Mention ‘tribals’ and most people would conceive the picture of an impoverished people who survive by doing odd jobs or hunting with bows and arrows. This mental picture has not changed, and it also includes images of pots of home-made liquour and young girls with magic in their eyes and a smile on their lips.
These days, the picture also comprises another component: militancy. The general impression is that after years of deprivation, the tribals have now decided to take up arms and are willing to respond to calls for an armed uprising. The Santhal revolt against the British is often cited as an example in this context. The renaming of Esplanade East as Sidhu Kanu Dahar has been an attempt on Calcutta’s part to immortalize that incident. But what is the reality on ground?
Some time ago, a lot of noise was made about starvation deaths in Amlashol in West Bengal. A team of Opposition leaders made it to the village, expecting the tribals to talk of hunger and misery. But what they demanded most was a school for their children. A totally impoverished people cannot have time to bother about education, and the Amlashol residents were certainly not so much of an exception as to put the mind before the stomach. Economic deprivation in varying degrees is a part of life in this country, and the tribals are not the only ones to feel the pinch. Tears are also shed over reports that tribals are surviving on mango kernels and rats. If the Naga or the Mizo tribal has no qualms about eating dogs, why should tribals in the plains not eat something that has been a part of their traditional menu? Indeed, the conditions in tribal hamlets today are far removed from what they were 30 years ago.
Pulp fiction
Tribals themselves seem to agree with this. Chhattisgarh is a tribal-dominated state in which Maoists have been active for quite some time, seeking to incite the population to violence against the “injustice” meted out to them. What was their reply? In the recent elections, they reposed their faith once again in the Bharatiya Janata Party, which has nothing to do with either Marx or Mao. Nearer home, in Jhargram, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) had no problems in retaining control over the municipality amidst widespread speculation that tribals have turned their faces away from the ruling party.
What is often not realized is that over the years, tribal society has also witnessed the emergence of a new, affluent class. The majority of tribals may find themselves outside this class, but they have something to aspire to within their social framework. So they see no reason for that framework to be disturbed, and in this, they are at one with the rest of the Indians. This is what Maoists do not seem to realize. Perhaps their perverse politics stands in the way.
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