[Reader-list] Open letter to Piyush Pandey on Vedanta’s “Creating Happiness”

[asit das]

*Open letter to Piyush Pandey on Vedanta’s “Creating Happiness”*

To

Executive Chairman <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chairman> &National
Creative Director
India<http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=28.6133333333,77.2083333333&spn=10.0,10.0&q=28.6133333333,77.2083333333%20(India)&t=h>
 and South Asia

Ogilvy & Mather <http://www.ogilvy.com/> Pvt Ltd

21st Feb, 2012

Dear Mr Piyush Pandey <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piyush_Pandey>

Greetings !

You are the Icon of  Indian advertising Industry and I was delighted to
know that you  have  been appointed as the brand ambassador
forD&AD<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%26AD>
 White Pencil Award. The new award from D&AD has been announced for an idea
that raises awareness or changes behaviour around a pressing social,
environmental or health issue. This is a significant initiative in the
world of communication.

Your  *mile sur humara tumhara’* for the National Literacy
Mission<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Literacy_Mission_Programme>
 in 1988  got etched in our collective Indian advertising  memory years ago.



 As also your  anti smoking ads  for the Cancer Patient association  which
won you  two Cannes Gold Medals in 2002.





In 1999  “Bhopal Express” – a film based on the Bhopal gas
tragedy<http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=23.2808333333,77.4105555556&spn=0.01,0.01&q=23.2808333333,77.4105555556%20(Bhopal%20disaster)&t=h>
 of 1984 that was co- written by you, acted as a catalyst in bringing to
the forefront  the human rights violations committed by Union Carbide , a
 corporate genocide. You supported the cause of Bhopal gas victims, and  I
respect  you for that.

After  so many socially responsible ad campaigns  by you  I was aghast  to
see  Vedanta <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vedanta>’s  “Creating Happiness”
ad . Recently unveiling the campaign you said *“**The Vedanta ‘Creating
Happiness’ campaign is extremely close to my heart for it’s all about
enabling India. I have worked on this campaign along with my team as an
excited young copywriter and I look forward to the people of India not just
appreciating Vedanta’s efforts, but getting inspired to do something on
their own to make India happier place*.*”*
http://www.mxmindia.com/2012/01/vedanta-group-unveils-first-ever-national-corporate-campaign/

May I ask you, if you really know whether Vedanta has enabled or disabled
India ?  Whether  Vedanta has protected the environment of the tribals in
India, or has been on land grabbing spree and attacking peaceful protestors?

I urge you to visit Niyamgiri hills, I am sure you will love the paradise
on earth, which  Vedanta is hell bent on destroying .

Niyamgiri Hills, named after the Niyamraja, the main deity of the Donagria
Kondhs, are one of last untouched wildernesses of Orissa. Rising to a
height of more than four thousand feet, it is the source of Vamshadhara
river as well as major tributaries of Nagavali rivers. Niyamgiris form a
distinct phytogeographical zone because of its height and its highly
precipitous topography . It has some of the most pristine forests in
Orissa. Niyamgiri flora is of ‘great phyto-geographical importance’ as the
hilltops harbor high altitude plants with Himalayan/North Indian and
Nilgiri/South Indian elements. Preliminary
*studies*<http://theviewspaper.net/illiteracy-in-india/> show
that it has approximately 50 species of important medicinal plants, about
20 species of wild ornamental plants, and more than 10 species of wild
relatives of crop plants .

The forested slopes of the Niyamgiri hills and the many streams that flow
through them provide the means of living for Dongaria Kondh and Kutia Kondh,
 Scheduled Tribes<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scheduled_castes_and_scheduled_tribes>
 that are notified by the government as ‘Primitive Tribal Groups’ and thus
eligible for special protection. In addition, the Dongaria Kondh, whose
total population is 7952 according to the 2001 census, are regarded as an
endangered tribe. Schedule V of the Indian
Constitution<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_India>
 which enjoins the government to respect and uphold the land rights of
Scheduled Tribes applies to the entire Niyamgiri hills region. While the
Kutia Kondh inhabit the foothills, the Dongaria Kondh live in the upper
reaches of the Niyamgiri hills which is their only habitat.

