In the early 1970s, an organised non violent resistance to the destruction of forests in the Himalayan region spread across India and became famous by which name?

Introduction / Context:
Environmental movements have played a significant role in modern Indian history by challenging unsustainable patterns of development and protecting local communities livelihoods. In the early 1970s, one such movement started in the Himalayan region and became a symbol of people power against commercial deforestation. Participants, especially village women, embraced trees to prevent them from being cut. This question asks you to recall the name by which that non violent forest protection movement is popularly known.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• The time frame is around 1970 and the early 1970s.
• The issue is organised resistance to forest destruction.
• The region is the Himalayan foothills, particularly in present day Uttarakhand.
• The options list several movements: Save Silent Valley Movement, Swadeshi Movement, Namantar Andolan, Chipko movement, and Narmada Bachao Andolan.
• You must identify the one that involved villagers hugging trees to stop logging.

Concept / Approach:
The Chipko movement, associated with activists like Sunderlal Bahuguna and local village communities, especially women, is famous for its technique of literally clinging to trees to prevent their felling. The word Chipko means to cling or hug. It began in the Himalayan region in the early 1970s and soon became a symbol of grassroots environmental action. The other movements listed in the options focus on different issues, times, or regions and are not directly about hugging trees to stop deforestation in the Himalayas.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Identify that the question describes an environmental movement against forest destruction that spread in the early 1970s. Step 2: Recall that in this movement, villagers physically embraced trees to prevent contractors from cutting them down. Step 3: Know that this distinctive method gave rise to the name Chipko, which means to cling. Step 4: Recognise that Save Silent Valley Movement took place later in Kerala and focused on stopping a dam project, not tree hugging in the Himalayas. Step 5: Swadeshi Movement is an early twentieth century anti colonial boycott movement, Namantar Andolan is a social justice movement in Maharashtra, and Narmada Bachao Andolan is about displacement due to large dams on the Narmada river. Step 6: Therefore, only the Chipko movement matches all the details given in the question.

Verification / Alternative check:
Environmental history texts and civics books describe the Chipko movement as one of the earliest modern environmental movements in India. They explain how villagers in Chamoli and other districts of the then Uttar Pradesh, now Uttarakhand, organised themselves to protect forests. The famous image is of people, particularly women, hugging trees so that axes could not reach them. These accounts clearly distinguish Chipko from other movements like Save Silent Valley and Narmada Bachao Andolan, giving solid confirmation for this answer.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Save Silent Valley Movement: This was a campaign in Kerala against a hydropower project in the Silent Valley forest and belongs to a different ecological context.

Swadeshi Movement: It was part of the freedom struggle, aimed at promoting indigenous goods and boycotting foreign goods, not an environmental protest.
Namantar Andolan: This was a movement in Maharashtra related to renaming and Dalit rights, not forest conservation.
Narmada Bachao Andolan: It is a later movement focused on the social and environmental impact of large dams on the Narmada river, not on hugging trees in Himalayan forests.

Common Pitfalls:
Students sometimes confuse Chipko with Save Silent Valley or Narmada Bachao Andolan because all are environmental movements. Another mistake is to focus only on the date around 1970 without noticing the specific method of resistance described. To avoid such confusion, remember that Chipko is directly associated with the act of hugging trees and with Himalayan hill communities, making it easy to distinguish from other environmental campaigns.

Final Answer:
The organised non violent resistance to forest destruction in the early 1970s is known as the Chipko movement.