Stir to kick off in tribal belt

VADODARA: With little progress on the front of giving titles of forest lands to tribal residents cultivating land in forest reserve areas, various NGOs working for tribal rights will start an agitation from Monday. The activists claim the Forest Rights Act is not being implemented properly by the state government and was even violating it.

They said at a recent meeting of state-level monitoring committee for the act, it was claimed that only 10 percent of the claims for titles filed by tribals were genuine and the rest were bogus and without any supporting documents. "For us this was the first indication that the state government was back-tracking from proper implementation of the act," said Ambrish Mehta of Adivasi Mahasabha, Gujarat.

Mehta said as many as 20,000 claim files had been deposited by the gram sabhas. "Of these only 2,000 were found to be genuine. This is far from the truth. The fact is that the 2,000 claims that were approved before the Lok Sabha polls were of persons cultivating the land before 1980. These were already approved vide a government resolution in 1992, but were not given titles. The remaining 18,000 claims were not even looked at," he added.
Another activist father Xavier Manjooran from Narmada district said it seemed the government only intended to give user rights to the tribals. "This is against the act that clearly states that ownership of the land must be given to tribals," he said.

Manjooran pointed out that while the Forest Department was a respondent to the land claims that were made to the gram sabhas, it was not willing to accept that status. "The village-level committees are like quasi-judicial bodies. It seems that the Forest Department is finding it difficult to accept this," he said.

Protest marches, demonstrations and other activities will be held at various locations throughout the state. On Monday, programmes will be held at Rajpipla, Dharampur and Ahwa.

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Malaria Hits Indian Tribal Village

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20 Indian Nagesia tribes people have died of malaria in the last 20 days. Lack of proper drinking water and dirty surroundings is helping the spread of malaria among the Kukudpaat villagers.

The villagers drink water from a waterfall after collecting it in a tank.  It’s an active breeding ground for mosquitoes.

[Budhan Nagesia, Villager]:
"We are drinking water from a waterfall as there is no proper drinking water facility in the village, because of that there has been an outbreak of malaria here."

With no roads and other means of communication, it’s not easy for the villagers to get to hospital for early treatment. 

[MK Das, National Institute Malaria Research Center]:
"So far 89 cases of plasmodium falciparum malaria have been reported. We are treating them and they are somewhat better."

Ignorance and old habits are adding to the problem.

[Anima Tigya, Village Nurse]:
"I tell them to keep their surroundings clean but they don't listen and take offence. When I tell them to boil water before drinking they refuse saying they are used to drinking fresh water and not stored water."

Around the world, malaria is the most significant parasitic disease of humans.  It claims the lives of more children worldwide than any other infectious disease.

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India From the Outside In

I've been writing about India for a number of years now, both online and off. At venues like my personal blog Popagandhi, my online travel show, and in publications like Geographical and Asian Geographic magazines, India — and everything to do with it — has always been an anchor in my writing, photography, and indeed, my life. As a constant visitor to India, I like to think I more than travel through it. Done with the tourist trail by my third or fourth long-drawn Indian journey, I began to think of it as home. I'm not desi by any stretch of imagination, even though I — and many desis I know — have come to think of myself as something of an "honorary desi". Yet I constantly found myself thinking: what exactly does it mean to be Indian?

You see, I'm Chinese Singaporean, and I'm as Chinese and Singaporean as one gets. My grandfather was born in Shantou province in China, my grandmother a Chinese from Malaysia, and we were all born and bred in Singapore. An upbringing in an "in-between" sort of country, one like Singapore or Malaysia, gave me a different perspective on India, even as a child. Every aspect of my life was intimately connected to India, Indians, and/or their descendants. My grandparents spoke a muddling of Tamil, even a little Malayalam, because in those days you had to speak everything, even if everything meant English, Japanese, Mandarin, Hokkien, Cantonese, Tamil, Malayalam and Malay. When I asked for ice cream, I sometimes got kulfi, kesar flavour.

Neighbours, school mates, boyfriends, girlfriends, best friends, colleagues, school captains... were, at various times, either from India, or their grandparents were. What does that have to do with anything? Lots, I believe. Because I lived in such close proximity to Indian culture, knew how to tie a saree (and in fact wore many a saree to Singapore's annual Racial Harmony Day in school), dated quite a number of Indians, considered dosa and kulfi to be my favourite foods, and ate regularly with my hands, that means that I was very rarely shocked or overwhelmed by anything India threw at me — it was all near and familiar.

Whether it was witnessing a puja, relishing delicious pani puris, marvelling at kolam patterns, finding myself unexcited by the idea of cows walking on roads (somewhat a tourist spectacle, apparently), walking between two corpses en route to cremation in the Ganges, or sifting in and out of different Indian regional languages, religions, customs; it was all familiar. I had a way of relating them all to things I had learned, or experienced, or knew to be true and real and normal. This influenced my work later on in my professional life, for there was no way I could relate to the cliched portrayals of India the Exotic, India the Poor, India the Strange, or India The I Don't Really Get This Country But I'll Write About It Anyway. India was more than that; it was a sort of home. And it had embraced me in a way no other country has, possibly not even my own.

I was 18 when I went to India for the first time to spend a month in Kolkata. I've been back to India numerous times ever since, each time at two or three months at a stretch. I consider India to be my second education — after all, I did spend all my time at university in Singapore plotting my return the moment exams ended. As a perennial globetrotter, I have spent the better half of the last few years jetting all about the world in my career as a freelance writer and photographer, but it is to India that I am happiest returning to.

When I say I wonder what exactly it means to be Indian, I say so only because one of the greatest things about this country and its culture is how fluid and plural identity is. The minute I put on a salwar kameez in any major Indian city, I am automatically one of you — Manipuri, Naga, Khasi, or a close brethren, maybe Nepali. I am shown more kindred-ship travelling through the tribes of Northeast India, as I have, than in any big city of China. A case of mistaken identity often makes them believe me to be one of theirs, and no amount of vehement insistence would change their minds. More strikingly, when I am in Kolkata's Tangra district, or in any of Bangalore or Kolkata's Chinese hair and beauty salons, I am at once impressed — and puzzled — by these Chinese people who are, like me, Chinese, but with whom I have no common language or experience: the Chinese of Tangra, the Chinese in Bangalore, mostly descended from the same coastal areas in China that my grandfather came from, and we even share the same surname. And yet they, are Indian. Indian Idol contestant Meiyang Chang comes to mind immediately. And if my grandfather had boarded a different boat, and came to Calcutta of the 1940s instead, could this be me? Might I have been a Patsy Chan, heiress of a Chinese hair salon in Tangra? Maybe.

Outside India, those who do not know Indian culture are quick to paint the entire country (or region) with the same brush. In Singapore and Malaysia, quite ignorantly, because most of our experiences with Indians have been with the local Tamils, we think Tamils to be the only Indians, and think nothing of asking "do you speak Indian", as though there was a language called Indian (they mean Tamil, of course). In our minds, unschooled as we were on this topic, being Indian always meant being Hindu. The saffron brigade might nod approvingly, but I cannot think of many other countries in the world with such an intimate coexistence of identities. I know Indians who are Tamil, Malayalee, Gujarati, Sindhi, Punjabi, Assamese, Khasis, Garos, Jaintias (of the Jaintia Hills), Bengalis, and yes, Chinese. They are Christian (and then Protestant, Catholic, Syrian Christian, Orthodox), Jain, Hindu, Parsi, Muslim, Buddhist. One need only get onboard a Mumbai local train from CST or Churchgate at rush hour, and witness the crush of humanity — and India's incredible diversity, exemplified by one of its most vibrant cities — coexist, come together, try to fit into spaces that don't quite exist, lend each other a helping hand, shrug off inconveniences, and even sing and chop vegetables together with strangers who, quite by fate rather than design, become a part of each other's lives (as witnessed in the ladies' carriage anyway).

As an outsider, India has been the most welcoming of countries. Being an outsider also afforded me some luxuries my upper middle class Mumbai or Kolkata-born NRI (female) friends could never dream of. I've gone, in the name of work and mostly adventure, crawling through coal mines in Meghalaya, hanging off Mumbai locals, driving autorickshaws to Pondicherry, running about in the rain in Cherrapunjee, trekking about the vicinity of Darjeeling, wandering about Bhubaneswar and Bihar alone, wading knee-deep in water in Sudder Street, smoking with Shivaites in Orissa, hanging out on film sets in Chennai, and been caught amidst the crush of chariot juggernauts of the Puri Rath Yatra. With no dietary restriction, I've developed a taste for specific Indian regional cuisines that makes me pine for India's vast culinary riches: freshly made idlis and dosas, Mangalorean seafood, Keralan Syrian Christian curries, Udupi vegetarian cuisine, Bengali fish preparations and misti doi, Khasi pork stews, Parsi baked goods, that strange genre known as Indian-Chinese, and all the vada pavs, bhelpuris and misal pavs of Mumbai.

Perhaps it's time I got to share my India with you, and what I see of it from the perspective of somebody on the outside peering in. I won't be the first, but I might be the first Chinese person writing in English, and almost exclusively, about India. We'll start with Indian-Chinese food, and then with Chinese-Indian food, since it's a topic close to so many of your hearts (chowmein and egg drop soup!), and hindi chini bhai bhai and all that.
Adrianna Tan is a Singaporean writer and photographer who must have been desi in a past life. She has travelled across India extensively and won't shut up about India and India travel on her blogs, Popagandhi.com and Fortylove.tv.

