with and MNCs plan to deal with or are already dealing with; along with the elusive owners of these MNCs tracking them back to their East India Company roots kindly refer to our East India Company Series – Part I Noble Motives.
The state government wrote to the Centre four times this year seeking environment clearances for bauxite mining in the Visakha Agency areas, charged AP Congress Committee (PCC) president N Raghuveera Reddy while releasing a 'fact sheet' on the bauxite mining issue here on Monday .
According to the PCC chief, CM Chandrababu Naidu wrote letters on February 10, February 23, July 21 and August 6 to the centre. He criticized the white paper on bauxite recently released by the state government and said it was nothing but a fake document.
“The CM has no guts to reveal the facts. He has been changing his statements regularly to cover his corrupt practices. Naidu had adopted the Araku area only to excavate the bauxite reserves and for this he has been colluding with private companies,“ Reddy alleged.
“The CM has no time to write to Union government and demand special status for the state or seek aid for the drought-hit mandals.But he found time to send four letters to the centre to seek environment clearances for bauxite mining,“ Reddy said.
He challenged Naidu to reveal the minutes of the cabinet meeting in which the GO 97 was allegedly kept in abeyance.
Former speaker of the AP Assembly Nadendla Manohar said chief minister Naidu has been violating the constitutional rights of the tribals.
Bowing to huge pressure from tribal groups and Maoist threats, the AP government has put on hold its bauxite-mining plans in Visakhapatnam and Vizainagaram districts.The state cabinet, which met in Vijayawada on Monday , discussed the issue and decided to first hold talks with local tribal leaders before taking any decision on mining in the hills, considered sacred by tribals. The cabinet meeting, chaired by chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, directed the AP Mineral Development Corporation not to apply for clearances and permissions from the Centre.
VISAKHAPATNAM: The protests over the clearance given by the Centre to the Andhra Pradesh government for bauxite mining in the Agency area is now threatening to derail the tourism industry in Araku and Visakhapatnam.
Already, the TDP government has been forced to put off the Araku Utsav, which is held in November, by a month in view of the protests. The tourist season for Araku Valley and the port city commences in November and goes on till February. A large number of tourists from different parts of the country visit the Agency area, including places such as Araku, Lambasinghi, Ananthgiri, Borra Caves among others.
It is this rush of tourists that is in peril now. Hotels, tour operators and cab services -- majority of whom offer their services from the port city -- are worried about losing a major chunk of business if the government fails to address the bauxite-mining issue at the earliest.
According to industry sources, on an average around 70-80 private vehicles are booked by tourists on a daily basis from Vizag to Araku during the four-month season. In fact, almost 50 per cent of the business of the entire year is witnessed between November and February, said hotel industry sources in Araku.
"Whether it is the government or private hotels, majority of the business is seen during November to February, followed by the summer holidays in April-May. The tribals are unhappy with the decision of the government on bauxite-mining and if it escalates, tourism will be hit. In fact, it will put the entire ecosystem in disarray," lamented a hotel owner.
Normal life came to a halt in the Agency area on Saturday due to the bandh called by all parties in protest against the bauxite mining lease granted to AP by the Centre.The bandh went off peacefully. Some leaders from the ruling TDP such as former minister M Manikumari and former MLA of Araku Siveri Soma also took part in the protests in the eleven mandals of Visakha Agency .
The RTC suspended its services in the Agency after agitators stopped buses in the early hours.Private operators stopped jeeps and cars. Shops and establishments remained closed and the weekly markets at Munchingput, Hukumpet and Sapparla were not held due to non-availability of ransportation. Around eleven agitators were arrested at Anantagiri mandal.
Protestors warned the gov ernment with dire consequences f it started mining bauxite. They said they would continue the agi ation till the government withdraws its decision. CPM, CPI, YSRCP and BJP jointly conducted dharnas and protests. TDP cadres joined in the agitations in some areas and also conducted separately agitations.
Bauxite mining: Maoists threaten to kill minister
Ayyanna Told To Stall Mining In The Agency Area
AP panchayat raj minister Ch Ayyanna Patrudu on Saturday received a death threat from Maoists, who are opposed to bauxite mining in the Agency area of Visakhapatnam.
The Maoists reportedly warned that Ayyanna Patrudu, who hails from north coastal Andhra, should prevail upon the state government to withdraw the permission for bauxite mining in Narsipatnam division of the Agency area. The outlaws have also demanded that the minister resign from the state cabinet.
Following the threat call, the minister rushed to the state secretariat in Hyderabad to meet chief secretary IYR Krishna Rao. He informed Rao about the Maoist threat. He also briefed him about the mounting pressure from tribals in his assembly constituency to stop the bauxite mining project.
