National Alliance of People’s Movements

February 2, 2021: National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM) commends and extends its solidarity to the youth groups of India and Australia who, in an effort to bring more attention to the continuous struggles of the multitude — aboriginal, indigenous peoples, farmers, working class and other oppressed communities — against anti-people multinational corporate conglomerates, have successfully organised the Global Week of Action to #StopAdani from 27th Jan to 2nd Feb, 2021 under the banner YAStA (Youth Action to Stop Adani), involving thousands of young people and drawing the attention of lakhs of citizens to corporate-induced crimes and climate crises.

The ongoing historic farmers’ movement in India has made plain and apparent the deep corporate-state nexus inherent to the neoliberal structure of our political economy and how the Adanis and Ambanis in particular are at the heart of this ‘structural pandemic’. At this juncture, it becomes pertinent to emphasise on many of the local struggles that have been and are being carried out across the country and the world — invisibilized by big pro-establishment media houses and ignored by the complacent sections of society. Notably, Adani, one of the largest multinational corporate giants has expanded its operations exponentially, parallel to Mr. Narendra Modi becoming the Prime Minister of India in 2014 and has been making forays into every sector, ever since.

Even as millions of working and middle class people lost jobs and the world witnessed an unprecedented livelihood and health crisis, corporates like Adani, which represent the deeper malaise plaguing our planet, became richer by over 21.5 billion dollars during the 2020 COVID lockdown. This is the maximum revenue jump, in comparison to all other domestic corporate houses. For billionaires and conglomerates, the pandemic has been an opportunity to further exploit and trample upon the rights of the marginalised communities all over the world. They are further aided by the ruling political mafias and state apparatus that have pulled no stop in utilising every means available — from legislation to brute police violence — to suppress people struggles and campaigns.

Adani’s ventures like mega ports, coal mines or other carbon-intensive industries, pay no heed to the ‘collateral damage’ that they seem to cause. Agricultural lands, sensitive ecosystems like coasts, forests and wetlands, indigenous ways of life, the dignity and rights of the working class are all deemed necessary ‘sacrifices’ in this quest for unbridled development. Development for whom and at what cost is a question that mass movements of this country have been posing for decades now, with little change in the broader capitalist paradigm that is only aggravating the global climate crisis and affecting the most vulnerable populations.

Recognizing the need to challenge exploitative corporates wielding enormous economic and political clout, without any accountability, youth groups from around the world have joined hands and organised a global week of action against Adani, amplifying local struggles and creating awareness amongst different sections of society about the need to stand in solidarity with the peoples’ movements and resist conglomerates like Adani.

Through ‘Pass the Mic: Unheard Voices from Adani Sites’, YAStA made it possible to hear voices that are central to the ground resistance against Adani’s excesses: people from Godda (Jharkhand), Kattupalli (Tamil Nadu), Goa, Mundra (Gujarat), Vizhinjam (Kerala), Kavalappara (Kerala), from the Farmers’ Protests (Delhi), and Juru Country (Queensland, Australia), united by their struggle against corporate oppression. They make a compelling case for mainstream mass media to start paying attention to their struggles. Other events, including a film festival and a talk on climate fiction, effectively engaged culture as a powerful tool in spreading the stories of resistance and the importance of addressing environmental/ecological destruction.

NAPM fully supports the struggles of affected communities and citizens’ action groups resisting many of Adani’s ventures including:

• The adivasi Gram Sabhas in Hasdeo Arand region of Chhattisgarh, challenging the massive coal block allocations in the Schedule-V region.
• Adivasi and other farmers of Hazaribagh in Jharkhand, already impacted by severe coal mining, now resisting the allocation of Gondulpara coal block to Adani.
• Adivasis of Godda in Jharkhand who were subject to deceitful land acquisition for Adani’s Power Plant.
• The fisher people of Thiruvallur and Chennai, Tamil Nadu who are waging a tough battle against the 53,000 crore Kattupalli port expansion project to save their livelihoods & the Pulicat Lake from massive sea erosion.
• The fisher communities and other locals in Vizhinjam, Kerala who have already faced land loss and severe impacts on their coastal livelihoods due to destructive dredging by Adani’s container port.
• Farmers, salt pan workers and fisher people affected by the Adani and Tata power plants in Mundra, Gujarat.
• Communities in Goa who are resisting the double-tracking of railway line, highway expansion and a new power line right through the pristine Mollem National Park and the Bhagwan Mahavir Sanctuary for coal-transportation, to benefit multiple corporates.
• Wangan and Jagalingou Aboriginal peoples and citizens struggle against the proposed Carmichael coal mine and port in Australia, for which Adani is also trying to secure a 500 crore from SBI.

As we continue our struggles against corporate loot and neo-liberal assault, we welcome this significant initiative by youth groups and acknowledge the critical need for building solidarity across borders, especially when corporatisation is transcending borders with impunity and is threatening all of life and democratic structures.

We acknowledge the valuable and vibrant role young people have been playing in numerous contemporary movements, be it the farmers’ resistance, the students’ opposition to the NEP, the creative campaigns to resist regressive changes to EIA Notification etc and welcome their involvement in a more robust way with all people’s movements for equity, justice and democracy.

Marking the World Wetlands Day today, let us re-commit ourselves to preserving wetlands and commons which are under severe strain due to ill-designed ‘developmental’ interventions.

We also reiterate our solidarity with the farmers movement to immediately repeal the three farm laws and end all repression on the protesting farmers.

(Medha Patkar, Dr Sunilam and others: On behalf of NAPM)