Town on fire: the coal mine fires of Jharia

Image by international accountability project via Flickr

Vivid images of the so-called ‘Door To Hell’ have circulated the internet for years. Lighting up the sky, the pit of fire in the midst of the Karakum Desert, started by engineers in the 1970s, blazes night and day due to the abundance of natural gases present at the site. While this site is popular for the magnificent sights it produces, a town in the Indian state of Jharkhand has gained media attention for a more sinister reason. In Jharia, like in the Karakum Desert, flames lights up the sky. The town sits on a century-old underground fire that poses a threat to the safety and wellbeing of over a million local people.

Jharia itself is home to around 700,000 people and an abundance of coal. The richness of this area means that low-cost, open-cast mining is a popular way to increase profit. Mining in the area began in 1894 and peaked around 1925. Since then, over one hundred collieries have operated in the area. As one of Asia’s largest coal deposits, and the home to so many coal pioneers and businesses, Jharia is a popular and profitable town, selling coal to Delhi, Bangalore and Mumbai. Its businesses and its inhabitants, however, have suffered from the town’s rich resources: huge, coal-fuelled fires have burned underground for almost a century.

Fires began after the collapse of a coal mine in 1916 and have spread continuously since then. They have seen the destruction of collieries and other businesses, and in 2003 created the sinkholes that swallowed 250 houses within four hours. Because of the burning coal, the fires also produce large quantities of toxic fumes, including carbon dioxide and sulphur, as well as particulate matter. As a result, the emissions are incredibly hazardous to human health. Local residents suffer from high rates of skin and lung diseases, as well as respiratory diseases such as asthma and bronchitis. This data, as well as the increasing threat to infrastructure from unstable ground, is building up to an eventual humanitarian disaster in the region.

The area is also plagued with environmental issues. Water supplies are contaminated by the gases and sediments purged from the fire. The sulphur produced by the burning coal also increases the acidity of the water. This, combined with the inhospitable land degraded by flames, means that vegetation struggles to grow in the area. As the fourth biggest source of greenhouse gas in India, the Jharia coal fires also have large-scale implications for the world. The area hosts one of the densest collections of coal fires on this planet. The flames consume coal at an alarming rate, with around 37 million tons of the resource lost since 1916, and another 1.5 billion tons deemed inaccessible due to burning. If the fires continue to burn at the rate they currently are, the abundance of coal means that they could last for another 3,800 years.

After the nationalisation of the Indian coal industry in 1971, around 600 collieries were inherited by Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL), many of them on fire. Despite warnings of the dangers, mining has continued in the region, with the open-cast method replacing underground mining in 1973. Residents now live in close proximity to coal pits dug by miners, and these coal pits are at high risk of fire. Instead of covering the pits with sand and clay, as is traditional after open-cast mining, the coal is left exposed to the air, and therefore oxygen. Even a cigarette stub or a spark could ignite a blaze. Open-cast mining has resulted in fires burning above the ground in addition to the large subterranean fire underneath. The Jharia coal field is now the largest complex of above and underground fires in the world.

Subterranean fires are notoriously difficult to extinguish. The Centralia coal fires in Pennsylvania, for example, have resulted in the almost total abandonment of the area, as well as the neighbouring town of Byrnesville. But rather than trying to tackle the flames, the BCCL and the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi have decided instead on a relocation programme. If it is successful, this programme will move more than one million people from their homes despite protests from residents of the unfairness of this decision. The decision has also provoked criticism by the media, as well as those cynical of the BCCL’s motives. To many, it seems that residents are not being removed from their homes for their own safety. Rather, the relocation programme is a capitalist venture to clear the way for the BCCL to access the more than 1,000 million tons of coal lying beneath the town, and thus increase the profitability of their floundering business.

Originally published on The Global Panorama.

International Yoga Day: is yoga religious?

Image by Matthew Ragan via Flickr.

The first International Yoga Day on June 21 sparked controversy in some parts of India as tensions rose between the Hindu foundations of the practice and those claiming that it opposes Islamic teaching. Rather than an isolated incident, these tensions highlight the ongoing debate about whether the nature of yoga is a spiritual experience, or whether it holds religious and political significance, too.

