'Tree hugger' is often used as a slur, but the term is believed to stem from a brutal massacre in India that laid the roots for modern-day peaceful resistance.
"On top of that, the forestry department demanded their [unpaid] labour for managing and thinning the forests and protection from fire. If there was a fire, they would penalise the villagers.The forestry system and logging contractors were also seen to have little regard for local ecology, and were denuding steep slopes in the foothills of the Himalayas.
"Many of the people who were involved were members of the communist party and the local Gandhian groups," Dr Rangan says. But the tempo was upped in 1974 when the Reni forest, in what was then the state of Uttar Pradesh near the Tibet border, was auctioned to supply timber to the Symonds sporting goods company to make cricket bats and other sporting equipment.
Alerted to their presence by a young girl, senior Reni woman Gaura Devi gathered 21 women and seven young girls and marched to the forest, where they confronted the workers. Though more struggle ensued, Reni forest was eventually saved by the Chipko protesters, and the movement took on a new momentum in India, Dr Rangan says.
"We'd brought in non-violent direct action folk from New Zealand to give us training and they also talked about Chipko.
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