Sources said Patrudu also brought to the notice of the chief secretary that people in his Narsipatnam constituency are under constant threat from Maoists. The minister then spoke to CM Chandrababu Naidu, who assured him that he would discuss the issue with tribal leaders before moving forward. Naidu also asked the minister not to panic and assured full protection to him.
On Thursday , the AP government issued orders permitting mining of bauxite in Narsipatnam. The Maoists have been opposing the mining for long. They even kidnapped three TDP leaders recently and released them only after the government gave an assurance that it would not take up mining. Just after 10 days, the TDP government issued GO (No.97) giving permission to AP Mineral Development Corporation to take up bauxite mining in about 3,000 acres in Narsipatnam forest division. Several TDP leaders in Vizag district are learnt to have received threats from Naxalites.
“It is not the final permission to start mining. Another permission from the mining department is required and we are not going to give it now. First, we will call all tribal leaders and discuss with them whether the state government should take up bauxite mining with the active participation of tribals or keep quiet. Based on their opinion we will move forward. Our CM assured me that he would not go against the sentiment of tribals,“ Patrudu told TOI.
TDP is facing rough weather in Vizag and Vizianagaram where bauxite mining has become an emotional issue with tribal families opposing the same.
HYDERABAD: In a complete U-turn of his earlier stand, AP chief minister Chandrababu Naidu has approved bauxite mining in 1,212 hectares (nearly 3,000 acres) of land in Chintapalli area of Jerrila village in Narsipatnam forest division of Visakhapatnam district. Interestingly, it was Naidu who wrote a letter to governor ESL Narasimhan seeking scrapping of the MoUs entered with two private companies for mining bauxite in 2011.
In his letter, Naidu had demanded a ban on bauxite mining stating that it "will deplete and pollute water sources such as Sarada, Champavati and Gostani rivers that originate in the region. The impact on the tribal livelihood will be disastrous, to say the least."
But according to TDP sources, Naidu was never against bauxite mining and was only opposed to handing over the lucrative mining lease to private companies.
On Thursday, the AP government issued GO No. 97 handing over the mining lease to AP Mineral Development Corporation (APMDC) asking it to take necessary precautions to protect the environment and reforestation activity to substitute the loss of forests.
However, Naidu in his earlier letter had stated, "APMDC has neither the technical and financial capability nor experience in taking up such a vast enterprise. The company was used as a puppet to further the interests of corporate houses." He had asked the governor to intervene and cancel the agreements as it will damage the environment and endanger the livelihood of thousands of families living in Narsipatnam tribal area.
The ruling TDP cadre in Visakhapatnam and Vizianagaram are opposed to bauxite mining, particularly after Maoists kidnapped three TDP leaders recently. The had released the leaders after reportedly securing an assurance that the TDP government would not permit mining in the area.
Taking a strong objection to the government order, the YSR Congress Party on Friday said that bauxite mining in tribal areas cannot be carried out without the consent of locals. It described the mining permission as a gross violation of existing rules.
"The TDP was very vociferous and had written a strongly worded letter to the governor when the party was in opposition. But after coming to power, it made a U-turn and issued the GO allowing the state-owned mining corporation to go ahead with the activity," YSRCP MLA Rajanna Dora said.
The main opposition has accused TDP of cashing in on the absence of a tribal advisory board. The TDP government issued the permission without fulfilling the formalities, including panchayat permission, Dora said. Environmental rules make it clear that no mining activity should be taken up in the agency area without a resolution being passed by the panchayat and tribal advisory board.
The Chenchus themselves may not be fully aware of the presence of Kali (Chenchu Lakshmi) in Nallamalais. They sleepwalk on her lap blissfully. She guards not just the life but also the ancient man-made treasure as well as diamond mines. Those who tried to steal from her got disappeared in her vicinity. If the present rulers don't grasp this and follow their predecessors thinking that their god Lucifer or the Illuminati can save them, they are mistaken. Let history not repeat itself!
Government of India collects many statistics every year on everything and anything except on the displaced people from the resource rich forests or river banks or fertile lands. None in India in government circles have any figure for the number of people that have been or are being displaced by big developmental projects or sacrificed on the altar of Developmental Mantra by every national government. Where do these displaced people go?
Eventually they end up in slums of urban centers on government lands or on disputed lands. They become vote bank for urban political parties. In most cases once the land title is allotted these slum dwellers are uprooted from these slums so that big corporation can build shopping malls or apartment complexes for the development of the nation.
