Abstract
Ecofeminism in India is believed to
have commenced even before the official articulation of the very term. The term
‘ecofeminism’ was coined in 1974, but the first ecofeminist movement occurred
in India in 1973 that is known today as the Chipko Movement. Chipko Movement
has its roots in the Bishnoi Movement that occurred in 1730 and was captained
by a woman named Amrita Devi Bishnoi. The paper begins with a brief account of
the development of the movement of ecofeminism in 20th century
followed by a survey of various environmental movements that took place in
India which were in line with the ecofeminist ideologies. Further, as part of
its primary aim, the article chronicles similar triumphant instances of
conservation of ecology by women in the North-Eastern region of India. The
article concludes with an emphasis on the point that the current environmental
crises could not be approached in isolation of the crisis concerning women’s
position in society. Defending the ecofeminist perspective the article suggests
that it is only by uplifting women’s position in the male-dominated societies
we can make a substantial change in our orientation towards the environment,
and thereby bring a productive change to the environmental crises as a whole.
Keywords: Ecofeminism,
Conservation, Environment, Women, North-East India.
Introduction
India has been a rich nation from many
angles – it is geographically vibrant with various flora and fauna, different
regions inhabited by multi-cultural societies each with their unique traditions,
be it language, food, clothing and so on. As is true in other parts of the
globe, in India too, women have always played an important role in the
development of society. They take care of the family and nurture the younger
ones, but above all they are to be considered as the “backbone” of the entire
family as everyone depends on them for everything. Due to this, women were
greatly respected and regarded. But, the things that women depend on come
directly from the nature. Women are regarded to be the inventor of agriculture
(Patil 24), and as such they are heavily dependent upon the environment for
food, fodder, wood, water etc. In fact, they share an emotional bond with
nature just as children share with their parents. Women in India have traditionally
been equated with nature due to their qualities like fertility, bountifulness,
nurturing and fostering. As held by Ranjan Das, “The Indian culture Symbolize
women as ‘Prakriti’ means ‘Nature’ she creates and nurtures the creation to
bloom. She signifies ‘shakti’ - the power that drives the system….
Nevertheless, this viewpoint of Indian culture directly linked the women with
the nature” (155).
However, despite such a portrayal in
which women were highly regarded and admired, unfortunate times came when the
status of women in society began waning. With the rigidification of the caste
system, the social position of women was relegated to the lowest rank due to
which women became the biggest victim of the same (Patil 27). Inevitably,
societies that began to be dominated by men started turning a blind eye to
their interests. As a consequence, instead of preservation, destruction and
exploitation of the environment started becoming the norm. In addition to this,
with the start of India’s colonisation and the eventual emergence of
industrialisation, the ecology of India which was once so plentiful, began to
be overexploited leading to the ultimate destruction of the environment.
Ecofeminism as an ethical perspective
came into being based on the analysis of the obvious link between the
domination and suppression of women on the one hand and the environment on the
other in the patriarchal and the colonial capitalist society. The term
‘ecofeminism’ consists of the two terms – ‘ecology’ and ‘feminism’. It implies the
rise of voices against the injustices incurred parallelly upon women and the
environment by the male-dominated societies. Women began the resistance first
by shattering the prejudices and stereotypes labelled against them and fighting
for their rights throughout the different waves of feminism. Over time, as the
position of women in societies improved, they began to promote the protection
of their “closest friend” – the nature.
The North-eastern region of India has
remained mostly an unnoticed terrain even when it is extremely rich in terms of
flora and fauna as well as the diversity and culture of its numerous tribal
communities. However, the vast forest cover that it originally had has lately
been shrinking at an alarming rate due to endless human greed backed by
political and capitalist machineries together with the large-scale
deforestation in the name of infrastructural development. In such a scenario,
do the women of North-Eastern region have any significant role in the
protection of the environment as their survival has a shared interest with the
preservation of the same? There are, in fact, ample instances in which the
women of North-east India, even when they lack behind in many aspects in a
polarised male-dominated society, came out to be leaders in protecting the
environment. In the following sections of this paper, an attempt has been made
to highlight the triumphant instances of the conservation of ecology by women
in North-East India.
