Historian, activist and writer Shekhar Pathak has won the Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay NIF Book Prize 2022 for his book 'The Chipko Movement'. The book was originally written in Hindi and translated into English by Manisha Chaudhry.
The winner of the Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay NIF Book Prize 2022 was announced by New India Foundation (NIF) on December 1, 2022. Established in 2018, the award "recognises and celebrates excellence in non-fiction writings on modern/ contemporary India by writers from all nationalities". The winner is awarded a cash prize of INR 15 lakhs, a trophy, and a citation.
In 'The Chipko Movement', Pathak writes about the lesser-known ordinary men and women who participated in the Chipko movement to save trees and the Himalayan ecology, thus making it a success. He was selected a winner from a diverse shortlist of five books. Checkout the complete shortlist HERE.
Praising the book, the Jury said in a statement, "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 one is. Translated from the Hindi by Manisha Chaudhury, Shekhar Pathak’s book is a salutary reminder of the transformative power of collective action, and not just an important work of history but one that speaks to the contemporary moment and its twin crises of ecology and democracy. ”
The six-member jury panel for this year included: political scientist-author Niraja Gopal Jayal (Chair); entrepreneur Manish Sabharwal; historian-author Srinath Raghavan; historian-author Nayanjot Lahiri; former diplomat-author Navtej Sarna; and attorney-author Rahul Matthan.
Previous winners of the Kamaladevi NIF Book Prize are Milan Vaishnav for 'When Crime Pays: Money and Muscle in Indian Politics', Ornit Shani for 'How India Became Democratic', Amit Ahuja for 'Mobilizing the Marginalized' and Jairam Ramesh for 'VK Krishna Menon, A Chequered Brilliance', and Dinyar Patel for 'Naoroji: Pioneer of Indian Nationalism'.
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