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"Protest alone still has the risk of you losing your lands. Get united, stand united, and if anyone comes with a gun I will take the first bullet," said TS Singhdeo, Health Minister of Chhattisgarh while addressing protesters opposing coal mines in the state's Hasdeo Aranya forests.
Singhdeo met with the Chhattisgarh's coal mine protesters on Monday, 6 June, and asked them to stand united for their cause. He also assured them his support.
Singhdeo’s comments have spurred a new row of the rift within Congress and the party’s contradicting stands on tribal rights and coal mining in the state.
On Saturday, 4 June, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel had slammed the critics of mining and said those opposing mining should ‘switch off lights’ of their houses first.
Amid the decade-long protest against coal mining by residents of Chhattisgarh's Hasdeo Aranya area, Bhupesh Baghel-led Chhattisgarh government issued final approval earlier this year for Parsa East and Kente Basan phase 2 mining and Parsa coal mines on 25 March and 6 April, respectively.
Both mines are situated in Hasdeo Aranya and are allocated to Rajasthan's Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Limited (RRVUNL) which has entered into a mine developer and operator contract (MDO) with Adani Enterprises Limited.
Hasdeo is claimed to be central India's largest unfragmented forest patch and a migratory corridor of elephants. Earlier, a biodiversity report prepared jointly by the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE) and Wildlife institute of India (WII) had recommended to not allow opening of any more mines in Hasdeo.
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