A Brief Sketch of
Feminism, Ecofeminism and Ecofeminist Movements in India
Before delving deeper into the
instances of ecofeminist movements that occurred in North-East India, it is
deemed necessary to look into the emergence of feminism and ecofeminism in
India. The general
viewpoint of feminist movement is to equalize the gap between man and woman,
and bringing an end to the oppression, domination and injustices incurred upon
woman by man. The concern of feminism, however, has greatly advanced over the
years with the emergence of different waves, each evolving with different
issues every time. The first wave of feminism occurred in the mid-
nineteenth century in the Western world. The matter initially at hand was legal
issues, primarily to secure women’s right to vote, and eventually moved on to
raising voices against sexual abuse at every level and arguing more women
empowerment and greater gender equality.
Feminist movement in India as it is
believed, started when Savitri Bai Phule opened the first school for girls in
India in the year 1848, the same year when the first feminist movement happened
in the West. And eventually gained momentum after Tarabai Shinde wrote India's
first feminist text Stri Purush Tulana and Pandita Ramabai criticizing patriarchy and caste-system in
Hinduism and did inter-caste marriage and converted to Christianity, all in
between the 1800s and 1900s.
From this comprehensive fold of feminism emerged
during the second half of twentieth century an ethico-ecological perspective
called ecofeminism which “shows the relationship between Ecology and Feminism”
(Sharada and Jyothi 418). Ecofeminism is a branch of Ecocriticism that studies
the link between oppression of women and nature. The term ‘ecofeminism’ was
coined by French feminist writer Françoise d'Eaubonne in her book Le Féminisme ou la Mort [Feminism or Death] in the year 1974. According to d'Eaubonne, “patriarchy is responsible
for the exploitation of women and the destruction of nature” (qtd. in Shah 37).
Accordingly, she appeals that the women and environment conservationists must
come together to fight against the patriarchal system that encourages hierarchies,
domination and unequal socio-economic relations.
Ecofeminism, as matter of fact, is not
constituted of one particular theory, but rather has different branches with
differing points of view. Yet, they all share a common string that binds them
up together which is the view that “there is a close connection between the
domination of nature by humans and the oppression of women by men. All of them
have the common goal of liberating both women and nature and to create a new
society without any hierarchy or environmental destruction as such” (S.Das 8).
Interestingly, ecofeminism in India is
believed to have commenced even before the official articulation of the very
term. The term ‘ecofeminism’ was coined in 1974, but the first ecofeminist
movement occurred in India in 1973 that is known today as the Chipko Movement.
The Chipko Movement is considered as the archetype of an ecofeminist movement,
that originated in the Garhwal Himalayan region in the present-day state of
Uttarakhand. The women of the region, who were the protagonists of the
movement, were largely dependent on the forest primarily for fuel, fodder and
food for their daily sustenance. However, massive commercial exploitation of
the forests that resulted in monumental deforestation occurred during that
period made the women to protest in the form of the movement. The women ended
up to be the main victims of that massive deforestation as they had to travel
long distances to meet their basic daily requirements. Accordingly, they became
the forerunners to protect and conserve the forests using a non-violent
resistance inspired by the Gandhian principle of non-violence. The resistance
took place in the form of them hugging the trees (Chipko in Hindi means ‘to
hug’ or ‘to cling to’) and hence famously known as the Chipko Andolan. The women weren't merely resisting the government's
decision to hand over control of the forest to logging companies but also
opposing the local men who supported this move – husbands,
brothers, fathers, and anyone else in that regard. In a wider context, it is
also observed that the Chipko movement was also an ecofeminist stance against
capitalism and colonialism. By safeguarding the trees, they were safeguarding
women's control over production means and the resources essential for their
daily lives.
