A friend of mine who worked in the Himalayan Indian state of Sikkim, an area I was not able to visit during my time in India, recently informed me of the terrible plight of the Lepcha, the indigenous inhabitants of the region.
Some leading Lepcha citizens, including members of the Affected Citizens of Teesta (ACT), Concerned Lepchas of Sikkim (CLOS) and the Sangha of Dzongu have commenced on an indefinite hunger strike to protest against the arbitrary sanctioning of mega hydro power projects in Sikkim by the state government there.
The Lepcha's concerns have been poignantly summed up by Dawa Lepcha who noted as follows:
“The Lepchas and their distinct culture and social fabric are being threatened by these projects. The Environment Impact assessment (EIA) done by the Centre for Inter-disciplinary Studies of Mountain & Hill Environment (CISMHE) for the Panang project does not mention anything about the Lepcha tribes, save for a single line, under social and anthropological assessment. This shows utter disregard for the Lepcha people and their very survival,”
To find out more about the Lepchas and their struggle, please visit the Weeping Sikkim site here.
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1 comment:
thank you sir for your support to my country sikkim and for the people of sikkim . and also ur concerns for the ecology and environment .
maan gurung
france
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