Gaura Devi: Mother of Chipko Movement

Uttarakhand is famous for multiple things but one thing that gave Uttarakhand an important place in history is The Chipko Movement. The Chipko movement is the perfect example of ecofeminism. The movement to protect the environment and innocent trees from cutting was called the Chipko Movement. This initiative was taken by the farmers of Chamoli district of Uttarakhand to protest against the brutal cutting of trees and to save the forest.

Women and men stand around trees, hugging them, holding each other’s hands showing the power of unity for an important cause. This was a sort of scene in a village in Uttar Pradesh in 1973( now in Uttarakhand) where the modern Chipko Movement took place under a Garhwali environmentalist Sunderlal Bahuguna. The uprising against the felling of trees and maintaining the ecological balance originated in Chamoli district (now Uttarakhand) in 1973 and in no time spread across other states in north India.

The unity of all the villagers was the strongest form of resistance against the constant cutting of trees and aimed to save nature from the people who were adamant to cut them. The word "chipko" is a Hindi word that means "to hug''.

The modern movement was a united protest that the rural people took charge of, inspired by the Gandhian principles of non-violence. The main aim of this movement was to find a solution to stop the destruction of the foothills of the Himalayas. In the name of development and infrastructure, forest contractors used to cut down trees for their benefit and destroy the livelihood of the people residing there for centuries. All the native people majorly relied on it for food and other things.

One other reason that instilled the villagers with anger was that they were not given permission to cut trees for fuel wood or other uses by the government but a sports manufacturing company was permitted to cut those trees and utilize them to make their equipment. It was at that time when chameli prasad Bhatt, an environmentalist, and Gandhian social activist led the first Chipko Movement close to Mandal village in 1973.

When nobody heard their appeal, Chameli guided a group of villagers to the forest and all of them united to perform the act of embracing the trees to prevent them from cutting.

The Chipko Movement is also seen from a feminist perspective because women were in charge of their children, and cultivation and suffered a lot due to all the natural calamities that occurred in the process of urbanization.

The women had no other option but to fight for their survival and livelihood which was dependent upon the existence of the forest's wealth.

Gaura Devi's role in the chipko Movement.

Gaura Devi was one such strong and bold woman. When she was informed that trees were being cut by local loggers, Gaura Devi along with 27 other women faced those loggers. She came face to face with them and challenged them to shoot her and leave the trees unharmed. According to Gaura Devi, forests were "Vandevta" (God of the jungle) and it was her mother's house where she grew up.

Finally, after the commendable efforts of her and all of her companions, they were able to stop the loggers from cutting the trees. They guarded the trees that night and for the next four to five days and all the other villagers joined them in this mission.

Sunderlal Bahuguna also played a vital role in the Chipko Andolan. He spent his entire life providing education to the villagers and teaching them to protest against any kind of destruction to nature. It was his voice that got heard and prime minister Indira Gandhi banned the cutting of trees.

At last, the chipko Movement was a great success.

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