Another instance that happened long
before the Chipko Andolan, is the Bishnoi Movement in the Khejarli village of
Rajasthan in the 18th century
captained by a woman named Amrita Devi Bishnoi. It is to be noted that the
movement cannot exactly be depicted as an ecofeminist movement. However, it has
some serious implications so far as the chief goal of ecofeminism is concerned.
The movement occurred when the Maharaja of Jodhpur Abhay Singh ordered his men
to cut down trees in that village for wood. An immediate resistance was
organised by Amrita Devi for the conservation of the ecology, wildlife as well
as the green living. The two prime reasons for this resistance were – firstly,
the cultural belief of people of the Bishnoi community for championing the cause
of the conservation of trees and wildlife; and secondly, similar to the women
of the Garhwal region where Chipko Andolan took place, women of the Bishnoi
community too were heavily dependent on the forest for their daily bread and
butter. The villagers including women and children, in an attempt to shield the
forest from being cut down by the soldiers, hugged and embraced the trees [the
strategy of protecting the trees by hugging them during the Chipko Andolan had
its roots in the Bishnoi Movement]. The soldiers without paying any heed
ruthlessly went on chopping the trees, along with the heads of the people who
were hugging them. In the process of this merciless act, about 363 Bishnois
laid down their lives solely for the purpose of conservation of the forest in
the area. The Bishnoi Movement is thus considered one of the first structured
exponents of the conservation of ecology and wildlife that was led by a woman.
Then comes the noteworthy mention of
the ‘Narmada Bachao Andolan’. It was a social movement initiated by renowned
female environmental crusader namely Medha Patkar, and largely supported by
environmentalists, local farmers, and tribals (adivasis)
as well as human rights activists, to protest against the erection of the
Sardar Sarovar Dam over the Narmada River flowing through the states of
Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. She mobilised massive marches and
peaceful protests against the construction of dam which caused thousands of
people to be displaced.
All these movements that occurred in
mainland India had garnered humongous popularity all over the country and
accordingly have echoed in similar resistances in the North-Eastern region as
well. The North-East India, as a matter of fact, is regarded to be one of the
richest regions in the country in terms of ecology. However, over the last few
decades the region has seen a rapid scale shrinking of its wilderness. And,
here too, women have come forward to advocate for the cause of the environment
and have been
playing a key role when it comes to the protection of the ecology as a whole.
Ecofeminist Movements
in North-East India
The North-Eastern region of India is
nicknamed by the Indian Prime Minister Sri Narendra Modi as ‘Ashtalakshmi’ –
translated as the eight forms of the goddess of wealth, due to its unexplored
prospective in trade, commerce, natural resources and diverse culture (Press
Trust of India). According to the State of Forest Report 2005 released by
the Forest Survey of India, “All the North-Eastern States have over 75%
geographic area under forest cover” (15). It also identifies the region as one
of the 18 biodiversity hot spots of the world because of the abundance in
biodiversity. A greater percentage of the area is populated by many important
tribes who practice shifting cultivation and with the rising populace over time
“the cycle of shifting cultivation has reduced to less than 5 years, resulting
in degradation of forests in these areas…. As compared to the 2003 assessment,
a loss of 278 km of forest cover has been observed in the region” (16).
According to the latest India State of Forest
Report 2021, the North-East region consisting of the eight states namely
Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Tripura, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim and
Mizoram constituted 7.98 percent of the geographical area of the country. The
forest resources in these States account for 23.75 percent of the total Forest
Cover of the country (047). However, due to the recurrent practice of shifting
cultivation, which also forms part of the ethno-cultural life style of the
tribes living within the region, a sweeping decline of 1,020 sq. km of forest
cover in the North-Eastern region can be seen within that period of time.
With regard to the status of women in
North-East India, it has been found that this region is comparatively better off
than other parts of the country in terms of gender equality. Yet, quite an
amount of disparity between men and women still exists in this area despite the
prevalence of various ethnic groups who conform to the matrilineal system. In
fact, the “Gender gap exists in terms of access to education, employment and
health. A large gender gap exists in political participation both at the levels
of state and nation” (Mahanta and Nayak 1).
