Chipko is not a movement, it 'was' one. Its energies sapped by excessive adulation, the movement wound up too quickly. For a while, though, Chipko came tantalisingly close to providing, for a corner of South Asia, socio-economic development through a paradigm that was self-developed.
Himal carried the article "The Paradoxical Support of Nepal's Left for Comrade Gonzalo" by Stephen L. Mikesell in its March/April 1993 issue. In late November,
The governments of South Asia are in a bind. With vocal support being expressed worldwide for indigenous peoples, they do not want to appear reluctant in endorsing the spirit. At
Trekking in the Himalaya has received a lot of publicity in Western media. Tour companies sell the image of a comfortable adventure without any stress or suffering, with the sahib
The trekking industry exploits the hill porter, little realising that short-term greed invites long-term disaster. A minimum portering wage must be fixed. There should be more, not less,
If there was a movement called Chipko to save the trees of Uttarakhand, let us not forget the Ped Kato Andolan, the short-lived but significant agitation to chop down
Uttarakhand has had a long involvement with forest protests, whose latest incarnation was Chipko. Villagers have been reacting primarily to policies of the State, either the hill durbar, the Lucknow
The perceived dangers of a "Greater Sikkim" are discussed by Mohan Ram in a recent article in the New Delhi Pioneer, excerpted here, whose starting point is the
A good tune echoes in the mind. That is why, perhaps, governments the world over try to reinforce their ideologies by finding the "right" words for the tune.
The Sep/Oct 1993 of Himal had an article on missionaries, which referred to Capuchin priests and Kathmandu Christians who were forced to m igrate to Bettiah after Prithvi Narayan