The tensions in June were a result of accusations by significant Muslim figures including Kamal Farooqui, a member of the Muslim Personal Law Board, that by promoting yoga the Indian government was pushing a Hindu agenda. These accusations provoked controversial responses, and one historian, Dilip Simeon, expressed his belief to the Indian Express that the debate was deliberately ‘manufactured’ by Hindu politicians to assert Hindu culture as dominant in the region—a drive towards ‘unification of thought and culture’.

While Simeon suggests that the practice of yoga is somewhat political, debates on the practice around the world tend to focus largely on its religious element. The debate draws on questions of cultural appropriation, the significance of Hinduism in yoga, and the gradual separation of yoga in some cases from its spiritual foundations.

A recent political decision to ban yoga in Russia resulted from fears that the practice could ‘spread new religious cults and movements’, according to the Moscow Times. In Russia, then, political powers have acted on their belief in the inseparable link between yoga and religious practice, despite the fact that yoga is practiced by many purely for its physical and relaxation benefits.

Some religious organisations have been speaking out against the increasing popularity of yoga for a decade. A public elementary school in Aspen, Colorado shut down requests from Tara Guber to teach yoga to its children in 2002 because of their concerns that yoga’s Hindu roots conflicted with Christian teachings. More recently, a legal fight to block the teaching of yoga in Encinitas public schools in San Diego County resulted in media coverage of the controversial nature of yoga in the United States. Although Dean Broyles, the lawyer leading the fight, was unsuccessful, he aims to continue educating parents about the ‘religious intent’ of yoga, expressing his concerns to the Los Angeles Times of yoga’s ‘deceptive religious indoctrination’ of children in schools.

Concerns such as these also work in reverse. According to the Washington Post, some Hindu and Buddhist leaders have long expressed concerns about the gradual Westernisation of yoga, and by extension meditation, in which the practice has been morphed from a religious or at least spiritual exploration into a method of physical exercise. Denying yoga’s Hindu origins, as exercise classes often do, is seen by some as cultural appropriation. While many claim that yoga is for everyone, the arguments for and against it worldwide highlight the controversies surrounding the practice. To separate yoga from its religious roots is seen by many as disrespectful to Hindu culture, but to offer the practice to others with these religious and spiritual roots in place is viewed as a political move towards cultural domination.

Originally published on The Global Panorama.

India: eco-feminism changes perceptions

Image by nevil zaveri via Flickr

In a country that traditionally looks at a girl child as a burden, a small village is challenging perceptions of women with an eco-feminist initiative

The village of Piplantri in the western state of Rajasthan plants 111 trees for every girl born into the community in a tradition began by its former leader, Shyam Sundar Palawal, in 2006. In addition to this, a sum of Rs. 31,000 is raised by villagers and the parents for each girl for a 20-year fund, thus reducing the financial strain otherwise placed onto parents. The ‘burden’ of having girls because of the inevitable marriage dowries is alleviated. The sapling planted—often fruit trees—provide resources to the village for its entire population.

In rural India, in particular, where the custom of dowry is still prevalent, a girl child is not welcomed into the family. As a tradition that has come to be interpreted as compensation for the burden of another woman on her new husband’s family, dowries have harmful cultural as well as financial significance. They associate women, even at birth, with great financial strain and a sense of inconvenience to her community. Piplantri’s eco-feminist initiative, then, is a movement seeking to ease the financial strain placed upon families, and to undermine the very notion of girls being a burden from birth.

The tradition has great significance for women and the environment. In addition to the funds raised for the girl from the community, her parents sign an oath that promises to ensure that their child receives an education and reaches the age of 18 before she is married. This gesture in itself is a move towards protecting young girls from forced marriages and the high levels of sexual violence that can be a part of it. The initiative also strives towards equal education for both sexes—a significant step in the direction of gender equality.

Additionally, the planting of trees ensures that the local environment will not suffer at the expense of a growing village population. The trees are cared for and protected, and used for resources for the expanding population of the village. By linking the trees to the birth of a girl, the village of Piplantri makes an important change to the perception of women in India, associating them with the blossoming of natural life. It also makes a point about the integral role women play in society, not merely as wives, but as active members of the community with the right to education and a full childhood.

Originally published on The Global Panorama.

In India, marriage is a sacrament, but women's rights are not

Photograph by Natesh Ramasamy via Flickr

The Indian Minister of State for Home Affairs, Haribhai Parthibhai Chaudhary, released a statement in April explaining the government’s stance on marital rape. He claimed that the concept could not be suitably applied to India because of factors including poverty, religious beliefs, social customs and the perception of marriage as a sacrament.