Having said that, here too, women—both
tribal and non-tribal—play a pivotal role in the conservation of the
environment because of the connection and association that they share with
Mother Nature. As has already been mentioned, women have a close bond with the
natural surroundings and often suffer most directly from problems related to
the environment, and hence women are believed to be champions in environment
rehabilitation and conservation. It is also said, “involving women in
protecting the environment would help societies develop the sense of
responsibility needed to maintain a good balance between humans and the earth’s
resources” (Mohan and Sharma 5849). Necessarily, like in the other parts of the
country, women in North-East India have exemplified their concern for the
environment in numerous occasions too.
In Assam, where the status of women is
even lower as compared to the other seven states, there are instances when
women, either individually or in group, are striving for the protection of
larger ecology. Dr. Purnima Devi Barman, who is also known as Hargila Baideo (Madam Hargila) founded a group of rural women by
the name of ‘Hargila Army’ which works for the protection of the Hargila bird as locally known (i.e.,
the Greater Adjutant Stork). They also work for the conservation of large trees
as the birds require large trees to nest. As part of their agenda, the women make
patterns on their sarees and stoles that represent the Hargila bird. Dr. Barman received the
prestigious Green Oscars Award (also Whitley Award) in 2017 for her unabated
work towards the protection of these endangered birds.
Another woman from Assam Rupjyoti
Saikia Gogoi has transformed the environmentalist slogan of “reducing, reusing
and recycling” into functionality by practising these in real life. She founded
an organisation named ‘Village Weaves’ and empowered the local women to gather
plastic wastes from the environment and weave them into handlooms and textiles.
This does not only give a considerable financial support to the local women but
also help in keeping the natural surrounding free from the harmful effects of
plastics.
Another animal conservationist Parbati
Barua has been conferred with the Padma Shri Award in 2024 for her exemplary
contribution in reducing man-elephant conflicts, not only in Assam but also in
the neighbouring states. She is the first female mahout in India, also nicknamed
as the Queen of Elephants and Hasti Kanya. She trains mahouts over
different places as to how to tame and domesticate elephants by emphasizing on
understanding the scientific basis of the elephant training protocol.
In Meghalaya, where matrilineal system
is prevalent, a woman stood out amongst all others due to her unique
contribution towards nature in general and the upliftment of the status of
local women in particular. Thrang Timung, the woman leader, has been
contributing immensly to save the tradition of silkworm rearing and cotton
cultivation from fading its eminence in the hands of cheaper and easily
available products at modern markets. Women of the Umden, a cluster of small
villages in the Ribhoi district to which Timung belongs, are makers of organic
silk and cotton. This
place is renowned not just for its organic silk but also for its philosophy
that encourages a lifestyle deeply rooted in nature in contrast sharply to the
high-energy consumption lifestyle prevalent in today's world. Timung formed a self-help group
(SHG) through which she kept up her age-old tradition of practicing cocoon
cultivation and spinning along with her friends from the village. Quite
surprisingly, these women also live with numerous insects including worm,
flies, spiders and cockroaches by feeding them and taking care of them
throughout day and night.
In Nagaland, also known as the Falcon
Capital of the world, a journalist turned environment conservationist Bano
Haralu founded her way to save the migratory Amur falcons that flocked at their
annual stop Doyang reservoir after flying thousands of miles from Serbia,
before further continuing their journey to South Africa, their final
destination. Her journey as an environmentalist has started after she overheard
a rumour that these Amur falcons are being hunted on a large scale. As she
investigated, she and her team were surprised to see that huge numbers of Amur
falcons being slaughtered and massacred mercilessly for meat and sale in the
whole state. Taking into account the fact that India being a signatory to the
Convention of Migratory Species, Haralu felt the urgency to take a step to
bring an end to this pathetic state of affairs. Haralu’s resolution was
successful when a ban was imposed on the hunting of the Amur falcons and the
declaration of these birds as a source of ‘pride’ for Nagaland.
