INDIA'S FIRST ENVIRONMENTALISTS:
THE BISHNOI CONTINUE THEIR STRUGGLE
THE BISHNOI CONTINUE THEIR STRUGGLE
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For centuries, the Bishnoi have sworn by the preservation of plants and
animals. Some have even lost their lives to defend this cause. The
“eco-religion” was founded in the 15th century, when a farmer, who is
now known as Guru Jambheshwar, retreated after a long drought and
formulated 29 tenets according to which the farmers of the Thar Desert
region should live their lives. The word bis means 20, whereas noi means
nine. The tenets revolve around personal hygiene, basic health, social
behavior, the worship of God, biodiversity and good animal husbandry.
They include a ban on the felling of green trees. “To lose one's head
is better than to lose a tree,” according to a Bishnoi proverb.
“The Bishnoi are a caste within the Hindu caste system,” explains Dr Pankaj Jain from the University of Texas. “They are strict vegetarians and do not kill living beings. Nature is holy to them.” However, the lives of the half million or so Bishnois who live in India's western state of Rajasthan are currently under threat due to the fact that the textile industry is polluting India's rivers.
The hundreds of small and medium-sized textile companies in the city of Jodhpur have polluted the Loni River, which is essential for keeping the sacred forest of Khejarli green and allowing the wild animals that are central to the Bishnois' beliefs to graze. “Nothing grows here anymore,” complains Balaram Bishnoi, a farmer from the village of Doli. “The land is dead. I had vegetables, crops and sesame - all kinds of things. Now not even grass grows anymore. The land has dried out completely.” He and several other farmers have filed a suit against the region's textile industry and are currently awaiting a verdict.
Two centuries ago, at least 364 Bishnois died trying to protect the trees of Khrejarli. Shivdas Shastri, the village priest, relates the story: “Some 200 years ago, the king ordered the forest to be cleared to build a palace. When the king's men came to fell the trees, the Bishnoi from the surrounding villages protested. 'We will die, but we won't allow the trees to be felled,' they shouted.”
The villagers live in very close proximity with animals such as deer, antelopes or even peacocks. If hunters kill a fawn's mother, it is nursed by Bishnoi women.
“The Bishnoi are a caste within the Hindu caste system,” explains Dr Pankaj Jain from the University of Texas. “They are strict vegetarians and do not kill living beings. Nature is holy to them.” However, the lives of the half million or so Bishnois who live in India's western state of Rajasthan are currently under threat due to the fact that the textile industry is polluting India's rivers.
The hundreds of small and medium-sized textile companies in the city of Jodhpur have polluted the Loni River, which is essential for keeping the sacred forest of Khejarli green and allowing the wild animals that are central to the Bishnois' beliefs to graze. “Nothing grows here anymore,” complains Balaram Bishnoi, a farmer from the village of Doli. “The land is dead. I had vegetables, crops and sesame - all kinds of things. Now not even grass grows anymore. The land has dried out completely.” He and several other farmers have filed a suit against the region's textile industry and are currently awaiting a verdict.
Two centuries ago, at least 364 Bishnois died trying to protect the trees of Khrejarli. Shivdas Shastri, the village priest, relates the story: “Some 200 years ago, the king ordered the forest to be cleared to build a palace. When the king's men came to fell the trees, the Bishnoi from the surrounding villages protested. 'We will die, but we won't allow the trees to be felled,' they shouted.”
The villagers live in very close proximity with animals such as deer, antelopes or even peacocks. If hunters kill a fawn's mother, it is nursed by Bishnoi women.
For
over half a millennium, the Bishnois have evolved their life-style into
a religion that fiercely protects the environment, but today, the
textile industry in Rajasthan is menacing their future. They are also in
conflict with poachers whose activity is threatening the region's
endangered species. However, it is modernization that is most difficult
to combat. "It is difficult to stay true to our ideals," says the
community's leader Faglu Ramji. "If we see how fast the world develops,
we often feel as if we are losers," he says. The examples of ecological
activism set by this communities are more effective than many
governmental initiatives.
WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?
The
spiritual, ethical, individual and collective dimensions of human life
constitute a continuum, encompassing the whole of the Indic heritage and
transcending all segments and fragments. The Vedic, Upanishadic, Jain
and Buddhist traditions perceived this and together built an enduring
spiritual, intellectual and cultural foundation for an
environment-friendly value system and a balanced lifestyle. ... The
Sikh, Vaishnava and Bishnoi traditions and numerous other Bhakti
denominations in mediaeval India - which give spiritual joy, comfort and
guidance to millions of people in India and abroad - are fine examples.
The Indic environmental ethos declares that all aspects and phenomena
of nature belong together and are bound in a physical as well as
metaphysical relationship, and views life as a gift of togetherness and
of mutual accommodation and assistance in a universe teeming with
interdependent constituent.
RH. E. Dr Laxmi Mall Singhvi :
Former President of the World Congress on Human Rights
“The East is green” - August 1996.
http://www.ourplanet.com/imgversn/82/singhvi.html
http://www.hinduwisdom.info/Nature_Worship.htm
Former President of the World Congress on Human Rights
“The East is green” - August 1996.
http://www.ourplanet.com/imgversn/82/singhvi.html
http://www.hinduwisdom.info/Nature_Worship.htm
Published by dasavatara das - "Vedic Views on World News"
http://www.vedicviews-worldnews.blogspot.com.ar/
http://www.vedicviews-worldnews.blogspot.com.ar/
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