Nilesh Mohan Naik (22 May 1970 – 23 January 1995) was an Indian environmental activist and farmworker belonging to the scheduled tribe community. He was shot to death during the Anti-Nylon 6,6 movement at Keri plateau, Ponda. He is popularly known as Goa's first environmental martyr.
Early and personal life Nilesh Mohan Naik was born on 22 May 1970 to Rekha Gawde at Savoi-Verem, Goa. He belonged to the scheduled tribe community and had three brothers, including Naresh Mohan Naik and Mahesh Naik. On 27 October 2020, Naresh, aged 40, died suffering injuries from a road accident at Savoi-Verem.
Death
Around 1980s, the Goa Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) acquired land at Bhoot Khamb, Ponda for the production of Nylon 6,6. The ₹6 billion (equivalent to ₹140 billion or US$1.4 billion in 2023) project was started by American multinational company, DuPont in collaboration with Indian business conglomerate, Thapar Group. Despite the usage of two hazardous chemicals, hexamethylenediamine and adipic acid, the project was declared as "pollution free". Later the locals became aware of the environmental hazards which would pose danger to the water resources and bagayats plantations thereafter beginning a long-drawn agitation that lasted for several years. On 14 October 1994, the plant was attacked by the villagers which cost the authorities almost ₹10 million (equivalent to ₹66 million or US$680,000 in 2023). On 17 January 1995, Dr. Dattaram Desai, convener of the Anti-Nylon 6,6 Citizens Action Committee and two other activists were arrested, stripped and assaulted at the police station. On 18 January 1995, the church supported, All Goa Citizens Committee for Social Justice and Action (AGCCSJA) wrote to the then Goa Governor, Gopala Ramanujam expressing their distress over the government's move to subdue the opposition against the project. On 23 January 1995, a busload of U.S. DuPont officials along three police jeeps were greeted by 70 protesters mainly women and children that were sitting on the road that lead to the factory. When the women refused to let the officials pass, the police present, advised the DuPont officials to return at Panjim wherein they met then Goa Chief minister, Pratapsingh Rane and demanded to take a strict action on the activists. Around 4:30 pm, two busload of Goa Police opened fired at the protesters without any prior warning to disperse, Naik was shot at point blank range while trying to save a woman from police atrocities and died from gunshot wounds to the chest soon after he was admitted to a nearby hospital, while others suffered minor injuries at Bhoot Khamb, Ponda. Following his death, the protesters as an act of vengeance assaulted the police, stripped some of them and chased them into the woods. Next they headed towards the company's office and burnt down everything. The company later shut down its services in Goa and relocated at Tamil Nadu.
Cremation The morning after Naik's murder, his body was taken to the Ponda bus station wherein a crowd of around 400 people were assembled to escort his body to his native village at Savoi-Verem and then to the factory site where he was cremated. The body was displayed in an open van, garlanded with flowers, around late afternoon the numbers bulged to more than 4,000 people gathered at the factory site. The leaders of the Anti-nylon 6,6 negotiated with the Thapar-DuPont Ltd. (TDL) security force to evacuate the site and factory officials were apprised that their presence would provoke violence, they later agreed to leave the site, escorted by the committee members. Many eminent Goans spoke at Naik's funeral, thereafter he was hailed as the first martyr of the Goan environmental movement. The throng present, later renamed the plateau in his honour but before his pyre was set on fire, a large explosion was witnessed at the factory site and a massive cloud of smoke rose from the TDL administrative complex, where the electricity generator was blown away. The company officials were shocked over the issue that followed to the demise of Naik, said TDL manager, Sam Singh. He also further stated that they had no plans moving out of Goa. After several meetings with DuPont and Thapar officials, the government remained quiet on the Nylon 6,6 issue, although Goa Chief minister, Rane eliminated many administrative obstacles for the factory but complained that the opposition were against the development of Goa.
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