Book on Chipko Movement wins Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay NIF Book Prize

The Chipko Movement: A People’s History by historian Shekhar Pathak has bagged the prestigious award

The Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay NIF Book Prize 2022 has been awarded to The Chipko Movement: A People’s Movement by historian and activist Shekhar Pathak, translated from Hindi by Manisha Chaudhry. 

The award, now in its fifth edition, is given for non-fiction on contemporary India by writers of any nationality, and carries a cash award of 15 lakhs, a trophy and a citation. 

The prize citation calls Mr. Pathak’s book “the definitive history of the Chipko movement by a scholar who has practically lived it.” 

“It is fitting that a book that tells the story of a movement through the eyes of the local communities, especially women, should be as readable as this one is. Translated from the Hindi by Manisha Chaudhry, Shekhar Pathak’s book is a salutary reminder of the transformative, and not just an important work of history but one that speaks to the contemporary moment and its twin crises of ecology and democracy,” it reads. 

This year’s shortlist of five included Accidental Feminism: Gender Parity and Selective Mobility Among India’s Professional Elite by Swethaa S. Ballakrishnen and Whole Numbers and Half Truths: What Data Can and Cannot Tell Us About Modern India by Rukmini S. Midnight’s Borders: A People’s History of Modern India by Suchitra Vijayan and Born a Muslim: Some Truths about Islam in India by Ghazala Wahab round off the list. 

The jury for the award consisted of political scientist and author Niraja Gopal Jayal, entrepreneur Manish Sabharwal, historian Srinath Raghavan, historian Nayanjot Lahiri, former diplomat Navtej Sarna, and attorney Rahul Matthan.

Historian and Padma Shri-awardee Shekhar Pathak has lived in the Himalayan region for years and conducted extensive research into the Chipko Movement, engaging with local communities and leaders. He established the People’s Association for Himalaya Area Research (PAHAR) in 1983 and also penned Asia ki Peeth Per (On Asia’s Back), a biography of the Himalayan explorer Pandit Nain Singh Rawat, along with Uma Bhatt.