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Scars left by India's mineral minefields

Mining activities should not displace self-sufficient people and force them into a life of dependencyEvery evening, after 8pm, the road to Keonjhar in the north-east Indian state of Orissa is jammed with hundreds of gaily painted lorries taking the mineral wealth of that impoverished state to Paradeep, the nearest port, and out into the world.If Vedanta Resources goes ahead with its plan to build an open cast mine on the top of the beautiful Niyamgiri mountain the lorries that carry the bauxite away will probably join that queue. The problems for the Dongria Kondh, who live a simple life there, are likely to remain. Whatever promises of education and health the mining company has made, the people don't want it and have been fighting it for a long time.They are part of a much wider battle over mineral rights in this state of 38 million. On the one hand, it is one of the poorest – where 55% of children are malnourished and literacy rates are 13% for men and 7% for women, much lower than most other parts of India. On the other, it holds 20% of all the mineral wealth in India and mining companies from around the world come to take it out. But the manner of their removal leaves deep scars on the landscapes and the people who live there, most of whom are marginal farmers who rely for part of the year on collecting jackfruit and mangos to sell in the villages. Other hill tribes are affected by mining too. In the past, the Bhuiya, the Munda, the Juang and Santal communities lived in self-sufficiency in the hills above Keonjhar, and now all are facing difficulties.Mining activities which can change or stem the course of a river, which may leave it polluted, can turn a self-sufficient community into a dependent one. When I visited the area last year with Concern, a charity which, along with Action Aid and others, supports the battle of the Kondh people, I was taken to a settlement built by a mining company for a displaced community. There were foreign guards in the street ...

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Pressure on church as Lumley joins tribals

London,July 30 : Representatives of Britain's largest Christian denomination have met members of a tribe from Orissa to hear demands to withdraw investments from a British company that plans to mine a mountain that the tribe claims as sacred land.
The tribal protesters and international campaigners have added feisty British actress Joanna Lumley to their list of celebrity supporters.
The meeting between representatives of the Church of England's ethical investment group and two members of the Dongria Kondh tribe took place in London yesterday following widespread protests at the annual general meeting of shareholders of Vedanta Resources, one of Britain's largest mining companies.
The Dongria Kondh say Vedanta's plans to mine the bauxite-rich Nyamgiri mountain are sacrilegious as it is the abode of their deity Nyam Raja, but Vedanta points out the project has been cleared by the Supreme Court and claims it will benefit locals.
"The meeting between church representatives, tribal campaigners ~ Mr Sitaram Kulisaki and Mr Bratindi Jena and a member of the aid agency ActionAid ~ lasted for over an hour," said Ms Meredith Alexander, head of trade and corporates at ActionAid.
"The Church of England representatives were very interested to hear from the Dongria Kondh," she told IANS.
A spokesman for the Church of England, which has 2.5 million pounds of investment in Vedanta, said they now planned to meet the management of the mining company, which is owned by Indian-born billionaire Mr Anil Aggarwal.
"We have a policy of engaging with companies with whom we invest. If you simply disinvest you lose any opportunity to engage. Our investment bodies have the duty to ensure good financial returns," church spokesman Mr Steve Jenkins told IANS.
Survival International, which campaigns for the rights of indigenous people, has written to the British ministry of business enterprise urging it to investigate whether Vedanta is in violation of guidelines set by the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
But Vedanta has said some of its shareholders are concerned about the campaigns of ActionAid and Survival International, and advised the two NGOs to drop their campaign.
"The Supreme Court, in its decision to approve the project has taken account of their views and the many benefits in terms of employment, education and healthcare, that the project will bring," the company said in a statement.
"We are proceeding with the project on the basis agreed with them and we urge these NGOs to respect the decision of the legitimate authority in India, the world's largest democracy," it added.
Meanwhile, actress Joanna Lumley said yesterday: "I urge the public to support the Dongria, who simply want to be allowed to live in peace. Unlike so many of India's rural poor, the Dongria Kondh actually live very well in the Nyamgiri hills, and it's a terrible irony that what Vedanta is proposing to do in the name of development will actually destroy this completely self-sufficient people."
Lumley, fresh from leading a high-profile campaign to allow Gurkha veterans of the British Army to live in Britain, is in Nepal celebrating the victory over the British government. She is the latest celebrity to join the Nyamgiri campaign after human rights campaigner Bianca Jagger, writer Arundhati Roy and musician Nitin Sawhney.

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Orissa tribal buys company shares to protest project

London: A long standing environment battle between an Indian corporate and Orissa tribals is now being carried to the streets of London.

An agitating tribal has come up with a unique strategy. He has bought a share in the company to appeal to the shareholders to not cut down acres of rich tropical forest in his state.

Sitaram Kuliski of the Dongria Kondh tribe, who lives on the foothills of the Niyamgiri mountains in Orissa, is protesting Vedanta Resources' proposed bauxite mining project in the Niyamgiri mountains.

Sitaram Kuliski says, “Thousands of my brothers and sisters have sent me here to appeal to Vedanta. I have come to ask shareholders and others help us to stop mining at Niyamgiri and to save our community from being destroyed.”

Environmentalists say the mine will destroy the area's ecosystem and threaten the future of the 8,000 strong Kondh tribe, for whom the Niyamgiri is 'sacred'.

Celebrity activist Bianca Jagger and singer Nitin Sawhney too have lent their support to the tribals cause.

Activist, Bianca Jagger says, “I firmly believe it’s important that corporations adhere to social and ethical values. We shareholders can make them understand that their projects should not endanger lives of indigenous people and not go against the environment and not contribute to climate change.”

On its part, Vedanta says it's bringing development to a backward region.

CEO, Vedanta Resources, M S Mehta says, “People are with us. They want this project to come up. They want this, for heath conditions. We don't see opposition.”

Vedanta says it has complied with the 32 conditions of the Supreme Court. In addition, its has also deposited crores of rupees with the Orissa government for compensatory forestry and peripheral development. The company is awaiting stage 2 forest clearance and plans to start mining as soon as possible. But one consent it may never get is that of the local tribals who have brought their protest from home to London.

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Tribal women protestors in Lalgarh teargassed

Lalgarh (West Bengal), July 29 (IANS) A Trinamool Congress team, including two junior central ministers, visited this trouble-torn belt Tuesday and demanded the withdrawal of the ongoing security operations before police staged a baton charge and lobbed tear gas shells to disperse a group of agitating tribal women.
Around 350 women, owing allegiance to the agitating tribal body People’s Committee Against Police Atrocities (PCAPA) and carrying posters asking for the withdrawal of the security forces, came in a procession near the Lalgarh police station when they were stopped by the security forces.
As the women tried to break the police barricade, the central and state forces first baton-charged them and then fired tear gas shells to disperse them. “The women tried to force their way into the police station and so we had to first baton charge them and then fire tear gas shells,” said a police officer here.
PCAPA leader Chhatradhar Mahato later alleged that the forces had beaten up the women without any provocation.
The trouble started a little after the high profile Trinamool team visited Lalgarh to get a first hand view of the situation after security forces were deployed last month to flush out Maoist rebels from this trouble-torn belt in West Midnapore district.
Minister of State for Shipping Mukul Roy, Minister of State for Rural Development Sisir Adhikari and Leader of Opposition in the state assembly Partha Chattopadhyay were part of the delegation that handed over rice and other relief material to the Block Development Officer here.
Amid heavy security, the Trinamool team visited a school and spoke to students, teachers and guardians who complained about the disruption of studies after the security forces camped in the schools of the area. The students, teachers and parents have, over the past few days, been demanding that the forces vacate the schools.
The Trinamool leaders are also to visit the Lalgarh police station and some of the villages in the area.
“We did not face any obstruction. But the administration and the ruling CPI-M (Communist Party of India-Marxist) goons stopped locals from meeting us,” Chattopadhyay said.
He alleged that the security forces were torturing innocent tribal villagers in the guise of searching for Maoists. “People are being tortured. The area badly needs development. But the Left front government has not done anything during the 32 years it has been in power in the state,” he added.
Chattopadhyay said: “This security operation must stop. The CPI-M is using it to capture political turf and commit atrocities on its political opponents.”
Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram had Monday asked the state’s Left Front government to ensure security for the Trinamool team after party chief Mamata Banerjee spoke to him.
Roy and Adhikari had allegedly been obstructed by CPI-M activists last month when they were proceeding to two troubled areas in this belt.
The security operation was launched in and around Lalgarh last month after Maoists torched police camps and drove away the police and civil administration to establish what they claimed was a “free zone” in the region since last November.
Lalgarh has been on the boil since November when a landmine exploded on the route of the convoy of Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and central ministers Ram Vilas Paswan and Jitin Prasada.
Complaining of police atrocities after the blast, angry tribals backed by Maoists launched an agitation, virtually cutting off the area from the rest of West Midnapore district.
Maoists are active in areas under 21 police stations in the state’s three western districts - West Midnapore, Bankura and Purulia.

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Vedanta to go ahead with mining sacred Orissa hill

LONDON: British mining giant Vedanta said on Tuesday it is going ahead with plans to mine a bauxite-rich hillside in Orissa considered sacred land by local tribals, and urged two international NGOs to give up their protest campaign.

