This saga is a deeply affecting story in Orissa, India of corporation versus man which is a humanitarian and lawful failure.

The UK mining company, Vedanta, are unrelenting in their planned mining of the Indian homestead of the Kondh tribe and ignoring the community’s expressed concerns. Vedanta is displacing the tribe from their indigenous homeland of Niyamgiri living around the mountain that is regarded as holy.

“We will not leave Niyamgiri. Without our mountain, our god, there is no life for us,” explained Kondh member, Mali Majhi.

Vedanta seem to be headstrong in their focus on profit, not the livelihood and principles of others. The production of a refinery has already caused anguish amongst the community. Vedanta’s only acknowledgment of the Kondh’s struggle is a financial compensation package, but this isn’t a suitable enough replacement which the tribe refused as it is not a worthy substitute for the impact it will make on their lives.

Lingaraja Mahji, 40, noted:
“We cannot eat money, and we know it won’t last long. We have lost our land and livelihood without any choice.”

ActionAid have been supporting the Kondh tribe and their protests to Vedanta which have been consistently ignored.

An image I will always remember from the protests is when ActionAid constructed a Stonehenge replica asking for some perspective before mining – the Kondh’s spiritual homeland is just as important to their identity as Stonehenge is to ours.

Let’s face it; if a mining company wanted to mine Stonehenge for bauxite, we wouldn’t let it happen. Why should this be any different? The bottom-line is: it isn’t.

This raises the key topic: By mining an Indian spiritual homeland is in fact presenting a considerable ignorance to other culture’s ideals and principles in which they live by. Lawyers note that it in fact overturns 2 of India’s constitutional guarantees: the right to life and human dignity, and the right to religious practises and beliefs.

Can we not see past profit for other’s suffering?

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