[Reader-list] Fwd: Urgent call for Lawyers in Niyamgiri

[Asit Das]

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Dear friends,


Here is the appeal:As you are aware, the Supreme Court judges on Thursday
took a cowardly decision not to make a final verdict on the Niyamgiri
Vedanta case, but instead to pass the decision back to the gram sabha level
within 10km of the proposed mine, and to let the MoEF ultimately decide
based on their recommendation.


Knowing the history of Vedanta in Niyamgiri, we know that Vedanta and state
officials will make every effort to influence this process with violence
and persuasion. So much rests on these few weeks, and we need your
participation. This is an urgent call for help from anyone who is able to
assist at this critical time. We need as many people as possible to
independently observe the process in the next 6 weeks (when the situation
in the mountain will be most tense) and for the following 2 months until
the gram sabhas officially report to the MoEF.


More details below:
The implications of this judgment go far beyond Niyamgiri and even far
beyond India. As a precedent for religious and cultural rights, and for
self-determination, the judgment on Niyamgiri will affect those threatened
by “industrial development” all over India and globally. And for Vedanta,
losing Niyamgiri will be huge, and even potentially a fatal blow to their
financial position, reputation, and empire.


Thursday's judgment states that:
Two gram sabhas within 10km of the proposed mine will decide whether the
community's cultural and religious rights, including the community’s claim
to the abode of Niyam Raja, will be seriously affected by the Vedanta mine.
New claims are to be filed for the gram sabha to hear within 6 weeks from
now. We need to start filing these claims in large numbers.
The process of settling claims by the gram sabha should be finished within
3 months.
According to the judgment, verification by gram sabha is to be uninfluenced
by project proponents, state and other such parties. To ensure that the
process is transparent, it is to be overseen by an independent Judicial
Officer to be appointed by the Chief Justice of Orissa High Court. (We have
no confidence that the Orissa High Court - who have been extremely biased
in the past - will be impartial here)
The decision would then be submitted to the MoEF, who would then take the
final decision on clearance of the project within 5 months.
Until then, mining will continue to be banned.
Local leaders (like Kumuti Majhi ) have called out for domestic and
international civil society to oversee the gram sabha process as Vedanta
will use money and force to influence this critical decision.


The Economic Times has rightly stated:
“But Vedanta will want the third option, a more durable one. Mining and
metal companies need to keep costs low as prices of their products
fluctuate wildly on global trends. Anil Agarwal needs to use his
considerable clout as an industrialist and negotiator to win over the
villagers of Niyamgiri. He needs to show them that Vedanta, as a corporate
group, is not hostile to their aspirations.”


We need volunteers - especially political activists, lawyers, journalists
and social workers to go to the mountain as soon as possible and to ensure
that the right information reaches the villages, that the gram sabhas are
able to operate without undue influence, and that Vedanta's flood of money
does not destroy this process.


Please get in touch with us at
foilvedanta at riseup.net<http://mc/compose?to=foilvedanta@riseup.net>
for
more details and to be put in touch with local activists and lawyers who
need our help. Your participation and engagement are crucial.


This is a heartfelt call for help.

Look forward to hearing from you,

In solidarity,

Samarendra Das, Niyamgiri Suraksha Samiti, and Foil Vedanta x
 http://www.foilvedanta.org/
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