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Dongria plight: Appeal to Avatar director
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Tuesday, 09 February 2010 16:54 |
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The dense forest in the Niyamgiri Hills
 The Dongria Kondh are struggling to defend their land against a mining company "hell-bent on destroying their sacred mountain," a story that is uncannily similar to that of the Na'vi in the Avatar film.
L ike the Na'vi, the Dongria Kondh are also at risk, according to Survival International which placed an advertisement in the film
A forest scene in the Avatar movie
The Survival ad, published on Monday, says: "Appeal to James Cameron . . . Avatar is fantasy . . . and real. We've watched your film - now watch ours"
Survival's own ten-minute film (survivalinternational.org/mine) Mine: Story of a Sacred Mountain, narrated by Joanna Lumley, exposes the Dongria's plight.
Sacred mountain
In a press release, Survival's director Stephen Corry says: "Just as the Na'vi describe the forest of Pandora as 'their everything',
The Niyamgiri Hills are home to more than 8,000 Dongria Kondh
"The fundamental story of Avatar - if you take away the multi-coloured lemurs, the long-trunked horses and warring androids - is being played out today in the hills of Niyamgiri in Orissa, India.
"Their lands are set to be mined by Vedanta Resources who will stop at nothing to achieve their aims. The mine will destroy the forests on which the Dongria Kondh depend and wreck the lives of thousands of other Kondh tribal people living in the area," says Corry.
The Niyamgiri Hills are home to the more than 8,000 Dongri a Kondh, whose lifestyle and religion have
The Dongria Kondh are struggling to defend their land
Vedanta Resources, a British company, was given the go-ahead by India's Supreme Court to dig an open-pit bauxite mine on Niyamgirii mountain which the Dongria Kondh regard as their sacred mountain. Vedanta is majority-owned by Indian billionaire Anil Agarwal.
James Cameron's film, which last week scooped nine nominations for next month's Oscars, earned another US$23.6mil (RM83mil) to add to its record-breaking haul. - Malaysian Mirror
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Last Updated on Tuesday, 09 February 2010 19:45 |
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