"We are proceeding with the mining plans but there are still a few permissions that need to be granted," Zoe Watt, a spokeswoman for Vedanta Resources, told IANS after a high-profile protest at the Annual General Meeting of shareholders in London on Monday.

The protest was led by international human rights campaigner Bianca Jagger and Indian-origin musician Nitin Sawhney but Indian author and activist Arundhati Roy was unable to attend.

"It should be remembered that that there is no habitation in the mining area itself. Every hill is sacred (to the tribals). It's difficult, given that this is only one small area in a vast region," Watt added.

The Kondh tribals of Orissa say they worship the Nyamgiri mountains as the abode of their deity Nyam Raja but Vedanta -- owned by Indian-born billionaire Anil Aggarwal -- says mining activities will lead to jobs, schools, hospitals and greater prosperity.

Vedanta also said it shared "concerns" raised by some of its shareholders about the campaigns of two non-government organisations, ActionAid and Survival.

"The Supreme Court, in its decision to approve the project has taken account of their views and the many benefits in terms of employment, education and healthcare, that the project will bring," the company said in a statement.

"We are proceeding with the project on the basis agreed with them and we urge these NGOs to respect the decision of the legitimate authority in India, the world's largest democracy," it added.

An ActionAid spokeswoman said mining the mountains of Nyamgiri would be like demolishing Stonehenge, a prehistoric stone monument in England that is considered sacred by many people.

"Just as the public would be horrified to see Stonehenge demolished to make way for mining, ActionAid believes they should be even more troubled by Vedanta's plans to flatten the heart of the Kondh's culture, the land they also rely on for their future," said Meredith Alexander.

Sitaram Kulisika, a Kondh tribal who was flown over from Orissa, said: "Last year Vedanta directors promised not to mine without our consent. I am here to request all shareholders to honour that promise and save our livelihood and our god."

Protesters are trying to persuade British shareholders, including the Church of England and several county councils (local authorities), to pressurise Vedanta into abandoning its Nyamgiri plans.

In 2007, the Norwegian Ministry of Finance excluded Vedanta from further investments of the Norwegian government's pension fund after its Council on Ethics warned of "an unacceptable risk of contributing to severe environmental damages and serious or systematic violations of human rights by continuing to invest in the company."

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Tribal party shutdown has partial impact in West Bengal

KOLKATA - Train services were disrupted and road blockades were put up as the Jharkhand Disum Party (JDP) Monday called a 12-hour shutdown in West Bengal, but the closure had partial impact in three districts.

The shutdown called in protest against the joint operation by security forces in West Midnapore and Purulia districts saw markets and shops closed in tribal areas like Bundwan and Baghmundi of Purulia, and parts of Burdwan and Hooghly districts.
“There was a limited impact of the shutdown in Hooghly and Burdwan. There were road and rail blockades for some time in the morning. But we had problems at Gurap in Hooghly where the road blockade continued for long,” Inspector General of Police (Law and order) Raj Kanojia told IANS.
Around 50 shutdown supporters were arrested from the affected areas for obstructing road and rail traffic, he said.
An Eastern Railway statement said train services on Howrah-Barddhaman chord line, Bandel-Burdwan main line and Seoraphulli-Tarakeswar sections of the Howrah division were disrupted since 5.55 a.m. due to obstructions at a number of stations by the JDP supporters.
Both up and down Santiniketan Express and down Rampurhat-Howrah Viswabharati Fast Passenger were cancelled due to the obstructions.
Twelve express trains were also detained at various stations for some time as the agitators squatted on railway tracks, the statement added.
The state government had launched a massive security operation by deploying central paramilitary troopers and state armed policemen to flush out Maoist extremists from West Midnapore’s Lalgarh region last month after the ultras virtually established a free zone there.
But after more than five weeks of action, the security forces have failed to nab any top Maoist leaders, while the ultras killed several activists of the state’s ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) and also abducted and later released a police officer.
The Maoists have been active in areas under 21 police stations of the state’s three western districts - West Midnapore, Bankura and Purulia.

