September, 2025
Newsletter
Justice in Mining Network
South Asia
MESSAGE
Dear friends,
Johar!
As we stepped into September, we were once again reminded that history is not something confined to textbooks — it lives and breathes in the people’s struggles, anniversaries, protests, and continuing demands for justice and dignity. This month’s newsletter captures a mosaic of resistance — from Jharkhand to Ladakh — highlighting both the resilience of people’s movements and the continued neglect or violation of their rights by those in power.
We begin with a solemn remembrance of a grim chapter in India’s democratic journey — the Gua massacre of September 8, 1980. During the Jharkhand statehood movement, Bihar Military Police opened fire on thousands of Adivasi protesters, resulting in the loss of many innocent lives — some even within the premises of a hospital. This was not just an act of state brutality, but a shocking violation of humanitarian laws, marking the first known incident in independent India where firing occurred inside a government healthcare centre. The martyrs of Gua demanded justice, ecological protection, and freedom from repression. Their legacy remains etched in the collective memory of Jharkhand’s people.
September also marks the martyrdom of Shankar Guha Niyogi on the 28th — a visionary whose life embodied a blend of struggle and constructive work. From wage fights to campaigns against mechanization that threatened worker livelihoods, Niyogi shaped a model of activism rooted in Gandhian values and strategies while adapting them for the industrial realities of the time.
Governance, or the lack of it, continues to be a central theme in our reporting this month. The Jharkhand High Court’s refusal to lift the stay on sand-ghat allotments and its criticism of the state’s delay in implementing PESA rules highlights a systemic failure to empower Adivasi traditional local self-governance. Protests in the Kolhan region further expose administrative interference in the traditional Manki-Munda system — a centuries-old traditional local self-governance institution among the Hos of West Singhbhum district. These incidents show a worrying trend of eroding Adivasi autonomy, even in regions legally designated to protect it.
In a cautiously hopeful development, the formation of a State Displacement and Rehabilitation Commission in Jharkhand may finally address long-standing grievances of displaced communities — but it will require vigilance to ensure that this new body operates transparently and justly.
September also saw significant violations and unrest across regions. In Ladakh, long-simmering demands for statehood and inclusion under the Sixth Schedule erupted violently on September 24, leaving four dead and over 60 injured. The protest, initially peaceful and rooted in concerns over unemployment, environmental degradation, and representation, turned tragic. Climate activist Sonam Wangchuk, who ended a 15-day hunger strike, condemned the violence while acknowledging the deep frustration among the youth. The events in Ladakh serve as a stark reminder that when democratic aspirations are ignored for too long, anger and disillusionment can boil over.
Meanwhile, environmental violations continue unchecked. From deforestation and pollution in Raigarh due to proposed coal mining, to threats to the Khandadhar Falls from iron ore drilling, and the growing fly ash crisis, the cost of industrial expansion is increasingly borne by local communities and ecosystems. These stories are not isolated — they represent a larger crisis of unaccountable extractive industry, unsustainable development processes and environmental disregard.
Through this newsletter, we not only document these urgent developments but also amplify the voices fighting for justice, democracy, transparency, autonomy, and sustainability. The struggles remembered and reported here are not relics of the past — they are the lived realities of today, and the roadmap for tomorrow.
We call for expressions of solidarity to strengthen collective action by joining hands with larger civil society and peoples’ movements. Contributions from youth, activists and affected persons are much welcome and encouraged for publication here. We welcome suggestions and feedback.
Thank you.
Compilation: Deepti Mary Minj
Edited by: Antony, PM
justiceinminingnetwork@gmail.com
ANNIVERSARIES
The Gua massacre occurred on September 8, 1980, during the Jharkhand statehood movement, when B.M.P. (Bihar Military Police) personnel opened fire indiscriminately on tribal people. Dozens were killed and many injured in the incident. This was the first such incident in India where firing took place inside a hospital. The names of 10 tribals are still inscribed on the martyrs' memorial. Eyewitnesses recount that on the morning of September 8, 1980, thousands of villagers from the Kolhan and Palamu reserved forest areas gathered in Gua with traditional weapons during the Jharkhand movement. The protesters were demanding the release of those imprisoned on false charges of illegal forest felling, and an end to the dumping of toxic red water from mines into rivers, streams, and agricultural fields. Thousands of locals were shouting slogans against the forest department and the ISCO (Indian Steel Company) management. The movement was led by Devendra Manjhi, the then MLA from Chakradharpur.
Click here to read more.
Decades after his cruel and tragic assassination by those who had been clearly hired by very powerful persons, the legacy of Shahid (Martyr) Shankar Guha Niyogi lives on, inspiring more and more people, particularly youth. While those inspired by Niyogi Ji more recently as well as his former comrades remember him with deep respect and affection on his martyrdom day (September 28), there is a need also to think more about his deep commitment to making his life an ever-continuing combination of struggles and constructive work. While sometimes this took the form of a more familiar struggle of the trade union movement for rise in wages, at other times he and his comrades were grappling with the more complex issues of saving jobs of miners and other workers from the relentless march of mechanization. Here the ideas of Mahatma Gandhi were helpful for him and he also added further to them in the context of evolving an intermediate technology that saved the jobs of miners to a considerable extent while meeting some requirements of the management too.
Click here to read more.
