An unsung Hero of India- Srimati Kinkri Devi

Light a candle for this great Indian hero

I am sure that as a part of the Indian subcontinent, you all might have been taught and are aware of all the real time heroes of our wars, the freedom fighters and everyone else about whom the media of our nation and our school and college textbooks have been overcrowded with. But are the handfuls of names, who are national heroes at their own rights the only ones that are there in a nation of hundred crore who can inspire you and who can help you with  a better path in life? Well, the answer is a big “NO”!

While names are plenty, who are heroes of the nation in their very unique ways, there was a lady born in the arena of the turbulent 1940s in pre- independent India who came forth to serve the nation and actually changed the face of social activism to a great extent; Srimati Kinkri Devi.

I am sure that most of you would frown at this name as the youth of today are not aware of this woman, as neither her name came up in any of the online media sites or in the print media to any extent.

Where the education system and the media found it difficult, let us find out a bit of this brave lady who, without having any formal education went ahead and got the honor of receiving the prestigious Rani Jhansi Stri Sakti Award, a National Award bestowed on her due to her work as a social activist and environmentalist by the Government of India.

Kinkri Devi’s life is no short of a struggle and there are a lot of things any man or woman of the nation can learn from it for sure.

This brave woman from Himachal Pradesh was born in a very poor family in a small village of Ghaton in India, where her road was yet more difficult as she belonged to the Dalit community or the untouchable caste and due to her living conditions she had to start off working as a house help from a very early age. At a mere age of just 14, she was married off to a bonded labor who eventually died by the time Kinkri Devi was just about 22. After her husband’s death, Kinkri Devi was forced to work as a sweeper.

Being from a background of a lower caste, with no formal education backing, her story is more than an example setter for all the youth of the nation today.

While she was carrying over with her life as a sweeper, she did not stop herself just at that and became overtly concerned about the changes in the environment around her which were turning worse with every passing day. While she was able to see the changing environment in her district due to quarrying activities which were uncontrolled, this led to fabled hills and destruction in the rich paddy fields and also to the water supply in the region! Affected with all this, Kinkri Devi began taking an active interest in mining which is all that her story is all about.

Her struggle to stop reckless limestone mining

Once Kinkri Devi was activity seeking help to stop the changes in the environment due to uncontrolled mining, the People’s Action for People in Need, a local volunteering group in her region helped her tp file a lawsuit in terms of public interest in the High Court in Shimla, the capital of Himachal Pradesh against a huge number of 48 mine owners who were accused of carrying out uncontrolled limestone quarrying in the region.

While at the initial days, the owners of the mines were wary to admit their mistake and even dismissed her campaign accusing Kinkri Devi of blackmailing and related stuff, this brave and strong lady was not a person to back out.

With every passing day, Kinkri Devi got worried about the fact that her lawsuit was not being taken seriously and thus she went on to Shimla and sat down on a hunger strike outside the Shimla High Courts premises for a long period of 19 long days only after which the court was convinced to take up the case with seriousness.

When the lawsuit filed by Kinkri Devi was taken up with a renewed rigor, the mine owners were found guilty and in the year 1987, the High Court of Shimla ordered a stay on the mining activities in the region but also imposed a blanket ban on the issue of blasting activities in the hills as well. All this, won Kinkri Devi national and International acclaim, where the national acclaim was however pretty short lived.

After Devi won the case against the mine owners, she continuously faced life threats as the opponents were facing the issues of an impending closedown, but the lady was unmoved. Her stand was yet again proved to be right when the Supreme Court also ruled against the miners in July, 1995 after the miners knocked its door.

Still working as a professional sweeper, Devi was called on to attend the prestigious International Women’s Conference in Beijing as her name and work was taken into account by the then first lady, Rodham Clinton, and yes, she was actually still an illiterate with no formal education.

While her trip to China to attend the conference was not a cake walk, however she got the support from a private company who sponsored her trip and there she was applauded for her strong speech on the issues of environment in the Himalayas and how normal people can actually save the environment.

This great lady, all through her life tried to improve the condition of the environment and fought for the betterment of the coming generation. A lady who learnt to write her name just a few days before she died had to wage a campaign to open a degree granting college in her locality, Sangrah as she said, ”It wasn’t my destiny to study, but I don’t want others to suffer the way I did for education”.

A grand salute to this activist and environmentalist who without the backup of any formal education made amends in the regulations of illegal mining and deforestation in the nation today! Won’t you love to remember this lady, who later died off poverty in 2007 and want other’s like her not to die such deaths? Try to help others who help you, this is what we can do to the least, isn’t it?

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