READ MORE - Tribal party shutdown has partial impact in West Bengal

Adivasi: A Contentious Term to denote Tribes as Indigenous Peoples of India

by J.J. Roy Burman

In India the term ‘Adivasi’ has gained immense popularity in the last few decades to identify the tribes. This term is more commonly brought to use by the NGO circles and activists of the ‘mainstream’ or ‘mainland’ India. The term has also gained currency amongst the tribes mainly belonging to central India. In Kerala too the tribes of late prefer to be identified as ‘Adivasi’. In Hindi the term ‘Adivasi’ means original settlers.
The term Adivasi is not portrayed just for literary reasons. It has a political underpinning. It has often been used to convey the position of exclusion of the tribes (Kumar: 2001: 4052-4054) and their subaltern status (Ekka: 2000-2001: 4610-4612) The term Adivasi has been even used to focus the tribal rights (Dietrich: 2000), their resistance (Pati: 2001), protests (Viswanath: 1997), assertions (Hardiman: 1988, Rahul: 1998), struggles (Raman: 2002) and movements. (Bijoy and Raman: 2003) The term in a way conveys a sense of ‘empowerment’ of the tribes. This empowerment is being asserted by linking with the global indigenous people’s movement.
Bijoy (2003) writes:
The 67.7 million people belonging to ‘Scheduled Tribe’ in India are generally considered to be ‘Adivasi’, literally meaning ‘Indigenous People’ or original inhabitants, though the term ‘Scheduled Tribe’ (ST) is not coterminous with the term ‘Adivasi’. Scheduled Tribe is an administrative term used for the purpose of ‘administering’ certain specific constitutional privileges, protection and benefits for specific section of peoples historically considered disadvantaged and ‘backward’. However, this administrative term does not exactly match all the peoples called ‘Adivasi’. Out of the 5653 distinct communities in India, 635 are considered to be ‘tribes’ or ‘Adivasis’. In comparison, one finds that estimated number of STs varies from 250 to 593.
It must, however, be stated that the Indian Constitution does not use the term ‘Adivasi’ and instead refers to the STs as ‘Anusuchit Jana Jati’. Traditionally ‘Jana’ was the more popular term to refer to the tribes in the Hindi heartland. (Ray: 1972)
One of the prime factors for claiming aboriginal or indigenous status for the tribes is to enable them to gain territorial, land rights and control over natural resources. There are, however, vicious forces in the country who are overtly active in not conceding these rights. The Hindutva forces term the tribes as ‘Vanvasi’. This term not only conveys a sense of primitiveness but also tries to deny the territorial rights. The Gandhians too were not very far from it and they considered the tribes more from a culturological position and referred to them as ‘Vanyajati’.
It is disconcerting that most of the anthropologists and sociologists have either remained indifferent to such developments or have passively supported the ‘Adivasi’ terminology and thus jeopardised the legitimate rights and interests of the tribes dwelling in the regions beyond the Hindi heartland. At the outset it needs to be realised that a nation-state like India is not a cultural but political entity which was borne due to a quirk of history. Imposing Hindi as a national and official State language over all the regions is not a very civilised act—it smacks of North Indian chauvinism. Secondly, it is also not true that the tribes in all quarters of the country are aboriginals of the regions where they inhabit at present. While the famous historian Kosambi (1956) viewed that the tribes had migrated to the plain areas at a much later date only after the vegetation had thinned out and wild animals became less numerous—making the area less dangerous for human habitation and fit for settled cultivation, Archana Prasad (2003), the young scholar from Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi, feels that the tribes practising settled cultivation in the plains were pushed to the hills and forests by the profligate Aryan invaders and later Hindu settled cultivators and the outside traders. Either way the tribes are not autochthons of the spaces occupied by them at present. In 1980s Andre Betteille` had similarly expressed about the inapplicability of the concept of aborigine to the tribesmen in India. (Personal communication)
The autochthon status of the tribes in their present habitats in different parts of the country can be easily contested. The Kukis in Manipur or the Luseis of Mizoram have migrated to their present areas of dominance from South China and Chin Hills only a couple of centuries back. The Kukis were settled by the British in the Naga predominant areas so as to create a buffer between the Nagas and the Vaishnavite Meiteis. The Sailo chiefs belonging to the Lusei tribe were encouraged by the British to operate as labour contractors for constructing roads in the remote areas of Mizoram. The aboriginal tribes of the State who were pushed to the western borders along Tripura are now known as Tuikuk. In Tripura the tribal king had as a policy invited many Reangs and Chakmas to settle in the State so as to augment the production of cotton through jhum cultivation and ensure forward linkage to the cotton mills. Even the Bodos, believed to be a secondary formation, had migrated in waves from the Bhutan hills to settle in their present domains in Assam. The Toto tribe of Totopara on the borders of North Bengal and Bhutan is too a secondary formation as it evolved as a constellation out of a number of migrant criminal clans who were pushed out by the Bhutan kingdom. The matrilineal Khasis of Meghalaya who belong to the Mon-Khmer linguistic group are believed to have migrated from the Kampuchea region. The Denzong Bhutias, the royal Sikkimese tribe, too on record have migrated from Tibet, in the historical past. The Santhals of Rajmahal Hills or Santhal Parganas in Jharkhand had similarly migrated from the plains of Birbhum and Midnapur, West Bengal, in historical times.
Thirdly, it is important to note that the tribes in India are not the only group to claim indigenous status. Even many of the Dalit intellectuals have made similar assertions. (Massey: 1994) Next, the Government of India itself refuses to grant indigenous status to the tribes. One of the important reasons for this is that a few Brahmin and Rajput communities like the Jaunsari in Uttarakhand or the Kanaura in Himachal Pradesh have been enlisted as Scheduled Tribe. More importantly, the term ‘Adivasi’ is popularly used in North Bengal, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Tripura to refer to the tea plantation labourers—the tribes like Santhal, Munda, Oraon and Ho who had migrated to the region during the British colonial period. The local tribes in these States find it humiliating to identify themselves as ‘Adivasi’. The indigenous Rabha, Mech and Rajbansi tribes/ethnic groups in North Bengal prefer to identify themselves by their own names and not as ‘Adivasi’. The Sikkimese tribesmen too identify the migrant plantation labourers from Chotanagpur as ‘Adivasi’ and not by their specific tribal names. The Santhal, Oraon, Munda and Ho migrant tribes in the Sunderbans of West Bengal, working as agricultural labourers or cultivating small farms, are collectively referred to as ‘Adivasi’ by the local Bengali settlers, a majority of whom are Scheduled Castes. The term ‘Adivasi’ therefore, remains a generic name in East and North-East India for identifying the migrant tribal labourers and small peasants from central India.
¨
In most places in North Bengal and North-East India, the adivasis are considered to be encroachers or intruders. During the Naxalite uprisal at Naxalbari in the late 1960s the Rajbansis en-block resisted the onslaught of the adivasi landgrabbers. Ethnic clashes between the indigenous Bodos and adivasi encroachers in the Bodoland Territorial Council areas are endemic. In one such clash a few years back hundreds of Santhals were killed by the Bodo militants. The Bodo Territorial Council (BTC) is contemplating to move the Supreme Court against the recommendations of the 2006 Tribes and Forest Dwellers Act, which stipulates regularising lands encroached in government forests prior to December 13, 2005. Almost 40 per cent of the forests in the Bodo areas have been encroached upon and majority of the encroachers is outside migrants (many of them are adivasis). The interests of the Bodos and adivasis do not match at all and the former had infact, opposed the formation of autonomus Bodo Territorial Council. They had even led several rallies in Guwahati, the State capital of Assam.
The tribes of Arunachal Pradesh are extremely peeved by the presence of Chakma refugees who claim an indigenous status in the international forums. The tribal students of the state led a protracted movement against the Chakmas. The All Assam Tribal Sangha (AATS) comprising of various tribal organisations, including Bodo, Karbi, Dimasa and Tiwa student organisations are opposing the Adivasi demand for ST status, alleging if granted, it would affect the interests of tribals of Assam. According to AATS, the Adivasis did not fulfill the requisite criteria of their inclusion in the ST list as they are not originally from Assam. (Internet: Indopia)
It needs to be reiterated that it would be a gross mistake to consider the term ‘Adivasi’ to be equivalent to the term ‘Tribe’ in India. This could only reinforce the anti-Indian feelings among many of the tribes inhabiting, North Bengal, Sikkim and other North-Eastern States. The term will be considered pejorative and humiliating to most of them. It must be realised that the term tribe itself is a colonial construct and ‘aboriginal’ ‘autochthon’ percepts are outcome of colonial conquests. The so-called ‘friends of tribes’ in India have been amateurishly trying to romanticise the term in the name of radical empowerment. The tribal situation in India is extremely heterogeneous and a unified approach may not do justice to all the communities. It must also be understood that the definition of ‘Indigenous Peoples’ as projected by the UN Working Group for Indigenous Peoples has an European bias as it states,
Indigenous peoples and nations are those which, having a historical continuity with their pre-invasion and pre-colonial societies that developed on their territories, consider themselves distinct from other sectors of societies, now prevailing in those territories or parts of them. They form at present non-dominant sectors of society and are determined to preserve, develop and transmit to future generation their ancestral territories and their ethnic identity as the basis of their continuous existence as peoples in accordance with their own cultural patterns, social institutions and legal system.
The tribes residing in territories not externally colonised are not deemed to be indigenous as a consequence. This leaves out the scope of around 120 tribal communities in Europe from being declared as indigenous peoples (Griggs: 1993). Their rights of self-determination too are denied as a result. The Basques of Spain and Portugal, Skanians in Sweden, Cornish, Welsh and Shetlanders in the UK are consequently denied of several rights and privileges enjoyed by indigenous people in other parts of the world. It is similarly feared that the use of the term ‘Adivasi’ in an unqualified manner may fail to ensure legitimate rights of many of the authentic indigenous tribes/ peoples in India. In the name of ‘Adivasi’ pressures are put on the Indian government by the western sources to ensure all types of rights for them. In India some of the tribal NGOs linked to Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Delhi which have intimate links with the European Indigenous People’s Movement groups are mainly responsible for trying to popularise the ‘Adivasi’ concept in the last few decades. They too are trying prop up the ‘Adivasi’ movements in North-East India. In many areas this is leading to serious ethnic conflicts with the indigenous tribes.
Kar and Sharma (1990) have elaborated the imminent dangers of this:
Most local tribes are opposed to the adivasis being included in the list of Scheduled Tribe. They are estimated to be around 20 per cent of the Assam population, that is, more than 40 lakhs, while the Bodos are a little over 27 lakhs. The total number of tribes in the northeast being a little over 80 lakhs, if the adivasis are included in the schedule, the number of tribals in the northeast will rise by 50 per cent and they would be a third of the total. Many tribal groups are afraid that it will lead to competition for the few jobs available and for the depleted natural resources. As a result, most tribal of the region oppose their inclusion. Moreover, the adivasis are considered outsiders since they were brought by the British from Jharkhand as plantation labourers. The British appropriated the land of the local populations through unjust means. Since the adivasis worked on this land as indentured labour, the resentment of the local people at losing their land to the colonialist (partners) is not surprising.
To conclude, the term ‘indigenous peoples’ itself appears to be contentious in the Indian context as there are many claimants to it; these include the Dalits (claiming their Dravidian antecedence), the Vaishnavite Meiteis of Manipur and the caste Hindus of Assam. It will perhaps be always better to avoid using the popular NGO nomenclature ‘Advisai’ in the tenors of serious academic discourse when dealing with the notion of indigenous groups in the Indian context. n
References
Bijoy, C.R. and Raman, K.R., 2003, “The Real Story: Adivasi Movements to Recover Land” in EPW, Vol. 38, No. 20 (May 17-23).
Bijoy, C.R., 2003, “The Adivasis of India A History of Discrimination, Conflict and Resistance” in PUCL Bulletin, February.
Dietrich, G., 2000, “Dams and People: Adivasi Land Rights” in EPW, Vol. 35 No. 38 (September 16-22).
Ekka, A., 2000-01, “Jharkhand Tribals: Are They Really a Minority?” in EPW, Vol. 35. No. 52/53 (December 30, 2000-January 5, 2001).
Griggs, R.R.A., 1993, Role of World Nations; Washington: Centre for World Indigenous Peoples.
Hardiman, D., 1987, The Coming of the Devi: Adivasi Assertion in Western India; Delhi: OUP.
Kar, R.K. and Sharma, K.L., 1990, “Ethnic Identity of Tea Labour: A Case Study in Assam” in D. Pakem (ed.) Nationality, Ethnicity and Cultural Identity in North-East India; New Delhi: Omsons.
Kosambi, D.D., 1956, An Introduction to the Study of Indian History, Bombay: Popular Prakashan.
Kumar, S., 2001, “Adivsias of South Orissa: Enduring Poverty” in EPW, Vol. 36, No. 43 (October 27-November 2).
Massey, J., 1994, “Indigenous People: Dalits: Dalit Issues in Today’s Theological Debate”.
Pati, B., 2001, “Identity, Hegemony, Resistance: Conversions in Orissa” in EPW, Vol. 36, No. 44 (November 3-9).
Prasad, A., 2003, Against Ecological Romanticism: Verier Elwin and The Making of an Anti-Modern Tribal Identity, New Delhi: Three Essays Collective.
Rahul, 1998, “Bhil Women of Nimad: Growing Assertion” in EPW, Vol. 33, No. 9 (February 28-March 6).
Raman, K.R., 2002, “Breaking New Ground: Adivasi Land Struggle in Kerala” in EPW, Vol. 37, No. 10 (March 9-15).
Ray, N., 1972, “Introductory Address” in K.S. Singh (ed.) Tribal Situation in India; Shimla: IIAS.
Viswanath, C.K., 1997, “Adivasis: Protesting Land Alienation” in EPW, Vol. 32, No. 32 (August 9-15).
The author belongs to the Faculty of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai.

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Tribal Hindus' Sacred Land Threatened by Mining Operation - And the Church of England?

Photo via Saving Iceland
The Church of England has an impressively progressive environmental policy. But it also owns a sizable stake in a company that's about to start mining the land out from under tribal Hindus in the Orissa region of India. The proposed bauxite mining set to take place there threatens to cause mass deforestation, cripple populations of endangered species, and displace the local people. Now, Hindu leaders and activists are calling on the Church of England to walk the talk.
From One India News:

[Rajan] Zed, who is president of Universal Society of Hinduism, stressed that Church of England should practice what it preached. Its Environmental Policy stated: “The whole creation belongs to God. As human beings we are part of the whole and have a responsibility to love and care for what God has entrusted to us as temporary tenants of the planet. We are called to conserve its complex and fragile ecology, while recognising the need for responsible and sustainable development and the pursuit of social justice.”

