Tribal society is waiting for its rights and rejuvenation

🔊 इस खबर को सुनें

Bureau Report

Dr. Randhir Kumar

When the Constitution of the country was made by Baba Saheb Ambedkar and came into existence, the famous tribal leader Jaipal Singh Munda said that “the new Constitution is an opportunity to repay the thousands of years of oppression of the tribals.” Today, as the same opportunity, we can see Mrs. Draupadi Murmu as a symbol in the form of the first tribal President of the country as the Excellency of India. Mrs. Draupadi Murmu being in the highest position of India, seeing herself as the protector of water, forest, land, and the tribal society being deprived of the mainstream even after about 75 years of independence, a ray of hope arose for the tribal society that now the poor, deprived, exploited also have the right to dream and fulfill it.

Today we are celebrating World Tribal Day every year to protect the upliftment, culture and respect of the tribal society. The contribution of Jharkhand’s Bhagwan Birsa Munda in the freedom struggle is not hidden from anyone, how he dedicated himself for the freedom of the nation. But the question arises that whether the government thought with true sincerity for his descendants and the marginalized tribal society today or not?? Has a detailed decision been taken for their upliftment, protection and promotion or not? All these questions are burning
in today’s time because the tribal society is slowly going on the verge of extinction due to many reasons. Due to not being able to pay special attention to their protection and promotion under a policy formulation, many tribal communities like Asur, Sauriya Pahadia, Pahadia Mal, Paharia Korba, Birjia, Birhor Sabar and their language are on the verge of extinction. Not only this, a special tribe of Chhattisgarh “Pando” who are called the adopted sons of the President, but even after 75 years of independence, today they are wandering from door to door for pure water, electricity, housing, education, health and to come into the mainstream of society. In November 2022, when I met the people of the Pando tribe living in a village located in Raigarh, Chhattisgarh, seeing their condition, I felt that the government’s big talks for tribal welfare and protection are absurd and useless. A small village of this community is somehow living in a mud hut, without electricity and water facilities. There is no school to study, nor any medical facility, which was raising a question mark on the big announcements of the government. The land that they have got from the government is today seen being handed over to the middlemen. Seeing this pathetic condition, I wrote a letter to the supreme citizen of the country and apprised him of the whole matter, then the government and the nearby administration woke up and my tearful hopes got some relief and today they got some basic facilities. This is the condition of almost every marginalized primitive tribal community where even today the reach of the government is not at the level it should be. There is a need to find out where are the shortcomings in this?

In the past several years, there have been several news reports such as “Tribal girl Lukhi Murmu died of hunger in Pakur”, “Budhni Soren died of hunger in Giridih district”, “Primitive Birhor of Ramgarh died of hunger”, “Beras Fali Moras of Pindwara, Rajasthan died of hunger”, “Tribal woman Dukhhi Jani died of hunger in Nayagarh, Odisha, Jharkhand”, “Tribal woman had to be carried on a cot in Latehar due to lack of road ambulance; tribal woman died on the way” and many such news, which shake the human sensibility and raise questions on many big promises related to tribal rights.
The widespread assimilation of tribal society with other religions in remote areas of Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and other states is destroying the culture, lifestyle and ideology of the tribals. Today, tribal dress, language, lifestyle are disappearing. The tribal identity which is based on their life philosophy, which connects them with nature, is being marginalized. The faith of tribal people is rooted in nature and culture for thousands of years and they are connected to each other by their hearts. Tribal daughters of states like Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and others are seeing their lives becoming hell by becoming victims of human trafficking due to lack of employment and lack of education. Tribal youth are straying away from the mainstream of society on a large scale. Displacement and migration of tribals is a matter of great concern. In the report titled Report of High Level Committee on Socio Economic, Health and Education Status of Tribal Communities of India, it is mentioned that 25 percent of the tribals of the country face displacement due to development projects at least once in their lifetime. These tribal communities living close to forests and nature are driven away from their places in the name of development. Their land is being taken away forcefully, the honour of their sisters and daughters is being looted. If they protest, they are declared Naxals and killed. This is a big reason why tribals are forced to leave their water, forests and land.
Today, if you stand at the crossroads of any metropolis or look at Ratu Road, Morabadi and other crossroads of Ranchi in the morning, you can see a crowd of laborers in groups, which includes women as well. All of them stand in the hope of getting wages, most of whom are from the tribal community. Their condition is very pathetic, if they do not get wages, then how will they light the stove in their house, this is a matter of thinking?

Today, a large population of the tribal society is fighting to save its existence, away from the mainstream of society. The government needs to form a team and survey the tribal areas at the grassroots level, create harmony and do extensive work with better policies. There is a need to connect the youth, sisters and daughters of the society with better education, health and basic facilities in the tribal areas, connect them with skill courses and connect them with self-employment. Initiatives should be taken to make them economically strong by training them on the latest system in agricultural work. They should be provided all the basic facilities by the government which are very useful for their life. There is a need to pay special attention to all the works being carried out at the grassroots level so that they get relief from problems like hunger, poverty, migration and the promises of the government for the tribal society are fulfilled, only then will the celebration of this Tribal Day be meaningful.

(These are the personal views of the author)

The author is a social worker, educationist and writer.