21, Aug 2019 | CJP Team

“Our struggle is neither against the dam nor against the brokers; we are demanding our rights. We are demanding our land” says Rajkumari, a fiery activist of the Kaimur Kisan Andolan, which is part of the All India Union of Forest Working People (AIUFWP).

Rajkumari Bhuiya from Dhuma has grown into an immutable voice who speaks for Jal, Jungle and Zameen. The people of Dhuma along with other adivasis and forest worker in Sonbhadra are in the midst of a battle with corporate bodies who want to mine the resources there.

“And so if the Adivasis’ lands are getting submerged because of the construction of the dam, then should they not get an alternative piece of land?”  She says about the Kanhar dam project. She says that private companies and contractors can’t make the dam without displacing the people of the region.

Rajkumari has been jailed and threatened, yet her spirit has remained unconquerable and her resolve for justice impregnable.  She is quick to sing songs of protest and hope and travels far and wide talking to people about the importance of education and helping them understand their rights.

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Rajkumari Bhuiya: Songs as her tool, FRA activist marches on