A fair enough request. But what's the Church of England got to do with a bauxite mining operation in India anyhow? Well, it appears the Church has a couple million dollars invested in Vedanta, the mining company in question. And as we all know, it's hard to conserve our beloved earth's "complex and fragile" ecology whilst we mine the crap out of it. According to the BBC, "The Kondh tribe says the opening of the bauxite mine will destroy a large part of the Niyamgiri Mountain in the eastern Indian state of Orissa." And thus,

Zed also asked the Church Investors Group to investigate whether Church of England’s investment in this concerned multinational mining company (headquartered in London) met the “ethical principles and moral stance” set-up by CIG. The Church of England has reportedly about 4.1 million dollars stake in this mining company.

The environment's not the only thing at stake, either--the site where the mining is proposed is considered sacred by the tribal people who live there. The people stress they live traditional, sustainable lifestyles that would be disrupted if the mining were to commence. They've joined the calls of environmentalists, who've called for

a halt in this project, arguing that the area is ecologically sensitive and mining would result in displacement, deforestation, affecting water sources, wildlife and ecosystems destruction, water pollution, complicity in human rights violations, etc

Environmental activists, Bianca Jagger among them, are also appealing to the Church to help stop the mine from opening. Vedanta maintains that the mine is "socially and environmentally" sound.

READ MORE - Tribal Hindus' Sacred Land Threatened by Mining Operation - And the Church of England?

How Tribes Measure Their Own Strength

Near Camp Joyce, Konar province. Photo by Andrew Lubin.

In the videos (and posts) on this site, we’ve talked about the characteristics of tribes and the tribal mindset. Among these are respect for elders, hostility to outsiders, the obligation of revenge, a code of honor rather than a system of laws, hospitality, capacity to endure hardship and the suppression of women. These qualities appear to be universal, or nearly so, across all continents during all periods of history. They seem to hold true for Native Americans, Africans and Amazonians, ancient Celts and Gauls, Scottish highlanders and the savage tribes that fought Alexander, Cyrus and Xenophon.
Today I’d like to address another aspect of the tribal mind: how it measures power. 

Men with guns

How do tribes assess their own strength? Studies seem to indicate that it’s not by wealth or property (including number of wives or livestock) or even by possession of land (which is often held communally or semi-communally.) The measure seems to be the number of armed men that can be put into the field. The more of these a leader can call upon, the more powerful he is.

From Special Forces Maj. (then-Capt.) Jim Gant’s OPSUM [Operation Summary] of a 2003 shura with tribal elder Noorafzhal in Mangwal, Konar province, Afghanistan:

After the meeting was adjourned, [Noorafzhal] asked to speak with me privately.  So my terp [interpreter] and I went out back with him.  He took my hand in his.  “I want you to know, Commander Jim, that you have my loyalty.  If you need men with guns you come see me.”  He promised 800.

A July 22, 2009 article by Alex Rodriguez in the L.A. Times assessed the power of Baitullah Mehsud, the Taliban chief in South Waziristan:

Analysts say he has about 20,000 militants at his command, a much larger contingent that the 4,000 fighters believed to be loyal to the Swat Taliban leader Maulana Qazi Fazlullah.

Critics may of course protest that the Taliban are not a tribe. I would argue that they’re a super-tribe.  (See tribal characteristics in paragraph one above.) In any event, the natural measure of their power seems to be not wealth or property, but men with guns.

Men with guns compared to what?

Here’s where it gets interesting. Tribes measure their strength not in isolation but versus their most immediate and proximate rivals. The Blackfeet of the 1870s judged their mojo in comparison to the Sioux, and the Comanche rated their power vis-a-vis the Apache.

From an e-mail from Col. C.M. “Chipper” Lewis, Commander of the 174th Infantry Brigade:

I would add that the tribal system has a key vulnerability that can be exploited. Tribes first look at their power and influence relative to other competing tribes. I saw this when I was negotiating with the Jennabi and Zobay tribes in Baghdad. Both groups of Sheiks told me in separate discussions … that the key to turning them away from AQ [al-Qaeda] was that they were losing too many men and had lost much influence and capability relative to other tribes.

 How our men with guns can influence theirs

 Col. Lewis’ method was to “get kinetic” on them.

The bottom line was that the coin of the realm for [the tribes] was the number of males in the tribes they could count on.  Once we attrited that … relative to other competing tribes they quit and came to us.

In other words, one tribe could be played off against another. If the relative strength of Tribe X could be lowered enough so that they feared becoming vulnerable to rival Tribe Y, Tribe X became more likely to ally itself with Tribe Z–i.e., us. Theoretically, this could also work by augmenting the power of Tribe X, thus making Tribe Y feel more vulnerable and more disposed to turn.

[The tribes] didn’t give a shit what anybody else was doing except watching and gauging the relative power of others in their own area of interest.  [But if you're going to turn them], you gotta do it one tribe at a time.  If you’re trying to influence or to attrit all of them simultaneously, they gain or lose power simultaneously and they fight on playing both sides of the fence.  Take ‘em on one at a time and we could probably stack them up like cord wood and every subsequent tribe that turns will turn faster and with less casualties because they see what is happening around them.

Would this work in Afghanistan? Col. Lewis is dubious, because of Afghan and U.S. politics. Leaving that thorny issue aside for the moment, the point I would stress is the same one that this blog has put forward from its inception:

Work with the tribal mind, not against it

The tribal mind thinks tribally. It considers and weighs options from a completely different point of view than the western “national” mind. This can be leveraged to our advantage (and ultimately to that of the tribes, despite themselves) if we make the effort to understand the mechanism–and pick the right place to set the crowbar.

READ MORE - How Tribes Measure Their Own Strength

TANTYA MAMA A MUCH REVERED TRIBAL HERO OF THE BHILS

Tantya Mama, Tantia Bhil or Tantya as he is called in the Oral Tradition of the Bhils, is a great unknown saint of the Bhils or the ancient indigenous peoples of India Tantia Bhil was a selfless leader, Indigenous hero and dauntles freedom fighter of the national rank who fought against the British Powers, in his own way organising the local armies of the Bhils, This great hero today who deserves to be nationally honoured by placing this honourable leader's life size portrait, in the Central Hall of the Indian National Parliament. Tantia hails from the illiterate Bhil society of Nimar. Some centuries back the whole region of Malwa, Nimar, Khandesh, Nagar, Gujarat was densely populated by great Bhils who had encounters with Marathas, Britishe peoples and others They were local powers, hence proved to be imminent threatsor threats to the emerging powers as in many walks being seen even today and hence as a consequence in the past centuries, suffered suppressions alll through in the history. A fact visible even today in the different Bhil regions even in the working of the NGOS But Tanya Bhil and his patriotic Bhil companions, over looking over looking his own resources and the histoical enemity with the rest of the castes and folks in the nation, saw the foreign enemy as a threat to the country and battled fearlessly all through his shorlt lived life. Even though he was illiterate but whad great vision and daring.

Madhya Pradesh Government has rightly recognised his worth and brought out much literature both on audio-video and in print as well. Many schoars have paid attention to this forgotten but significant personality of the indigenous people in the nationa, as a national hero. Today a lots of literature is availabe on Tantia Bhil in Hindi, English, Marathi and Gujarati including in the oral tradition of the Bhils. And much more is in preparation. A good feature film in Hini, English, Marathi, and Gujarati awaits to inspire and awaken, affirm and encourage, also associate with the patriotic values found in the indignous populations of India for the youth of today Tantia Bhil needs to be introduced as a National and indigenous hero in the school and college text books. His spirituality to be introduced to the nation which exceeds even many of the political leaders and even christian missionaries of today in tribal region espcially in the Bhil regions. What has been done for Tantya Mama or Tantya Bhil today is only a drop in the ocean and not enough for honouring Tantya the Great Bhil and recognising indigenous peoples of India namely SC, ST & OBC and in particular context the Bhils. Important roads, building, markets, valleys, schools, colleges, research institutes, games awards, tribal olympics, copetitions, must be named instituted and initiated in justice and equality to perpetuate the rightful memory of Tanya Bhil including his his self sacrificing cmpanions. He was the father of the indigenous peoples as a whole. And much more remains to be done locally for Tantia Bhil and other Bhil or Indigenous heroes from Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.This fact also equally applies to the other tribal or the indignous peoples heroes in India who are unjustly ignored by the other peoples in the indigneous peoples area. A great injustice is being done this way to the lacking social, cultural and psychological affirmation. Only this way we can restore the dignity to the indignous peoples and harm done tothem in the past. This will pave way to restore partially the cultural and historical rights of the Bhils, SC, ST & OBC. Also this will be perfect model of the national integration of the indignenous communities in India. Will the present national political parties give hid to the human, social and cultural rights of the indignous peoples of India in this way......?

READ MORE - TANTYA MAMA A MUCH REVERED TRIBAL HERO OF THE BHILS

Probe demanded in sale of tribal land in Orissa

Bhubaneswar, Jul 27 A Congress MLA today demanded a probe into the purchase of tribal land in Orissa's Jharsguda district, claiming that middlemen continue to grab such land in a fraudulent manner despite laws to protect the tribals from exploitation.

