Bremley Wanbantei Lyngdoh sent a message to the members of Say NO to Uranium Mining in Meghalaya, India!
-------------------- Subject: Letters to the Editor in The Shillong Times today on the Uranium debate! Dear Supporters, We are have gone past the 600 mark today so congratulations to all of you that have joined this group. Once again I want to acknowledge and thank each and every one of you for showing your support and solidarity to our Local gone Global - anti uranium mining and anti nuclear weapons development movement. It is really amazing to see that so many members from different countries have joined our movement. They have proved to the world that they too care about our local resistance against the mining of uranium that will destroy the God given beauty of Meghalaya - The land where the clouds come home! In the spirit of thinking globally and acting locally it would be great to NOW put pressure via the press and ever other form of media by writing to your respective Members of Parliament, Member of the Senate, Members of Congress, Members of the European Parliament whom you have voted for in your respective countries to say NO to Nuclear Energy and YES to Renewable Energy as we prepare ourselves for COP 15 the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December 7 - 18, 2009 where our heads of states and governments will decide the future of our existence on the planet. In the spirit of Democracy I also want to share these two letters to the Editor of our local newspaper - The Shilong Times. More on http://www.facebook.com/l/;www.theshillongtimes.com so enjoy reading them! I want to thank both Hubert Diengdoh in New Delhi and Jake Donbor Lyngkhoi in Kynshi - West Khasi Hills for their views! Anti Mining Dear Editor, Anyone who is aware of the massive power deficit that India faces will accept any viable solutions to the problem. The Central Government is planning new projects to lessen the gap between demand and supply. One of the solutions to this problem is to mine as much uranium as needed for the reactors that are presently lying idle due to lack of uranium and thorium for producing nuclear generated energy. Meghalaya is blessed with substantial amounts of uranium deposits in West Khasi Hills which the Central Government desperately wants for these reactors. But the fact is that currently nuclear generated energy contributes only about 4.2% of the total energy in India. Even if all uranium deposits in the country were to be mined, the contribution would go up to a maximum of around 9% that too in 3-4 decades. These are facts given by World Nuclear Organization. So what is the benefit then of taking such huge risks of mining uranium when its contribution to the power scenario is going to be more or less the same. There have also been rumours that the Central Government wants to use these future reserves from all over the country not for energy reactors but weaponry purposes. It’s frightening to think of uranium mining in a small state like Meghalaya which could result in disaster. Its beauty, flora and fauna and naturalness will disappear and its waters would be polluted. What will Meghalaya be then? Being a resident of the State it pains me to think that such a this could happen to our ‘Scotland of the East.’ Many International Organizations like the UN have criticized the Indian standards of mining for lack of quality control and safety measures, besides unhealthy working conditions and destruction of the mining area making it unliveable. The careless disposal of harmful effluents as happened in Jaduguda, the unsafe transportation of the minerals, no rehabilitation package for affected parties especially the people surrounding the area who will be exposed to various sicknesses like cancer etc and of course the overall unhealthy environment that the process will create need to be thought through and debated. We have numerous examples of mining disasters in India like the ones in Jharkhand and Andhra Pradesh. UCIL has been criticized by many International Organizations for its poor quality standards. Why are we Meghalayans then so stubborn in understanding that uranium mining will only worsen the situation? I request the pro-mining groups to read up various facts about mining that are freely available on the Internet by various reputed organizations like the United Nations(UN) so they can make an informed choice. We cannot afford to put the ‘abode of clouds’ in jeopardy for the sake of development. UCIL has never been lauded for bringing development to any mining area. The only things we will need most are hospitals to keep our people alive. If uranium mining ever takes place in Meghalaya, the Gods would cry and leave the place. Yours etc. Hubert Diengdoh New Delhi. Pro Mining Dear Editor, It is expected that the so called "sengbhalang" like the KSU and other groups should raise their heads and their voices whenever people in distant rural Meghalaya get a chance at something better. For decades the people in rural areas have not had healthcare and education and they live from hand to mouth. But none of these organisations ever raise their voices against such lack of development. If only they had did so with the same vigour they are doing for this uranium issue, things would be different. For so long we the people in rural areas have had a rough deal but we’ve fought and survived. And we strongly believe that uranium mining done scientifically will be safe for all of us. Even Australia does uranium mining and believe me, they don’t destroy the lives of their people. But more importantly, we'll have a chance to a better life than what we have. When someone offers us a better deal, why do Shillong-based organisations conspire to take that away from us? These NGOs have never offered us anything but they want to take away the little help that we get. So the NGOs should not talk big or act smart from Shillong, without knowing or living our lives. The majority of the Khasi people have voted for pro-uranium mining. Know your roles and keep quiet. As for the other voices from around the world on social networking sites like "Facebook", calling for "Khasi Warriors" to stop this uranium mining, I say its so easy to say that you’ve visited us but you‘ve never lived our lives. You are saying people will suffer because of the uranium mining, but people are suffering now as well. I’ve never heard any of you call for Khasi Warriors to help us in our struggles, but when we get a better deal, you raise your voices against it. What makes you think you can decide what is best for us? My advice to you is, ‘stay put in your places at Delhi or London or wherever, shut your cowardly talks and your "cowardly heroism" from across the oceans; it stinks. We are the real Khasi Warriors, we’ve fought for our existence for so long and we’re still fighting on. Let the people decide what’s best for them, they’ve never been given a chance to a better life before, maybe they deserve one now. I pray and hope that we get a better deal; someday we will. Yours etc. Jake Donbor Lyngkhoi Kynshi - West Khasi Hills -------------------- To reply to this message, follow the link below: http://www.facebook.com/n/?inbox/readmessage.php&t=1037125785495&mid=10ee6b0G27c33d02G347e793G0 -- W A Laskar Freelance Reporter and Human Rights Activist with Barak Human Rights Protection Committee, http://bhrpc.net.googlepages.com 15, Panjabari Road, Darandha, Six Mile, Guwahati-781037, Assam, India Cell: +919401134314 --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth?hl=en-GB -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