In the polytheistic animist worldview of the Kondh, the hilltops and their
associated forests are regarded as supreme deities. The highest hill peak,
which is under the proposed mining lease area, is the home of their most
revered god, Niyam Raja, ‘the giver of law’.

They worship the mountains (*dongar* from which the Dongaria Kondh derive
their name) along with the earth (*dharini*). These male and female
principles come together to grant the Kondh prosperity, fertility and
health.

According , *‘Report of the four member committee for investigation into
the proposal submitted by the Orissa Mining Company for bauxite mining in
Niyamgiri’*, dated August 16, 2010, by Dr N C Saxena, Dr S Parasuraman, Dr
Promode Kant, Dr Amita Baviskar. Submitted to the *Ministry of Environment
& Forests, Government of India*.
 <http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Kutia_kondh_woman.JPG>

”As Narendra Majhi, a Kutia Kondh from Similibhata village, said, “We
worship Niyam Raja and Dharini Penu. That is why we don’t fall ill”. Sikoka
Lodo, a Dongaria Kondh from Lakpadar village said, “As long as the mountain
is alive, we will not die”. Dongaria Kondh art and craft reflect the
importance of the mountains to their community— their triangular shapes
recur in the designs painted on the walls of the village shrine as well as
in the colourful shawls that they wear. All the Dongria and Kutia Kondh
villagers that the Committee conversed with emphasized the connection
between their culture and the forest ecology of the Niyamgiri hills. Their
belief in the sacredness of the hills is rooted in a strong dependence on
the natural resources that the mountains provide. Their customary practices
in the area include agriculture, grazing and the collection of minor forest
produce (MFP).All Dongaria Kondh that the Committee spoke to expressed
their strong attachment to the Niyamgiri hills, their stewardship of the
land, and the legitimacy of their rights arising from their long-standing
presence in these hills. They strongly voiced their contentment with life
and their opposition to any destructive change of the ecology threatening
their culture. As Sikoka Budhga said, “We can never leave Niyamgiri. If the
mountains are mined, the water will dry up. The crops won’t ripen. The
medicinal plants will disappear. The air will turn bad. Our gods will be
angry. How will we live? We cannot leave Niyamgiri.”

Research by Amnesty International and other local and international groups
documents the serious and continuing pollution caused by the refinery’s
operations. Despite the string of decisions against Vedanta, the company
has failed to remedy the pollution.The latest high court verdict states
that Vedanta cannot circumvent conditions issued by India’s Ministry of
Environment and Forests (MoEF), stipulating that plans for expansion of the
refinery should go through a fresh environmental and social impact
assessment and a public hearing process. Residents of 12 villages who live
in the shadow of the massive refinery – mostly Majhi Kondh Adivasi
(Indigenous) and Dalit communities who rely on agriculture for their
livelihoods – have long campaigned against the expansion.India’s great land
grab continues, with police forcibly evicting tribal villagers in Orissa
from land sold to UK-based Vedanta Resources to use as a toxic waste dump .

In your various interviews you have time again said you get creative
insights from the people you interact with and also while you make ad
campaigns you relate to the common man.I urge  you to go and find for
yourself what Vedanta is doing to Niyamgiri Hills and talk to the tribals
yourself to know the truth.

Meanwhile I would like you to see  activist Satyabadi Naik’s shocking video
of police crackdown on a peaceful protest by women of Rengopalli and other
villages against Vedanta’s toxic Red Mud Pond in Lanjigarh. This video was
recorded on 23 Jan 2012. Watch the Video
urgent-villagers-protest-against-vedanta-red-mud-pond<http://kractivist.wordpress.com/2012/01/24/urgent-villagers-protest-against-vedanta-red-mud-pond/>

Soem more films on the  REAL FACE OF VEDANTA

The Real Face of Vedanta

Niyamgiri – The Mountain of Law



Now after reading my letter and watching  the videos you tell me , is
 Vedanta “ Creating  Happiness “ or ‘ Faking  Happiness” ?

Regards

Adv Kamayani Bali Mahabal

Mumbai
Related articles

§               Open letter to Shyam Benegal on Vedanta’s Creating
Happiness<http://kractivist.wordpress.com/2012/02/20/open-letter-to-shyam-benegal-on-vedantas-creating-happiness/>
(kractivist.wordpress.com)