Another two young ladies of Dimapur
district of Nagaland, Sowete-u K. Letro and Bendangwala Walling have set an
example among environmental conservationists with their eccentric strategy to
create awareness about the proper disposal of electronic waste, that is, the
e-waste management system. They started off in 2018 with the setting up of the
first e-waste collection centre in the state called ‘e-Circle’ sanctioned by
the Nagaland Pollution Control Board. They went into schools, offices, repair
shops and other institutions, collecting e-wastes along with sensitizing people
about the proper disposal of e-wastes, which if not disposed off properly will
lead to many adverse effects on the environment.
Again, a 12-year-old Manipuri girl
Kangujam Licypriya has lately been in news for her participation as a delegate
at the United Nations Climate Conference 2023 (COP28) held at Dubai. She spoke
at the Conference against the use of fossil fuels and held a placard stating
“End fossil fuels. Save our planet and our future.” She also participated at
the 2019 UN Climate Change Conference in Madrid. In 2019, she initiated a march
at the India Gate in Delhi called the ‘Great October March’ to persuade the
government for prompt action on climate change. She has also been a regular
visitor in some of the renowned climate related conferences all over the world
where she raises her voice against a number of burning issues that are taking a
heavy toll on the environment.
These are a few among many other
examples of the contribution of women to environmental conservation and also to
the welfare and upliftment of their fellow women. Prestigious Jnanpith Awardee
from Assam Indira Goswami, popularly known by her pen name Mamoni Raisom
Goswami, also holds a noteworthy position in the list. She is famous for her
literary expressions of the sense of ecofeminist disquietude through her many
award-winning stories. As mentioned by Sadaf Shah, “in her fictional writings, Goswami
has shown great ecofeminist concerns by bringing out close connections between
women and nature. In her novels Pages Stained with Blood (2001), The Man from
Chinnamasta (2005) and a short story collection The Shadow of Kamakhya (2001),
Goswami has shown great concerns for women and nature” (38).
Women as Prakriti or
Nature
Women in India, to be true, were
considered as Prakriti (which
means Nature) and worshipped as Shakti (which
means Power or Energy) since time immemorial. A quotation from Indira Goswami’s The Blue-necked God makes the
traditional depiction of women as Prakriti and Shakti very clear: “Yashoda is making
some gifts for cows and Radha is giving birth to nature by planting trees and
flowers. These trees and flowers were transforming the whole environment of
Vrindavan by healing the sorrows and griefs of the people. Like a selfless
mother, nature nurtures the whole humanity without any selfish motive” (qtd. in
Shah 40).
However, if we look specifically at the
current state of India in general and North-East India in particular, the same
depiction of women as Prakriti and Shakti cannot be accepted as true. As
has been pointed out earlier, in the long course of India’s history of social
evolution, the place of women degraded to a considerable extent which is
reflected in the paucity of education, healthcare facilities, political
participation and many such areas presently. In such a scenario “if we can
create equal space for women to contest election even at the level of local
governance in the form of Gram Panchayat, it helps to ensure better community
life where gender balance and gender justice can be achieved through the ideals
of harmonious coexistence and cooperation” (Banerjee and Mukhopadhyay 664). And
from an ecofeminist point of view, it is imperative to accept the equal status
of women in society not only to bring about a cohesive social existence but
also to facilitate a wider awareness regarding the equal status of the
environment among humanity.
Nevertheless, women in North-East as
well as India as a whole are working their own way out to get their
contribution recognised in every field. And with the course of time there can
be seen an improvement in accepting women and their multifaceted roles in the
society, be it as an environmental conservationist, a career-oriented and
ambitious businesswoman, a political leader or a philanthropist. They have been
successful in proving their mettle in whichever field they pursued.
Lately, there has been a growing
consciousness regarding the tremendous rate of destruction in the realm of the
environment and its disastrous impacts on Mother Earth, whose fury could be
seen in ways like erosion, landslides, artificial flooding etc. North-East
India being one
of the most seismically active zones, people here nowadays are getting
more aware regarding the protection of the environment and invention of
sustainable ways of development to avoid such disasters. Similarly, there have
also been continuous effort for the upliftment of the status of women at various
levels through endless struggle for women rights and justice. It must be so, as
women and the environment must equally get the attention that they have so long
been longing for.
