MANY MYTHS OF CHIPKO

Misconceptions about the Chipko movement have overshadowed its true objectives.

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THE ICONIC images of Garhwali peasant women hugging trees, apparently to protect them from being cut down, have become synonymous with the Chipko movement. Perceptions of the movement that have also become popular are its ecological and feminist forms. However, these are only misconceptions that overshadow the real and initial objectives of a people's movement for rights over local forests.

The movement began in 1973 in Uttarakhand, then a part of Uttar Pradesh, by communities in the Garhwal Himalaya region against commercial tree-felling that led to degradation of forests and natural disasters. Their demands were clear: abolish the contract system of tree-felling and establish the rights of communities over the management and use of forests. Their aim was to develop local economies by promoting small-scale forest-based industries, while ensuring forest conservation. However, "the ecological and feminist form of Chipko was invented" in 1977-79, as writes historian Shekhar Pathak in The Chipko Movement: A People's History. This shift came when Sundarlal Bahuguna, considered a pioneer of Chipko, demanded "a complete ban on tree felling" in line with his perception of deep ecology.

The feminist image, on the other hand, was created due to a single incident that social activist from Uttarakhand Vandana Shiva highlighted in her book without context.

The 1988 book, Staying Alive: Women, Ecology and Development, introduces Bachni Devi as protesting in Adwani forest against her husband, described as contractor Sunderlal Saklani. Shiva identified it as "the most dramatic turn in the new confrontation," perceiving it as the rise of a gender conflict. But historical facts show that the movement had gender collaboration.