Various courts in India including the Supreme Court are either silent on this human tragedy of forcible displacement or in rarest cases sided with the government and big MNCs in pursuing their agendas. In many cases even if there were no environmental clearances for such huge ecology damaging projects like Tehri Dam or Tata and POSOCO or Vedanta, still they went ahead grabbing the lands of poor and destroying the ecology for MNC interests.
It would appear as though these problems are just the result of bad management, planning and a general lack of oversight and holistic perspective. However true that maybe it is just the partial truth. Upon a closer observation infact one would find that these problems are not the result of mis-management, instead they are the results of a very systematic and strategically charted out policies in motion through a very long time.
Most of these above mentioned displaced people are from virgin forests from where coal to diamonds, rare earth metals to gold could be hauled out at throw away prices, which would be used to make high technology cutting edge products again to be sold to India at 10,000 times more profit than the actual cost of the materials/products hauled out.
MNCs want these tribal Indians to go away from their resource rich lands sometime like yesterday. But they are afraid just like the East India Company, that such evacuation (read rehabilitation) may create revolt among people. To avoid such inconvenience MNCs are now using the very democratically elected governments to do the eviction of population in the guise of protection of wildlife and sustainable development.
A massive such eviction is taking place in the State of Andhra Pradesh from the virgin forests of Nallamala range for the exclusive benefits of De Beers, a diamond mining corporation that wants the kimberlite or diamonds from the forest. But that is not the only thing De Beers is after. What De Beers is after is the buried wealth of Vijayanagara Empire to be hauled permanently into western fold.
The efforts of De Beers started at least 13 years ago when it was told to us that “they realized the massive diamond, gold and granite deposits in Mehaboob Nagar and Kurnool districts of Andhra Pradesh”. These deposits are spread under the thick jungles of Nallamala Forests. These forests needed to be cleared first for the diamond mining or De Beers should have to resort to the latest technology called horizontal drilling under the forests.
Now here comes the kicker. East India Companies when they ruled India tried to locate these kimberlite mines and declared that they were all exhausted and thus shifted their focus to South Africa. In South Africa they found diamonds and set up African gold and diamond mining companies under the ruthless exploitative ownership of Openheimers, who were one of the owners of the East India Companies. It is these Nallamala diamond mines that were the source of the riches of all the kingdoms of India including the Vijayanagara Kingdom, which at its height sold diamonds on streets not in carats but in kilograms. This fact was recorded by Portuguese, Russian, French and other chroniclers who had business and diplomatic ties with Vijayanagara kingdom. Every crown jewel of every European kingdom in those days came from India and from these mines along the banks of Krishna or Tungabhadra rivers.
In the year 1600 East India Company was formed and given exclusive right to trade with India and South East Asia by the British Monarchy under the concept of Free Trade and Globalization. It was also given the right to civilize India. In the year 1965 the Club of Rome (top industrial houses-real owners of EICs or MNCs) divided the world in 10 economic segments and gave unbridled authority to ruthlessly exploit Segment 9 (India belongs to this segment 9), a group of mineral (diamond, gold, uranium, life saving medicinal plants, organic food and drinking water) oil and natural gas rich South East Asian nations consisting one third of the population of the world- under liberalization (liberalize domestic economy to globalize its owners) and privatization (privatize so that Free Trade can further control domestic economy via global owners) to a group of MNCs.
Commenting on the mercantile political economy, Mayer Rothschild (one of the owners of the East India Company) once made a historic comment which is resoundingly true even after centuries – “give me the control of the currency of any nation and I care not who rules it…”
Liberalization and Privatization were the tools of the mercantile world in the long history of 400 year struggle to dominate resource rich Asia in general and India in particular. Since the beginning of liberalization of Indian economy for the supposed ‘development’ of India many Indians within the border of India became second-class citizens or non-citizens in their own native lands, country and cultural settings. They became the Helots of India, a derogatory term used by the Romans to indicate non-Romans in their country, intermediate in status between slaves and citizens. However still for whose sake is this development, is still not yet answered as it is tacitly understood that it is for the western countries to continue their geopolitical fight with their yester year cold war adversaries.
It wouldn’t be farfetched to say that in the name of development India is now run only for the profit maximization of giant western Multinational Corporations (MNCs) which are in their latest avatar from the erstwhile East India Companies (EICs). In fact all the owners of current MNCs are the grand children of the previous East India Companies, in lineage, spirit, methods, tactics and business policies (read Business Intelligence).
For a detailed study of the origin of these EICs, their motives and the motives of MNCs along with the commodities EICs dealt with and MNCs plan to deal with or are already dealing with; along with the elusive owners of these MNCs tracking them back to their East India Company roots kindly refer to our East India Company Series – Part I Noble Motives.
