India, May 23 -- The Honourable Chief Justice of India's recent remarks on environmental activism have triggered unease across civil society, researchers and advocacy groups that environmental concerns are becoming an inconvenience in the way of "real development". When the highest court asks whether there is any project that environmentalists have ever welcomed, it is not merely a passing comment - it highlights a perception and a public signal that environmental objections often function as impediments to progress. And in a country where ecological regulation is already weak and enforcement selective, such signals carry consequences.

The irony is that environmental activism in India has never been a blind rejection of development. It h...