GOVERNANCE
The Jharkhand High Court on 24 September refused to lift its earlier stay on sand ghat allotments and minor mineral leases and slammed the state government for failing to notify rules under the Panchayats Extension to Scheduled Areas Act, 1996 (PESA). PESA is the law that empowers traditional gram sabhas in scheduled areas of India to safeguard cultural identity, preserve community resources, and manage customary dispute resolution. Despite having a significant tribal population, Jharkhand has yet to draft rules under PESA, meaning that the law would be ineffective. Framing of the rules has long been a demand by the state’s Adivasi groups, who say it would help protect them against exploitation by mining companies. According to petitioners in the case, granting leases without PESA rules violates the rights of tribals in Scheduled Areas. This May, the HC had ordered the state to notify PESA rules immediately. However, no action was taken, leading to a plea for contempt.
Click here to read more.
On September 9 Adivasis from the Ho tribe staged a protest in Jharkhand’s West Singhbhum district against the Deputy Commissioner (DC), accusing him of interfering with their traditional self-governance system by removing village heads, known as Mundas. The Manki-Munda system is a centuries-old, decentralized framework for the Ho tribe's self-governance, particularly in the Kolhan region. Each village is led by a hereditary village head known as a Munda, who resolves local disputes. A group of 8 to 15 villages, called a pidh, is overseen by a Manki, who handles cases unresolved at the village level. In 1833, Captain Thomas Wilkinson codified the Manki-Munda system in Wilkinson's Rules, formally recognizing the roles of Mundas and Mankis and integrating them into the colonial administration.
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The Hemant cabinet has approved the State Displacement and Rehabilitation Commission (Constitution, Functions and Responsibilities) Rules, 2025. Now, after the nomination/selection of the chairman and members, the commission will begin its work. The Commission will be under the administrative control of the Department of Revenue, Registration and Land Reforms. Furthermore, the Chairperson and Members of the Commission will be deemed to be public servants as defined in Section 2(28) of the Indian Penal Code.
Click here to read more.
VIOLATIONS
At least four people were killed and more than 60 others were injured on 24 September as protests held by demonstrators demanding statehood and the inclusion of Ladakh under the Sixth Schedule turned violent. Authorities imposed a curfew in the city, banning a gathering of more than five people. During the arson, the local BJP office was set on fire and a vehicle was also torched, as protesters resorted to arson. Police used teargas and baton charged the protesters to contain the violence. Ladakh was part of the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir state and became a Union Territory, coming directly under the Centre's control, after Article 370 was abrogated on August 5, 2019. Ladakh, who welcomed the move that carved it out of the state and made it a UT, is now demanding statehood. The call for a shutdown came after two of 15 people on a hunger strike, led by climate activist Sonam Wangchuk, since September 10 were shifted to a hospital due to deteriorating health. Wangchuk ended his 15-day fast on Tuesday while urging supporters to avoid violence. "This incident has disrupted our peaceful protest, which has been going on for the last 5 years. This protest by the youth was only due to larger issues of unemployment and others. We saw Gen-Z's frenzy today. I understand their frustration over the last five years, but I condemn their way of protest," he said.
Click here to read more.
The public hearing for JPL's new coal block in Tamnar area of Raigarh district, which is reeling under the impact of industrial pollution, is scheduled for October 14. In such a situation, in view of the increasing pollution due to deforestation, the spark of anger against JPL has started burning in the minds of the people who fear the possible devastation in about one and a half dozen villages including Dhorabhatha of Tamnar area. After massive protests over the large scale deforestation by Adani for the coal mine in Mudagaon, the date for public hearing for JPL's new coal block has now been announced.
Click here to read more.
8. Mining Corporation’s plan for drilling near Khandadhar The Ministry of Forest, Environment and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has flagged serious environmental concerns on the Odisha government’s proposal for exploratory drilling in Khandadhar sub Block-B iron ore mining area in Sundargarh district by Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC). The state government had sought the approval of the Centre under the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980 for exploration/prospecting in 0.779 ha of forest land within the total prospecting lease area of 432.8 ha covered under prospecting license in favour of OMC in Sundargarh district.
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9. The Geography of Oppression
This piece is a study of the contrasts and separations of an Adivasi festival and another open cast mine next to a village. Lanjiberna in Sundargarh district of Odisha asks that same old question again: why do the Adivasi peoples have to suffer the most for the ‘development’ of the nation? And that other question: how will Adivasi culture survive if they don’t have their own land? Lanjiberna was also called Dhodhitoli. Just like Jamshedpur was once Kalamati. Lanjiberna is almost adjacent and overlapping the village of Kheramuta, where live the Oraons, the Kisans, and the Sonaris. At Kheramuta, their farming lands and their homes are separated by the Dalmia Cement Limestone and Dolomite open cast mine and a few months ago the company consumed the road that allowed them access to their own fields. They now have to travel around the mine to get to their own fields, or go through a polluted road through the mine. The road is now almost mythical, it existed like an invisible line where now one only sees the mine.
Click here to read more.
The district produces 18.2 million metric tons of fly ash annually, requiring 125 hectares of land for disposal. Only 50% of the ash is being disposed of, with industry management dumping the rest in the open. Fly ash remains a scourge in the district. More than a dozen industries produce approximately 18.2 million metric tons of fly ash annually, but according to the Environment Department's report, only 50% of the fly ash is being disposed of. Despite the provision for 100% disposal of all fly ash produced, approximately 125 hectares of land is currently required for fly ash disposal. It's worth noting that fly ash production is increasing by approximately 25 to 30 percent each year. The National Green Tribunal has established several regulations regarding fly ash production and disposal, and mandates mandatory compliance.
Click here to read more.
Please write to us for expressing solidarity, sharing information and giving feedback
justiceinminingnetwork@gmail.com
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