Radheshyam Bishnoi was a man rooted in the Thar; he must be remembered as India’s very own ‘Godawan Man’: Sumit Dookia

It has been barely a week since young Radheshyam Bishnoi from Dholia village in Pokhran, Rajasthan, lost his life.

On May 23, Bishnoi, Forest Guard Surender Chaudhary, Shyamlal Bishnoi, and Kanwaraj Singh were on an anti-poaching patrol when their vehicle collided head-on with a truck on National Highway 11. All four passengers died.

Bishnoi was known in wildlife conservation circles across India for his passion to save the critically endangered Great Indian Bustard, the chinkara, blackbuck and other fauna of the Thar.

Down To Earth (DTE) spoke with wildlife biologist Sumit Dookia, who had been working with Bishnoi on a number of projects for the past several years.

DTE asked Dookia about his personal rapport with Bishnoi and the legacy he leaves behind. Excerpts:

Rajat Ghai (RG): When did you first meet Radheshyam?

Sumit Dookia (SD): In June 2016, a general training-cum-interaction session with youth volunteers of western Rajasthan was organised by the Jodhpur Forest Department. Over 70-80 youths participated in the event and Radheshyam was one of the attendees, siting in the last row. While others talked about their villages, interest in wildlife conservation and commitment in their introductory comments, his reply was different. He said, “I don’t know much. But one thing is certain. I am fully dedicated to the cause of supporting and conserving the wildlife of my village and its surroundings.” I asked him: “Did you see any Great Indian Bustard (GIB) (called Godawan in the Thar) around your village?” His reply was again honest. He said he was aware about GIBs but had not sighted any.

I asked him to inquire about the matter. “Let’s see what we can do together,” I added. A few months later, in September 2016, his Whatsapp message appeared on my mobile that he had found a GIB just a few kilometres from his village. This was a testament to his dedication and commitment.

RG: What were your first impressions of him?

SD: I found him to be an honest and simple young, teenaged boy in my first meeting, a true ‘down to earth’ person. At the time, he was pursuing a volunteer training course at the Jodhpur Zoo’s Rescue Centre to get himself acquainted with wildlife care and treatment. His vision was clear: “I want to go back to my village of Dholia and work for wildlife.” His village is at the boundary of Shri Bhadariya ji Oran, the largest sacred grove (Oran) of western Rajasthan and harbours high biodiversity.

RG: What was your personal equation with him?

SD: From June 2016 onwards, we were in regular tough with each other over mobile calls and messages. I started mentoring him on the GIB, providing him with books, academic papers and online articles to read and understand the status of the GIB. Luckily, GIBs visited his village and its surroundings, providing frequent sightings in open fields. Then onwards, we started working together and his commitment became stronger with time. He started documenting sightings and gathering information from other village residents as well. By 2018, we were able to establish a strong theory that the GIBs in Jaisalmer are divided into two populations and that they are present around the year near his village, Dholia. He started becoming the voice of this majestic bird, along with us. In the last few years, we have built a very big network of wildlife volunteers in Jaisalmer who were connected to him personally.

His simplicity, ability to discern right from wrong and grassroots level approach of working placed him apart from all of us. He never intended to attract eyeballs. But soon, his work started being appreciated outside Jaisalmer. At such a young age, his enthusiasm was so high that he never thought twice before handing over memorandums to senior government officials. When locust swarms attacked the area on May 24, 2019, I was informed that officials were planning to spray huge volumes of insecticide to control them. Bishnoi pointed out that locusts are a major part of the GIB’s diet and that this drive by the officials will negatively impact GIB survival due to direct contact with insecticides or residual effect later. We swiftly submitted a memorandum the next day to the district magistrate of Jaisalmer to convince him about the dangers to the GIB from the drive.

We launched an awareness campaign through the media as well. Within 24 hours, the drive was stopped in GIB-populated areas. This allowed GIBs to feed on the protein-rich locusts and from next year onwards, a few GIBs even hatched a double clutch of eggs.

RG: Why was Radheshyam important for the Thar, for orans and for the GIB?

SD: Over the years, I noticed some unique qualities in Bishnoi. For instance, he wanted to be very much in his village and its surrounding wild habitat.

While his liking for photography had spurred him to explore many other areas of India in the last three-four years, he used to return within two-three days and get back to his local wildlife conservation work. He had some very good offers to join established eco-tourism resorts in other areas of Rajasthan. But he simply used to refuse them. He was a man rooted in the landscape of the Thar. Radheshyam had been educated only till Grade 10. But his passion and interest prompted him to learn many new things. He taught himself professional SLR photography and started documenting local biodiversity. He was probably having the biggest digital photo archive of the GIB, most of which he had taken himself in the last few years.

He was a local youth icon, who knew every inch of the local landscape. He even became the voice of the voiceless for national as well as international print and digital media. With him, we were able to raise issues of GIB habitat located outside protected areas and established local communities as one of the major stakeholders in conservation of wildlife in the Thar.

RG: How should lndia remember Radheshyam?

SD: A true youth icon, who became a torch bearer for many of us, and lead from the front. Today’s youth should take lessons from his work and dedication towards biodiversity conservation and a model for community conservation leadership. He must be remembered as the ‘Godawan Man of India’. That sums up his less-than-a-decade of work, though his contribution as a fearless voice in conservation forums will remain priceless forever.