Odisha authorities told to ‘snuff out’ tribal protests against rail expansion for coal from Adani’s Carmichael mine. In March, police in the eastern Indian state of Odisha cracked down heavily on a protest by Adivasi (tribal) people being displaced by a railway expansion. It is the second time in 70 years that this community has been uprooted without adequate compensation.
Recent media reports suggest that the State Bank of India (SBI) – India’s largest public bank – is ‘all set to offer’ a billion-dollar loan to Adani’s Carmichael coal mine in Australia. These reports come five years after a similar proposal was scuttled. In the absence of official confirmation from the SBI, the community has re-launched protests against the bank.
Angry at news reports that the State Bank of India is about to loan Adani money for its Carmichael mine, campaigners in the Indian state of Goa have protested outside the bank’s offices. The action was in solidarity with similar protests occurring in Australia and around the world. It is the first StopAdani protest to occur in India.
In January 2020, Indian news media reported that a cloud of uncertainty hung over the future of Adani’s power project at Godda. Provincial elections had just been held and a new government had been elected in the state of Jharkhand. Spokespeople for the new government were quoted saying that they would take a fresh look at the approval for Adani’s power station because of the controversial confiscation of farmers’ lands.
Recently, the Adani group unveiled a cross-cultural art installation titled ‘Gondwana’ – a work by Gond adivasi and Warlpiri indigenous artists from India and Australia at its Ahmedabad headquarters. Is this a bid to whitewash the damage being inflicted on adivasis in Chhattisgarh and indigenous peoples in Australia?
