Ecological Imperialism: The Story of Chars, Tigers, and Refugees in The Hungry Tide

Underlining the genealogical tie of Global North environmental aid with colonial forest conservation, this article problematizes the role of such aid in saving Global South ecosystems. Aid carries on the legacies of colonialism and refuses to recognize that colonial history makes humans differentially accountable for ecological devastation. Amitav Ghosh’s novel The Hungry Tide exposes these contradictions as unprotected Bangladeshi refugees living on the chars (deltaic sandbars) of India’s Ganges Delta are pitted against tigers protected by aid. Chars are legacies of British colonialism and the partition of the Indian subcontinent. In this article, the transience of chars offers a framework of inquiry into ecological imperialism that burdens the poor of the Global South.