The statement follows two years after India’s Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, which explicitly stated that it would exclude marital rape on the grounds that ‘sexual intercourse or sexual acts by a man with his own wife, the wife not being under 15 years of age, is not rape.’

Since the gang rape of a young student in New Delhi in December 2012 triggered a national uprising against sexual violence in India, the government ratified laws to help combat harassment, assault and rape against women. Despite this, a survey published by Hindustan Times in December 2014 revealed that 91% of 2,257 women believed that the city had not become any safer for them. The report also stated that 97% of the women had faced sexual harassment.

The statement by Haribhai Parthibhai Chaudhary demonstrates the need for a complete reform in how India, and countries all over the world, perceives sexual violence. The statement claims that marriage is a sacrament but refuses to acknowledge that women’s rights within their marriages are as important as men’s. It does not see a woman’s right to refuse sex under any circumstances as being as sacred as the marriage itself.

By refusing to distinguish between consensual sex and marital rape, the government is disregarding the fact that marital rape is not a matter of sex, but one of violence. As Congress leader Shashi Tharoor stated in response to the government, ‘whether [rape] happens within a marriage or whether it happens outside, when you are guilty of violence, the state should criminalise it.’

The unclear definition of marital rape in India has consequently led to mixed reactions to the government’s statement. Kanimozhi Karunanidhi, the Member of Parliament, who initially raised the question of making marital rape an offence, opposed the government’s response. She argued that criminalising the concept ‘is not against values, ethos or tradition of India. It is about protecting women in our own country within the institution [of marriage].’

Supporters of the government’s reply have argued that criminalising marital rape could lead to husbands being falsely accused of rape, a stance that ignores the low probability of this happening in proportion to the number of women who are actually faced with marital rape on a daily basis. In fact, according to a study by the ICRW and the UNPFA, more than a third of the men surveyed admitted to having forced a sexual act upon their wives.

While India passes laws in an attempt to tackle the issues of sexual violence women face in their public life, it is of crucial importance to take steps to support their rights in their own homes, too. The Indian government must take measures to redefine its attitude towards sexual violence in the context of marriage if it truly wishes to support the safety of women in the country.

Originally published on The Global Panorama.

India's unreported police brutality

Photograph by nevil zaveri via Flickr

On April 15, 2014, India’s Supreme Court recognised the country’s transgender community as individuals in their own right. It passed a law that declared the transgender community to be a third gender. The law was regarded as a significant step forward on the civil rights front, and became a talking point for those looking to introduce similar laws in some European countries who had not already done so.

The law came only four months after the Supreme Court re-criminalised homosexuality and bisexuality, which led to a considerable increase in police violence against transgender people across the country. This re-criminalisation is still in place, presenting a danger in the LGBTQ community: while transgender people do have legal recognition, it is still against the law for them to engage in gay sex.

Following the Supreme Court’s recognition of the transgender community, there have been issues around implementing the law, particularly with regards to the fundamental rights transgender people should, by the court’s ruling, enjoy. In an interview with DW, Jayshree Bajoria, a researcher for Human Rights Watch, called attention to abusive colonial-era laws still underlying some Indian states today that make transgender people vulnerable to police abuse.

Transgender people in India have often had to engage in begging and sex work due to the lack of opportunities available to them in working life, and these activities can increase their susceptibility to police abuse. In November 2014, the Indian police detained 167 transgender women in a beggars’ colony in Bangalore. The police claimed that the event was part of a ‘crackdown’ on public begging, but a report from Orinam claimed that many of the women detained were going about their daily chores; some were allegedly dragged out of their homes by the police. Orinam speculates that the ‘crackdown’ merely disguised the police’s real objective to target transgender women in general.

Newspaper reports on the Supreme Court’s recent decisions concerning transgender rights have been decidedly vague about the levels of police violence against the community in India. Most reports refer to a general increase in police abuse of transgender people, but give no specific details. Even Amnesty International’s annual report at the end of 2014 was unable to elaborate on the issue, claiming only that since the ruling in April 2014, ‘cases of harassment and violence against transgender people continued to be reported.’ It is notoriously difficult to find details about specific cases demonstrating the issue many transgender people face in India. This is perhaps a reflection of the conservative position news avenues continue to take when addressing the plight of LGBTQ people in India, no matter how liberal they may otherwise be.

Originally published on The Global Panorama.