'Avatar' a reality for Indian tribe fighting mining company

[The Straight Story]

'Avatar' a reality for Indian tribe fighting mining company

New Delhi, India (CNN) -- Campaigners fighting for the rights of indigenous peoples have appealed to the makers of the movie "Avatar" to help an Indian tribe protect its home from a real-life threat.

London-based Survival International has drawn a parallel between the Na'vi of "Avatar" and the Dongria Kondh tribe in the eastern Indian state of Orissa, who it says are struggling to defend their sacred mountain from being mined by British firm, Vedanta Resources.

The global human rights watchdog, Amnesty International, has also lashed out at Vedanta over its plans at Orissa's Niyamgiri Hills.

"The proposed mine threatens the very existence of the Dongria Kondh, an 8,000-strong indigenous community that has lived on the Niyamgiri hills for centuries," Amnesty noted in its report.

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