Issue and Opponents: The Chipko Movement is a fine example of Gandhi’s Satyagraha and Civil Disobedience which use passive resistance techniques. The very first peaceful demonstration of this movement took place in Uttarakhand’s Reni village in Chamoli district. Uttarakhand is situated in the heart of the Garhwal Himalayas. The forests are sources of food and livelihood for its people, who are simple and peaceful villagers. One major trigger of the movement, in addition to forest conservation, was that the Indian government had passed laws to prevent forest dwellers from cutting trees. But the government had given logging contracts to a sports manufacturing company that planned to use the wood from the forest for making cricket bats.
Dilemma Action: The technique of tree-hugging by villagers, mostly women, at Reni, gained such popularity that many villages in Uttarakhand soon used this non-violent tactic to protest against government-contracted logging and resultant deforestation throughout the 1970s and 80s. The name of the movement is derived from the word “chipko,” that in many Indian languages means “to hug” or “to cling.” In a variation of the tree-hugging tactic, village women from Garhwal tied “rakhi” or sacred thread around the tree trunks. In Hindu customs, these sacred threads imply familial bonding between two persons, especially brothers and sisters. Women in these villages thereafter hugged the trees to protect them from illegal loggers.
Outcome: Tree huggers at Reni were successful in achieving their goals. The DA of March 26 led to the cancellation of the commercial logging contract between the government and the sports manufacturing company. The movement achieved a major victory when in 1980, PM Indira Gandhi imposed a ban on the cutting of trees in the Himalayan regions for the next fifteen years. It was expected that by then, the green cover would be fully restored. Tree-hugging at Reni led the way to many similar tree-hugging DAs in India and is considered the earliest action of the Chipko Movement.