'The Chipko Movement: A People's Movement' bags Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay NIF Book Prize

'The Chipko Movement: A People's Movement' by historian, activist, and writer Shekhar Pathak, translated from Hindi by Manisha Chaudhry (Permanent Black & Ashoka University), has won the Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay NIF Book Prize 2022, announced by the New India Foundation.

This Book Prize recognises and celebrates excellence in non-fiction writings on modern/contemporary India by writers from all nationalities. The winner receives a cash award of Rs 15 lakh, a trophy, and a citation.

The winner was selected by a six-member jury panel including political scientist and author Niraja Gopal Jayal (Chair); entrepreneur Manish Sabharwal; historian and author Srinath Raghavan; historian and author Nayanjot Lahiri; former diplomat and author Navtej Sarna; and attorney and author Rahul Matthan.

The Jury citation for the Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay NIF Book Prize 2022 reads, "This is 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. Translated from 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."