Raipur. Chhattisgarh’s environmentalist Alok Shukla has been honored with the ‘Gold Man Environmental Award 2024’ (Green Nobel Prize) in San Francisco, USA. This year this award has been given to 7 people from all over the world including India’s Alok Shukla. Called the ‘Green Nobel’, this award is given to grassroots environmental leaders from six continental regions of the world. Let us tell you that Alok is the coordinator of ‘Hasdev Aranya Bachao Sangharsh Samiti’. He has struggled a lot in Hasdev Aranya Bachao Andolan.
When Alok Shukla’s name was announced, he was welcomed by the collective applause of about four thousand people. A large number of Indian people present expressed happiness when Alok Shukla gave a speech in Hindi from the stage. Alok Shukla said in his speech, this honor is not mine, but belongs to the tribals and every citizen associated with that movement, who have been struggling for 12 years to save the rich Hasdev forest, called Lungs of Central India.
He said, I remember the day when I went to Hasdev forest area for the first time. I saw that the people there were disappointed, disheartened and were struggling with worries about the future. They knew that a great injustice was going to be done to them, but there was neither hope nor any way to escape from it. When we started organizing the public against the destruction of these rich forests, the path was prepared automatically.”
Recalling his legacy, Alok Shukla said, “India has a rich heritage of saving nature and fighting against injustice. From Birsa Munda to Jaipal Singh Munda, from Tilka Manjhi to Tantya Bhil, and from Gundadhur to Veer Narayan Singh. The legacy of non-violent struggle of Father of India Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and Baba Saheb Ambedkar gave us strength and energy. “India’s Constitution and powerful democratic traditions provide a strong framework to protect water, forests and land and the tribal lifestyles that depend on them.”
Highlighting the struggle of Hasdev, he said, we are proud of the tribal community, especially the women, who faced all the challenges faced in this struggle and that is why 4 lakh 45 thousand acres of rich forests of Hasdev still survive. Has happened. It was because of the conflict that Lemru Elephant Reserve was notified.
Regarding the Hasdev movement, Alok Shukla said that this movement of Hasdev also raised the hope across the world that an exploited and deprived class can strongly combat the greed and violence of the world’s most powerful corporate only with clean intentions and democratic means. He can challenge the destruction taking place in the name of development. However, the people who are continuously fighting for Hasdev know that the dark clouds of crisis over Hasdev have not yet been lifted. There are still attempts at deforestation and displacement in some areas, and the struggle to save them is ongoing. Certainly this honor will strengthen the movement to save Hasdev.
In his speech, he called upon the common people and said that in the current crisis of climate change, to save the natural resources and the human culture dependent on them, today, all the environment of the world, beyond the boundaries of village or city, class, language and country, Sensitive citizens, public organizations and governments will have to unite. If we want our world to remain green, beautiful and habitable for all living beings, then we will have to completely change our definitions of development and create a new model of development.