The party's senior tribal member Dambaru Ullaka speaking on an adjournment motion in the Assembly said 10 acre of tribal land was bought in name of a tribal in Jharsuguda district where a big aluminium project was coming up.

The tribal who purchased the land did not have the capacity to pay the above Rs 2.64 crore price, he alleged and demanded a probe into the deal.

The MLA said he suspected "people from the aluminium company" to be behind the deal.

"Middlemen under protection of politicians and industries were grabbing tribal land," he alleged. "Orissa's growth is tribals' miseries.

READ MORE - Probe demanded in sale of tribal land in Orissa

Bandh cripples life in tribal belt

Purulia (WB), July 27 : A 12-hour Bengal bandh called by the Jharkhand Disom Party (JDP) to protest the operation by security forces today crippled life in many areas of the tribal belt in Purulia district and some parts of the adjoining Hooghly and Burdwan districts.

Security forces after their operation against Maoists in West Midnapore district had launched a similar drive in neighbouring Purulia district from Saturday.

In Burdwan district, JDP supporters forced shop-owners at Raina Bazar, 30 km from Burdwan town, to down shutters in protest against alleged harassment of tribals by security forces during their operation against Maoists.

Police claimed a young shop owner collapsed and died of a cardiac arrest when he saw the agitators approaching his shop.

A total bandh was observed in the tribal-inhabited areas of Bandwan and Baghmundi in Purulia district, where markets were closed and vehicles stayed off the roads.

READ MORE - Bandh cripples life in tribal belt

Tribals block highway in Darjeeling against Gorkha agitation

Sukna (Darjeeling), July 27 : Tribals blocked a highway here on Saturday to protest against the frequent strikes called by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM), an organisation demanding a separate state called Gorkhaland.


Activists of Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikas Parishad (ABAVP - a tribal group), imposed a daylong road blockade as soon as the GJM suspended the road blockade in their strongholds uphill for 12 hours in their ongoing agitation for Gorkhaland.

The tribals said the GJM agitation disrupted normal life in the Terai region and demanded arrest of the culprits, allegedly belonging to GJM, who killed one of the tribal supporters.

"We want immediate arrest of culprits belonging to GJM who killed our supporter recently. Also we are very much bothered about the frequent strikes called by the GJM. They can carry out their strike in Darjeeling, Kurseong and Kalimpong in any way they like. But in Terai they cannot do anything. This should be immediately stopped," said Rajesh Toppo, Secretary, ABAVP.

Earlier, the GJM, called a halt to project work of the National Hydroelectric power Corporation (NHPC) at Kalijhora.

The GJM says that the closure of the project is part of their movement and a way to put pressure on the Central Government, which they allege, does not pay heed to their demands.

The tripartite talks involving the West Bengal Government and the GJM is scheduled to be held in New Delhi on August 11.

Earlier, the Centre had proposed to hold the talks on August 24, but the GJM wanted it to be preponed.

The last tripartite meeting between the three sides took place on December 29 last year where it was decided to take forward the talks after the Lok Sabha polls.

READ MORE - Tribals block highway in Darjeeling against Gorkha agitation

Supreme Court partly upholds tribal law

Says the 1999 Actis more beneficial than the 1975 law 1975 Act continues to be applicable to non-farm land

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New Delhi: The Supreme Court, while partly upholding the Kerala Restriction on Transfer by and Restoration of Lands to the Scheduled Tribes Act, 1999, has said the legislation is more beneficial to the tribal people than the 1975 law that was repealed.

A Bench of Justice S.B. Sinha and Justice Mukundakam Sharma partly allowed the appeals filed by the Kerala government against a judgment of the Kerala High Court dated August 24, 2000, to the extent that the 1999 Act repealed the 1975 law relating to agriculture land. However, the Bench held that the State admittedly had no legislative competence to enact legislation in relation to non-agriculture land. While enacting the 1999 Act, the State could not have disadvantaged the persons who held non-agriculture land, having enacted the 1975 Act, and thus could not have repealed a portion thereof. “We, therefore, are of the opinion that to that extent the 1975 Act would continue to be applied.”
Writing the judgment, Justice Sinha said: “The 1999 Act, if given a holistic view, is more beneficial to the members of the Scheduled Tribes than the 1975 Act. If the State contemplated a legislative policy for grant of more benefits to a vast section of people, taking care of not only restoration of land but also those who have not transferred any land at all or otherwise landless, the statute by no stretch of imagination can be treated to be an arbitrary and an unreasonable one.”
“Furthermore, we have noticed that the members of the Scheduled Tribes are educated and we can safely presume that most of them are serving various institutions. We are satisfied that the Legislature of Kerala kept in view the necessity of protecting the interest of the small landholders who were in possession and enjoyment of property which had belonged to the tribal community and at the same time ensured that the tribal people are not thrown out of their land and rendered homeless.”
The Bench said: “Keeping in view the promises made by the 1999 Act, it is obligatory on the part of the State to provide the land meant for the members of the Scheduled Tribes. If they do not have sufficient land, they may have to take recourse to the acquisition proceedings, but we are clear that the State will fulfil its legislative promise failing which the persons aggrieved will be entitled to take recourse to such remedies which are available to them in law.”

READ MORE - Supreme Court partly upholds tribal law

Closure threat by tribal body

Siliguri, July 26 : The Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikas Parishad today told the state government to restore transport movement in the Terai by Monday or else, face blockades and closure of offices and educational institutions in Siliguri.

“Ever since the morcha launched its indefinite strike in the three hill subdivisions of Darjeeling district on July 13, the residents living just outside Siliguri have been facing problems. Schools are open in Dagapur, Salbari Panchanoi, Belgachi, Hanskowa and tea estates of Naxalbari. But thousands of children have to walk around six-eight kilometres everyday to attend classes as no vehicle is plying in these areas,” said Rajesh Toppo, the working secretary of the Parishad at Dagapur near here.

Places like Dagapur and Naxalbari are not in the three subdivisions of Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong where the indefinite strike is being enforced.

But roads leading to the hills from Siliguri pass through these areas and the Morcha is halting traffic, people living there, too, bear the brunt of the bandh.

“We will submit a memorandum addressed to the Siliguri subdivisional officer through the inspector-in-charge of Pradhannagar police station this evening, offering two days (Saturday and Sunday) to regularise the traffic on NH55 and state highways which pass through the Terai. Otherwise, we will walk up to Siliguri on Monday and close down educational institutions and cripple traffic across the town. Our people can no longer face the inconveniences caused by the Morcha strike. The administration should initiate steps to bring normalcy, instead of sitting idle and allowing the Morcha a free hand,” said the Parishad leader.

Another Parishad leader, Samuel Bag, was also present at the news conference.

“The Morcha supporters are using vehicles with party flags perched on them to reach markets. Common people like us, on the other hand, have to walk miles to buy essential items. We carry grocery items and vegetables either on bicycles or heads. Why should we live through such troubles when we live in the Siliguri subdivision where the Morcha is not enforcing the bandh? It is high time that the government acted to resolve the problem,” said Bag.

The Parishad also demanded “appropriate administrative steps” to ensure that there were no law and order problems when the Morcha launches hunger strikes at Metelli, Birpara and Kalchini in the Dooars tomorrow.

READ MORE - Closure threat by tribal body

Dalits blame NCP worker in Rs-10 cr scam

New Delhi: Subhash Pawar is Grade 4 employee with monthly salary of Rs 1,800, living in a slum in Maharashtra’s Nasik town.

He is accused of loaning Rs 11.5 lakh from a bank and not paying back.

The bank that gave the loan has now served a notice to Subhash, threatening him with legal action if he doesn’t return the money. Subhash claims he never took the loan.

"We are just asked to sign up some papers. We didnt know anything till this notice was served,” he claims.

He is not the only one who finds himself in this peculiar position. CNN-IBN has details of nearly 100 workers from Nasik, all Dalits, all class 4 employees, all facing accusations of not returning their loans, totalling up to Rs 10 crore.

They accuse Ram Rao Patil, a former NCP youth wing vice president, who hired them on contract as sweepers.

Patil is alleged to have taken signatures from these workers on blank sheets and then getting a loan to the tune of Rs 10 crore in their name from a Navi Mumbai-based bank.

The SC/ST commission has even filed a case under Dalit Atrocities Act against Patil last week. But he is still absconding.

"We have been assured by the CM that he will be arrested within 48 hours,” says the trade union secretary.

With Assembly elections around the corner and Dalit interests at stake, the case has already assumed political overtones. The BJP is accusing the NCP of promoting corruption.

"It just shows what NCP has been doing all along here,” said BJP’s spokesperson Prakash Jawadekar.

"I am appealing to the accused to surrender himself before the law enforcement agencies,” said NCP MP Supriya Sule.

For the NCP, this incident could turn out to be a huge embarrassment. With a poor show in the Lok Sabha elections and an upbeat Congress in the state, the party could do better than charges of discrimination against Dalits.

