January 9, 2001

Jadugoda is a small town near India's largest steel plant city Jamashedpur, located in the East Singhbhum District of the newly created state of Jharkhand.

In the past, the Jadugoda movement was considered to be only a tribal movement against the harmful effects of radiation. However, now after many years as the movement has progressed, JOAR has worked to broaden the movement to include all the people living near this mill mine and tailing dam.

The hunger strike, or fasting for a specific cause, was a non-violent means of protest used by Gandhi-ji as well as many other activists. JOAR has also decided to take up this form of action (there seems no other option considering the non-tribal population which is very strong in many ways). The aim is to draw the attention of the people and put pressure on the authorities.

The program went as follows:

• Dec. 10 -15 Jadugoda: Continuation of protest meeting in the main meeting place
• Dec.16 - 22 protest meeting(Dharna)
• Dec. 22 Mass meeting
• Dec. 23 -01 jan Serial hunger strikes

PROTEST NOTES:

• After learning of this schedule, the authorities after knowing have stopped the train shipment for these dates.
• We received a great response during this movement.
• Only a few local newspapers covered the story and the so-called "national" daily completely blacked out this news.
• People from distant villages came to show their support. Many non-tribal groups and some political parties came to join the protest fast.
• Most importantly, there was a big anti-nuclear protest rally in Jamshedpur (a nearby district town). This was the first time this kind of protest rally has taken place out side of Jadugoda -- a milestone for the movement! With this growing support, JOAR has decided to continue the hunger strike until December 29th due to the fact that there was no train shipment of the uranium waste.

We have good news to report on the Jadugoda movement, that it has ended with great results. The train that was suppose to bring the uranium waste from Hyderabad was delayed until the first of January, 2001 and the support we received from the community was tremendous. In the past, the Jadugoda movement was considered to be a tribal movement for land rights but we now feel that the movement has entered a new phase.

We received a lot of important input from other anti-nuclear movements as well. We have heard that the film Buddha Weeps in Jadugoda has been dubbed into the local language of Mehalaya, (a north east state of India where UCIL Uranium Corporation of India is trying to open a uranium mine) and groups are screening this film in the villages.

I hope that in the near future I can bring you more positive news for a nuclear-free Earth.

JOAR and the people of Jadugoda would like to thank all those who gave us their support and solidarity through this all.

Shriprakash, ranchi based film activist.

> JADUGODA HOME

click for larger images