Ecology Is Permanent Economy: The Activism and Environmental Philosophy of Sunderlal Bahuguna

280 Pages·2013·3.12 MB·English

by  George Alfred James

Ecology Is Permanent Economy

Ecology Is Permanent Economy
The Activism and Environmental Philosophy
of Sunderlal Bahuguna
George Alfred James
Cover image: “On the Pilgrimage Route between Gangotri and Gaumukh, June 1998.”
Published by State University of New York Press, Albany
© 2013 State University of New York
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
James, George Alfred.
Ecology is permanent economy : the activism and environmental
philosophy of Sunderlal Bahuguna / George A. James.
      pages cm
 Includes bibliographical references and index.
 ISBN 978-1-4384-4673-8 (hardcover : alk. paper)  
1.  Bahuguna, Sunderlal, 1927– 2. Environmentalists—India—Biography.
3. Environmentalism—India—Philosophy. 4. Chipko movement. 5. Tehri Dam
(India) I. Title.
GE56.B34J36 2013
333.72092—dc23
[B] 2012026097
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To Gladys and Alfred James.
Let light perpetual shine upon them.

Contents
List of Illustrations ix
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction 1
Chapter 1
The Encounter 7
Chapter 2
The Childhood of an Activist 15
Chapter 3
Going Underground 29
Chapter 4
The Short Career of an Activist Politician 41
Chapter 5
Meeting Mira Behn 47
Chapter 6
Marriage and the Parvatiya Navjeevan Ashram 65
Chapter 7
Embracing the Trees 81
Chapter 8
Modes of Chipko Resistance 99
viii Contents
Chapter 9
A Permanent Economy 121
Chapter 10
Chipko Ecology: Shallow or Deep? 137
Chapter 11
Srinagar to Kohima: An Educational Mission 149
Chapter 12
Protesting the Tehri Dam 171
Chapter 13
Social Ecology, Religion, and the Tehri Protest 187
Chapter 14
Against the Tide: Bahuguna’s Philosophy of Life, Religion,
and Nature 205
Appendix 1
Some Critical Dates in the History of Modern India and the
Activism of Sunderlal Bahuguna 227
Appendix 2
Arguments of the Petitioners in the Public Interest Litigation
against the Tehri Dam 233
Notes 237
Selected Bibliography 253
Index 261
Illustrations
Map of Uttarakhand Himalaya Showing Principal Sites of
Chipko and Other Activities 94
Gaumukh, the Source of the Bhagirathi River, Where in 1978
Sunderlal Bahuguna Took the Pledge to Protect the Himalayas
in All Aspects 122
Approximate Route of Bahuguna’s Padyatra from Srinagar (JK)
to Kohima (NL) 154
Bahuguna’s Kuti at Tehri Where for over Ten Years He Remained
in Satyagraha 176
Sunderlal Bahuguna at Eighty-five 207
ix