READ MORE - Dalits blame NCP worker in Rs-10 cr scam

SBI aid for tribals, SHGs

MALLARPUR, 24 JULY: The State Bank of India (SBI) has taken an initiative to improve the livelihood of tribal people and people belonging to self help groups (SHG) in Birbhum district.
A team of SBI officials, led by its deputy general manager (DGM) Mr Ashis Roy, visited a tribal village - Meteldanga under Mayureswar I block area - on Thursday. The team members have decided to provide loans with a minimum interest rate for the economic development of the tribal villagers.
“As per our social developmental scheme Apna Gaon, we have chosen this tribal village and will work for the economic uplift of its people. Today we have distributed school uniforms to the students of Meteldanga with the assistance of a local NGO Nai Subha," said Mr Ashis Roy, DGM, SBI.
Apart from the tribal welfare programme, the SBI authorities distributed loans to 30 SHGs who are working to develop house construction and handicrafts manufacturing with minimum interest rate and instalments.
“We planned to start manufacturing different jute and cotton-made goods but a lack of funds had led to the delay. Now we will soon be able to start our factory thanks to the SBI's financial assistance,” said Mrs Falguni Chakraborty, team leader of Mayer Ashirbad SHG.
The bank authority has selected Mallarpur based NGO Nai Subha. It has been monitoring 300 SHGs under NABARD (National Bank for Agricultural and Rural Development) in Mallarpur area to assist the groups and improve their performance.
“We have decided to open a handicraft stall where the women belonging to different groups can sell their products easily. We have plans to make the products available in markets throughout the entire state,” said Mrs Soma Pathak, president, Nai Subha.
The SBI officials are committed to standing beside women fighting to improve their economic conditions in the rural areas of Birbhum. The bank authorities have decided to select two more tribal villages to assist, and will be making efforts to improve their livelihood soon.
In a programme at Mallarpur on Thursday the SBI authorities adopted three poor students. The students' education expenses would be completely provided for by the bank.

READ MORE - SBI aid for tribals, SHGs

Is BJP serious about welfare of Dalits?

NEW DELHI, 20 JULY: Is BJP really serious about the welfare of Dalits? Going by the response of its leadership in the two-day meeting of the national executive of its Scheduled Caste Front which ended here today, it seemed otherwise.
While on the opening day, the Leader of the Opposition, Mr LK Advani, spoke of the party’s dismal performance in the recent Lok Sabha polls while barely touching on the issue of the welfare of Dalits, the party President, Mr Rajnath Singh, did not even put in an appearance though listed to deliver the concluding remarks. He preferred to attend programmes in his Lok Sabha constituency, Ghaziabad.
Ironically, the Congress sought to put up a conciliatory tone towards the Dalits in the wake of the attack on its Uttar Pradesh state unit president Miss Rita Bahuguna Joshi and the state government taking her into custody on alleged remarks by her against chief minister Miss Mayawati.
Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha ~ Mr Arun Jailtey refrained from focussing on issues pertaining to Dalits considering the party had been an ally of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in UP at one time.
Another noticeable absence was that of RSS leaders which was lamented by BJP leader Mr Kailash Meghwal who felt that apprising the RSS leadership of the plight of the Dalits would have helped them.
“The practice of human scavenging has still not been removed. Even when we were in power for six years we could not do anything,” Mr Meghwal said in his address.
Secretary (Organisation) Ramlal, however, made some practical suggestions in the meet.
Using Right to Information Act to ask state governments about steps taken by them for Dalit welfare was one of them. He said BJP does not believe in using Dalits as mere votebanks.

READ MORE - Is BJP serious about welfare of Dalits?

Tribes India showroom inaugurated at Dilli Haat

The Chief Minister of Delhi Smt. Sheila Dixit and the Union Minister of Tribal Affairs Shri Kanti Lal Bhuria inaugurated the TRIBES INDIA showroom at ‘Dilli Haat’ here this evening.

This is the 26th Showroom opened by the Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India Ltd. (TRIFED), an apex body of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs. As a part of its marketing development initiative, TRIFED with the financial assistance being provided by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs is in the process of establishing a network of retail outlets across the country to market tribal products.

Speaking on the occasion, the Tribal Affairs Minister said that TRIFED has been organising tribal craft expo called “Aadishilp” at Dilli Haat for last four years, in which a large number of tribal artisans from various parts of the country participate and show-case a wide range of their rich and ethnic art and craft items and also their cultural heritage. These events has received a tremendous encouraging response from the citizens of the National Capital, he said. He also thanked the Chief Minister of Delhi for providing space at Dilli Haat for opening this Showroom.

Shri Bhuria also informed that TRIFED has been organizing exhibitions and Mega Events in Delhi and other major cities. TRIFED has so far organized four National Tribal Craft Expo, known as AADISHILP at Delhi since 2006, in which over 450 tribal artisans across the country have participated and displayed their products.

Responding to Shri Bhuria, the Chief Minister of Delhi, Smt. Sheila Dixit said that TRIFED is welcome to open a similar Tribal India Showroom at Pitampura ‘Dilli Haat’ in the Northern part of the Capital. She said that another Haat is proposed to be opened in East Delhi very soon and TRIFED can plan to open a showroom there also.

TRIFED is implementing projects related to improving skill and knowledge of tribals in scientific non-destruction election, processing, storage of MFPs to enable them to collect more quantities and better quality so that their income increases on sustainable basis. Similarly, TRIFED organize training programme for tribal artisans on skill up-gradation and design development.

The main objective of the TRIFED is to provide marketing support and create opportunities for marketing of tribal products to ensure that craft persons from tribal communities are able to fetch a fair and remunerative price for their products.

TRIFED has already established a network of 25 own outlets besides tie up with 12 State Governments’ Emporia throughout the country.

READ MORE - Tribes India showroom inaugurated at Dilli Haat

'Tribals protest rape cover-up'

MALDA: Hundreds of tribals launched an agitation at Salbona village in Malda on Thursday to demand the arrest of CPM leaders who had allegedly
gone to the village on Wednesday to settle an issue of rape. The leaders were thrashed by villagers and tied to a tree.

Before that, the CPM leaders had allegedly convinced the rape victim to withdraw the complaint against the culprits.

Among the leaders who were roughed up were Habibpur panchayat samiti sabhapati Dhiren Muriai, CPM zonal committee secretary Sunil Burman, and former CPM zonal secretary Santi Oraon. Police later rescued them. The father of the rape victim had alleged that the leaders were pressuring them to withdraw the complaint.

It all started on June 16, when a 12-year-old girl of the village had been allegedly raped by four youths. A student of Class VI, the girl stays at a hostel for tribal girls at Eklakhi. She was at home during her vacation. On that afternoon, she had been to a neighbouring village, Tajpur, to attend a marriage ceremony. She was picked up from there by the miscreants and raped. Villagers found her lying unconscious on a field and took her to a hospital.

Next day, the victim's mother, along with some neighbours, went to Habibpur police station to lodge a complaint against four miscreants, who allegedly had a CPM connection.

But IC Avijit Saha allegedly asked them to settle the case mutually. After two days, the victim's father was allegedly called to the police station. There, two local middlemen, Madias Mardi and Sambhu Burman, allegedly tried to convince him to withdraw the allegation, which he didn't agree. He was also asked to give his thumb impression on a piece of paper. "I was said that after this signature, the case would start," said the father of the girl. However, the paper actually said that he was withdrawing the complaint.

After the girl was released from hospital and returned home, the angry villagers hit the streets. The agitators alleged that the IC refused to take the complaint and allowed the accused to go scot-free.

Finally, a police force was sent to the spot to assure the mob that the culprits would be arrested within 24 hours. Accordingly, one person was arrested the next day. But on Wednesday, three CPM leaders allegedly visited the village on Wednesday and offered the girl's father Rs 1 lakh to withdraw the complaint, but were reportedly turned down.

CPM district secretary Jiban Maitra, however, said, "It is a planned attack on our leaders. They went there to review panchayat samiti works." He also demanded the arrest of those who attacked the leaders.

READ MORE - 'Tribals protest rape cover-up'

Nabard takes up cudgels for tribals

For A better life

Ranchi, July 16: The poor tribals of Gumla, Singhbhum and Godda can now hope for a better life.

The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) has decided to start development projects in chosen villages in these districts to provide financial support to tribals.

The projects will be implemented under the wadi programme introduced by a Pune-based NGO, BAIF Development Research Foundation, in Gujarat. Under this programme, tribals of Gujarat were taught to undertake orchard plantation and effectively market their produce.

Tribal-dominated areas of Jharkhand lack common infrastructure facilities such as road, education and safe drinking water facilities. As a result, development has taken a backseat at these places.

Speaking to The Telegraph, K.C. Shashidhar, the chief general manager of Nabard, said: “We will identify 1,000 tribal families that are extremely poor and will provide them livelihood support. Some NGOs will be roped in for implementing the projects. We are in the process of talks with three to four NGOs. A final decision will be taken soon.”

As in Gujarat, the tribals here will be encouraged to take up orchid plantation besides being imparted lessons on soil conservation and water resource management. This apart, sustainable agriculture and community development will also be undertaken. Nabard has created a tribal development fund to ensure smooth implementation of the programme.

Shashidhar said that for this project, preference would be given to villages or blocks that have 50 per cent of tribal population and farmers belong to Scheduled Caste and owning not more than 5 acres of land.

“After identification of 1,000 tribal families, we will start water shed programmes in support with the NGOs. Besides, village planning committees will be formed to link them with financial institutions,” he added.

Shashidhar pointed out that they were encouraging the tribal families of Bedo and Lapung to grow mangoes and cashew nuts. “The model will be later replicated across the state,” he said.

