Today is 45th anniversary of very famous Chipko movement. Google is paying tribute to his movement through the Doodle. It is a non-violent movement related to the conservation of forest. As the name speaks Chipko, people stick themselves to trees to prevent them from being cut.
Began in 1973, Chipko movement was led by Gandhian activist Sunderlal Bahuguna. It was started in Uttar Pradesh’s Mandal village in the upper Alakananda valley. As the government decided to allot forests to a sports company, angry villagers had come to rescue the trees. Other significant figures of the movement are Dhoom Singh Negi, Bachni Devi, Gaura Devi and Sudesha Devi.
This Chipko Movement of 1973 is inspired by a movement held in Rajasthan in 18th century. In Rajasthan, a large group of people (approx. 363) from the Bishnoi community had sacrificed their lives to save Khejri trees. These people hugged the trees which were being cut on the order of Jodhpur’s Maharaja.
Google Doodle
Talking about today’s ‘Google Doodle’, you can see a group of women standing around a tree in a forest, their hands linked together, under the light if the moon. Well.. the women at that time were the centre face of the movement.
