Dont mine us to death
2010-06-15
Avatar 2 is already in the works, eagerly awaited by millions of fans worldwide. Meanwhile, a similar story takes place in India, only the characters are not blue, and the attention much more modest. For more than 300 years, the Khond people has been living around the Nyamgiri Mountain, growing crops and harvesting the many fruit trees. But the mountain, which is holy to them, does not only provide food and fertile soils. Its interior also hides great reserves of aluminium. Now the British mining company Vedanta threatens the whole existence of the Khond people, by planning heavy mining activities in the area. Parts of the project have already begun, with devastating effects. Amnesty International is one of several organisations that have documented pollution and violations of human rights in the area. Families have been driven off their land and the Khond people’s languague, culture, religion and unique way of living is under severe threat. And as the Avatar fans keep biting their nails waiting for a sequel, the people of Nyamgiri continue their struggle in silence.
Photos by Johan Persson.