READ MORE - Nabard takes up cudgels for tribals

Working of National Minorities Development and Finance Corporation

Lok Sabha

The details of total credit provided in the country, as well as in the North-Eastern States, by National Minorities Development and Finance Corporation (NMDFC) during the last three years are given below:

(Amount in crore rupees)

Year                  Total                         North-Eastern States

2006-07             112.75                          8.25

2007-08             144.12                          12.82

2008-09             130.72                          8.52

            NMDFC had got an evaluation done of its schemes financed during the period 1.4.2001 to 31.3.2006. The sample for the study, consisting of ten states in the country, covered the state of Nagaland in the North East. The evaluation has revealed that in Nagaland 99.30% of the sample of beneficiaries crossed double the poverty line. 

              NMDFC finances schemes mainly through State Channelising Agencies (SCAs) and the rest through non-governmental organizations (NGOs). In the North-East, NMDFC schemes are being implemented through SCAs in Assam, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura. The SCAs in Manipur, Meghalaya and Sikkim are not operational. No SCA has been nominated by the State Govt. of Arunachal Pradesh. NMDFC has been making efforts to implement its micro-credit programme through NGOs in these States.

            This information was given today by Shri Salman Khurshid, Minister for Minority Affairs, in the Lok Sabha in a written reply. 

READ MORE - Working of National Minorities Development and Finance Corporation

Meeting PM a dream come true, says Orissa tribal girl

New Delhi, July 16 For 16-year-old Orissa girl Sanyukta Pangi, who represented India in the Junior 8 (J8) summit parallel to the G8-G5 summit in Italy, the highlight of her trip was a meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
“Meeting our prime minister is like a dream come true. It is the high point of my life so far,” said an elated Pangi on her return to New Delhi from Rome.
“I felt proud to meet him and share my feelings about education, water and other problems that we tribal girls face,” said Pangi, who is from Karanjaguda village in Koraput district of Orissa.
An initiative of the Unicef, J8 was a meeting of 52 youngsters from G8 countries and non-G8 nations like India, Brazil and Mexico.
“I told prime minister that teachers in the government schools are not as good as in the private schools. Other facilities too are bad in comparison to private schools. We need quality education,” Pangi told IANS on her interaction with Manmohan Singh.
“I also told him about the problem of transportation in our district. We walk to our school. I urged him to provide special transport vehicles to students in hilly and tribal areas like mine,” said Pangi.
“He was very happy to see me there. When I told him that I am a tribal girl from Koraput district, he patted my back.”
“He said that he is aware about the teachers’ problem in the government schools and will try to solve it. He (Manmohan Singh) said ‘I will do something for this’,” Pangi said.
“He also encouraged me to study more,” said the Class 12 student, who wants to become a civil servant.
Pangi said she told the prime minister about the water scarcity in her district.
“I told him how girls and women have to walk a long distance to fetch water.”
There were two other participants from India - Narendra Kumar from Uttar Pradesh and Samuel Venkatesh from Tamil Nadu - who went to the summit in Rome.
But only Pangi met the prime minister.
“We went to Rome and were happy that we managed to discuss a lot on education. Though we don’t know much English, all the students from countries like Canada, Brazil were very cooperative,” Kumar said.
Venkatesh said his visit to Rome has helped him understand the issues facing our society.
“Now I want to do something which will benefit many people. Quality education is the key to our growth and we talked about it at the summit,” he said.

READ MORE - Meeting PM a dream come true, says Orissa tribal girl

Tribals on fast-unto-death Dimasas demand protection

Tribals on fast-unto-death

Silchar July 16 : Fifteen Dimasa tribal refugees, under the aegis of the Marxist Cachar Krishak Mahasamiti, began a fast-unto-death at their makeshift camps in Kumacherra today seeking installation of an army camp there to thwart Naga militant attacks. The general secretary of the samiti’s Cachar unit, Sripati Dhar, said the Dimasa volunteers had no alternative but to organise the fast-unto-death in their makeshift camps in Kumacherra, about 55km from here. According to Dhar, they are long-time residents of Kalinagar village in Lakhipur subdivision of Cachar along the boundary the district shares with NC Hills. They were driven out of their homes at the height of the ethnic conflict and insurgency of DHD (J) and the armed Naga militants in the district this April. “Time and again the armed NSCN (I-M) rebels demanded cash. They also harassed the peace-loving Dimasas there by demanding food during their periodic stay in the houses of the Dimasas,” Biresh Barman, 40, the leader of a 200-strong group of Dimasa villagers, said. Fed up with extortion notes, they finally moved to Kumacherra in early April, abandoning their homes in Kalinagar. They have built up their dwellings using only bamboos and thatch. Their desertion came amid insurgent attacks and ethnic clashes between the Dimasas and the Zeme Nagas, leading to killings and torching of houses. Birendra Barman, another Dimasa refugee in Cachar, said they sometimes went to the farms they had abandoned in Kalinagar as cultivation was their only source of income. But the fear of the Nagas, he said, still loomed large, prompting them to demand army pickets near their houses in Kumacherra in the foothills of the Borail range. Sources in Lakhipur subdivision administration confirmed that they had received the Dimasa refugees’ petition. They said the administration was in touch with the army and security forces for setting up one of their camps at Kumacherra, where the Naga insurgents shot dead four Bengalis three years ago. According to an army officer, the contingents of the 72 Field Regiment sometimes carry out patrolling in the Kumacherra area to instil confidence in the villagers. He, however, ruled out posting an army picket there because of accommodation and logistic constraints.

READ MORE - Tribals on fast-unto-death Dimasas demand protection

'For us, Ambedkar is father of the nation'

Pronoti Datta

In India there are probably as many holy cows as there are gods in the Hindu pantheon. Say a critical word against them and you're likely to be besieged by protesting hordes. At the top the totem pole are the Prophet, Shivaji, Bal Thackeray and B R Ambedkar. Given his famous aversion to hero worship, the Dalit leader would have gagged at being so memorialised. One wonders what his reaction would be if he toured Uttar Pradesh where statues of Mayawati's holy trinity-Kanshi Ram, Ambedkar and herself-grace public parks or took a stroll through Mumbai, which is scattered with statues and busts of him.

Ambedkar was well aware of the dangers of idolatry. In 1949, he warned the Constituent Assembly that hero worship is a straight path to decline and ultimately to dictatorship. But his cautionary advice seems to have been cast to the winds. Politicians erecting shrines of personal political heroes in every park and chowk is widely censured. However, in the case of Ambedkar, most academics and scholars of caste defend the desire of the ordinary Dalit to idolise him.

According to writer-professor Kancha Ilaiah, the Ambedkar statue is the only way for illiterate Dalits to know the statesman. "Their father of the nation is Ambedkar,'' he said. For Dalits, that one of their own acquired a foreign education and later became one of the architects of the Constitution was simply fantastic. "To create a statue was a claim that he could be counted among leaders such as Nehru and Gandhi,'' observed Gyan Prakash, who teaches history at Princeton University.

Ilaiah, who teaches politics at Osmania University, went so far as to reason that if statues of Rajiv Gandhi have been erected across the country at the expense of the state, how can one blame Mayawati for spending over Rs 2000 crores on commemorating Dalit icons?

For sociologist Meera Kosambi, statuary is a colonial inheritance that serves little purpose. However she said, "If statues are to be erected, then (Ambedkar) is to, my mind, somebody really worth commemorating.'' Kosambi pointed out that the desire to honour Ambedkar must be understood in the context of his "contribution to the mobilisation of Dalits and giving them a pride in themselves''. It's difficult for members of upper castes to fathom this level of devotion as they have never faced the sort of degradation Dalits have, she said.

The depth of emotion invested in Ambedkar memorials explains the history of violence attached to them. Residents of Ghatkopar's Ramabai Nagar rioted in 1997 when they found that a statue of Ambedkar had been garlanded with slippers. In 2006, angry mobs burnt the Deccan Queen when an Ambedkar monument was desecrated in Kanpur. Only last week, a couple were in danger of being mobbed when they, allegedly, damaged a photograph of Ambedkar in Buddha Vihar, a Buddhist trust in Thane. While Kosambi asserted that she doesn't condone violence, she said that one can almost see Dalit retaliation as a sign of self-asssertion. "They retaliate because of the confidence Ambedkar has given them,'' she explained. "They were expected to be sub-human. Now they are as human as everybody else.''

Ambedkar's messianic aura began to take shape during his lifetime itself. S Anand, who runs Navayana, a publishing house that specialises in caste-related literature, said that the statesman was embarrassed when his fiftieth anniversary was marked by celebrations that lasted nine days in Mumbai in 1942. Yet, one can't expect Dalits to be faithful to Ambedkar's wishes of not building a cult around him. "One should understand why there's such love,'' Anand pointed out. "If you deny people material opportunities, they will start clinging to icons.''

Perhaps the obsession with stone comes from the fact that India is a highly religious society which worships idols and gurus. According to Ilaiah, the Hindu practice of idol worship has rubbed off on Dalits. Anand prefers to view Ambedkar worship as "not an expression of religiosity'' but as "secularisation of the public sphere. I would any day prefer Dalits idolising Ambedkar than ending up queuing to have darshan of Hindu gods like Tirupati Balaji-icons that hold the Dalits in undisguised contempt. Mayawati erecting statues for herself is, of course, another matter.''

READ MORE - 'For us, Ambedkar is father of the nation'