00:00Narsanghaar took place for the trees.
00:02About 300 years ago, in the Marwad state of Rajasthan,
00:06King Abhay Singh needed wood for his flower palace in Mehrangarh.
00:10The king ordered his minister, Girdhari Das, to bring wood for the flower palace.
00:14Girdhari Das, obeying the king's order, set out in search of wood.
00:18After a few miles, the minister saw a green village, Khejrali,
00:22where there were a lot of Khejri trees.
00:25The minister was very happy to see so many trees.
00:28He ordered his soldiers to cut the trees and bring the wood.
00:31Then a soldier informed the minister that this is a Khejrali village.
00:35People of the Vishnoy community live here.
00:37The Vishnoy community has always valued trees and the environment.
00:40These are Khejri trees.
00:42It is completely forbidden to cut Khejri trees here.
00:44But the minister, obeying the king's order, sent his soldiers to cut the trees.
00:49The soldiers started cutting the trees.
00:51Hearing the sound of the axe, Amrita Devi Vishnoy, who lived nearby,
00:55immediately ran towards the trees and opposed the cutting of the trees.
00:59But her opposition was ignored.
01:01When she saw that the soldiers were continuously attacking the trees,
01:05she was furious.
01:07Girdhari Das was adamant.
01:09Even after a lot of effort, when the soldiers' torture did not stop,
01:12Amrita Devi, not caring for her life,
01:15bravely embraced the tree and said,
01:19If my life is lost, let it go, but I will not let the tree be cut.
01:22But Girdhari Das was full of arrogance.
01:24She was not ready to back down.
01:26She ordered Amrita Devi to be cut with the tree.
01:29And the soldiers killed Amrita Devi.
01:32By giving her mother's tree and dedication to the environment,
01:35Amrita Devi's three daughters, who were still very young,
01:38also obeyed their mother and clung to the trees.
01:42But that cruel minister did not have mercy.
01:44He cut the three daughters with the tree with no mercy.
01:47This spread like fire throughout the village.
01:50And the people of the nearby 60 villages came to protect the Khejri.
01:53And they all wrapped themselves in the tree.
01:55As soon as they saw it, the minister killed 363 people.
01:59When the news of such a big massacre reached the king,
02:02the king immediately called his army back and went to the Khejri village.
02:06Seeing the scene, the king's heart was filled with regret.
02:09And he was very sad.
02:10The king apologised to all the people of the village
02:13and issued an order that from now on,
02:15no one will cut the Khejri tree.
02:18And it was made law.
02:20Even today, the Khejri tree is banned in Rajasthan.
02:23This incident is also known as the Chipko movement.
02:26In memory of Amrita Devi Bishnoi,
02:28the government of India has announced the award
02:31of Amrita Devi Bishnoi Wildlife Conservation Award
02:34for her contribution to the area of wildlife conservation.
02:37We pay our respects to such a courageous and fearless Amrita Devi.
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