INDIA, April 2012 (dw.de): For centuries, the Bishnoi have sworn by the preservation of plants and animals. Some have even lost their lives to defend this cause. The “eco-religion” was founded in the 15th century, when a farmer, who is now known as Guru Jambheshwar, retreated after a long drought and formulated 29 tenets according to which the farmers of the Thar Desert region should live their lives.
The word bis means 20, whereas noi means nine. The tenets revolve around personal hygiene, basic health, social behavior, the worship of God, biodiversity and good animal husbandry. They include a ban on the felling of green trees.
“The Bishnoi are a caste within the Hindu caste system,” explains Dr Pankaj Jain from the University of Texas. “They are strict vegetarians and do not kill living beings. Nature is holy to them.”
However, the lives of the half million or so Bishnois who live in India’s western state of Rajasthan are currently under threat. The hundreds of small and medium-sized textile companies in the city of Jodhpur have polluted the Loni River, which is essential for keeping the sacred forest of Khejarli green and allowing the wild animals that are central to the Bishnois’ beliefs to graze.
“Nothing grows here anymore,” complains Balaram Bishnoi, a farmer from the village of Doli. “The land is dead. I had vegetables, crops and sesame – all kinds of things. Now not even grass grows anymore. The land has dried out completely.” He and several other farmers have filed a suit against the region’s textile industry and are currently awaiting a verdict.
Two centuries ago, at least 364 Bishnois died trying to protect the trees of Khrejarli. Shivdas Shastri, the village priest, relates the story: “Some 200 years ago, the king ordered the forest to be cleared to build a palace. When the king’s men came to fell the trees, the Bishnoi from the surrounding villages protested. ‘We will die, but we won’t allow the trees to be felled,’ they shouted.”