Conclusion
Many writers with an ecofeminist
inclination regard woman and nature as synonymous. So, if the nature of women
and Mother Nature are considered as analogous, it is high time that with the development of
women’s position in the male dominated societies, we also develop practical
ways to sustain Mother Nature. However, merely formulating theories
and policies will not help – awareness must be created to implement the same
while acknowledging at the same time the roles that women play in the
conservation of nature. There are different types of feminist movements which
have different demands. But we can assume the ecofeminist concern to be common
amongst all, as the oppression of women is viewed in parallel to the oppression
of nature and as they both represent the only creative forces both in the human
world as well as the world outside humanity.
To conclude, it is important to
understand the fact that development is necessary to make our lives more
comfortable, but not at the cost of the environment itself that gives us a
reason to live. Parallelly, there is no scope for advancement in societies
without giving women the equal amount of respect as that of men. Women must be
given due share of participation and progress in all spheres of life which can
eventually facilitate a holistic growth and wellbeing both in the society as
well as in the environment.
Works
Cited
1.
Banerjee, Shyamali, and Riya Mukhopadhyay. “Women and the Environment: Eco-
Feminism, its impact on transcending the borders of NE Region.” Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative
Research (JETIR), vol. 10, no.
1, January 2023, pp. d658–d676.
2. Das, Ranjan. “Role of Women in
Environmental Protection, Management and Development: A Study in North East
India.” Society and Culture Development
in India, vol. 2, no. 1, June 2022, pp. 149–160. https://doi.org/10.47509 /
SCDI.2022.v02i01.10.
3. Das, Sanjoy. “Reflections of
Eco-Feminism in some Select Texts of Temsula Ao, Ratan Thiyam and Mitra
Phukan.” International Journal of
English Language, Literature and Translation Studies (IJELR), vol. 9,
no. 3, July-September 2022, pp. 7–12.
4. “Forest Cover.” India
State of Forest Report 2021. Forest Survey of
India, vol. 17, 2019-20, pp. 018–053. https://fsi.nic.in/forest-report-2021-details.
5. “Forest Cover.” State of Forest
Report 2005. Forest Survey of India, vol.10, July
2007, pp. 9–22. https://fsi.nic.in/forest-report-2005.
6. Mahanta, Bidisha, and Purusottam
Nayak. “Gender Inequality in North East India”. PCC
Journal of Economics and Commerce, vol. 7, January 2013, pp.1–13. http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2202044.
7. Mohan, Rodali, and Pooja Sharma.
“The Role of Women in the Conservation of Environment with Special Reference to
Assam.” Journal of Positive School
Psychology, vol. 6, No. 3, 2022,
pp. 5849–5855.
8. Patil, Ramesh H. “The Social Status
of Indian Women of Different Periods in the Patriarchal Society.” Research Ambition: An International
Multidisciplinary e-Journal, vol.
5, no. 4, February 2021, pp. 23–31. https://doi.org/10.53724/ambition/v5n4.06.
9. Press Trust of India. “PM regards
Northeast as ‘Ashta Lakshmi’, It Will Soon Become Biggest Contributor to GDP:
Shah.” Business Standard, 18 June
2018.
https://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/pm-regards-northeast-as-ashta-lakshmi-it-will-soon-become-biggest-contributor-to-gdp-shah-118061800970_1.html.
10. Shah, Sadaf. “Woman and Nature: An
Ecofeminist Study of Indira Goswami’s The Blue-Necked God.” Gap Bodhi Taru, vol.
2, no. 2, August 2019, pp. 37–42.
11. Sharada, Y.S, and Aruna T Aruna
Jyothi. “An Ecofeminist Reading of Jahnavi Barua’s Rebirth.” International Journal of Creative Research
Thoughts (IJCRT), vol. 11, no.
3, March 2023, pp. c418–c421.
