As Adivasis ignored, rage is brewing
7 years, 3 months ago

As Adivasis ignored, rage is brewing

Deccan Chronicle  

The Adivasi homelands are restive. Tribal people account for 8.2 per cent of India’s population. The other two major groups are the Caucasoid tribes who migrated into northwestern India, and the Sino-Tibetan or Mongoloid tribal people of the Himalayan and northeastern regions who migrated more recently. Central India is home to the country’s largest Adivasi tribes, and, taken as a whole, roughly 75 per cent of the India’s tribal population lives here. Incidentally, the official Indian poverty line is nothing more than a starvation line, which means that almost half of India’s original inhabitants go to bed every night starving.

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History of this topic

Telangana: Adivasis Protest for Action on Pending Tribal Welfare Issues
2 months, 1 week ago

Telangana: Adivasis Protest for Action on Pending Tribal Welfare Issues

Deccan Chronicle  

Hyderabad:Adivasis held a dharna seeking ROFR documents and sought a road map for the same as promised by the government. Addressing the dharna near Indira Park here, Telangana Tribal Sangham state president Midiam Babu Rao, former Bhadrachalam MP, said, “Gutti koya tribals in Mulugu and Bhadradri Kothagudem districts are not getting caste certificates and are thus not able to avail …

The original people
4 months, 2 weeks ago

The original people

Times of India  

The indigenous, often courted for votes in India, want both inclusion & autonomy Jharkhand, where the first-phase polling happens today, has seen fierce competition for tribal votes. Parties have variously invoked tribal rights to jal, jangal and zameen, a distinct religious and cultural identity under the Sarna code, or their fear of being engulfed by ‘outsiders’. In India, indigenous people …

Rahul Gandhi accuses BJP of making Adivasis homeless as yatra enters Maharashtra
1 year ago

Rahul Gandhi accuses BJP of making Adivasis homeless as yatra enters Maharashtra

The Hindu  

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday accused the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party of taking away “jal, jungle, and jamin” from tribals and transferring them to two corporate entities, making the Adivasis homeless. “Our party’s government would carry out a caste census and an economic and financial survey, and also strengthen the Forest Rights Act that was ‘weakened’ under the BJP …

Mohan Guruswamy | Adivasis, the first Indians, cheated by Constitution?
1 year, 7 months ago

Mohan Guruswamy | Adivasis, the first Indians, cheated by Constitution?

Deccan Chronicle  

Tribal people, who account for 8.6 per cent of India’s population, about 110 million people, can be broadly classified into three groupings. Late Prof. Nihar Ranjan Ray, one of our most distinguished historians, described the Central Indian Adivasis as “the original autochthonous people of India”, meaning that their presence in India pre-dated by far the Dravidians, the Aryans and whoever …

Gujarat Assembly elections | ‘Adivasi’ or ‘Vanvasi’? Row over title puts tribes in political spotlight
2 years, 4 months ago

Gujarat Assembly elections | ‘Adivasi’ or ‘Vanvasi’? Row over title puts tribes in political spotlight

The Hindu  

Words are politically weighted, and an example of that is playing out between the BJP and the Congress’ war over just how to refer to India’s tribal communities, as “Adivasi” according to the Congress or “Vanvasi” as per the Sangh Parivar. Mr. Gandhi also said that the Sangh Parivar’s terming of tribal communities as “Vanvasis” was to confine the identity …

Playing out live, a narrative of discrimination
4 years, 10 months ago

Playing out live, a narrative of discrimination

The Hindu  

The tragedy of Jamlo Makdam, 12, a migrant Adivasi girl who died of hunger and dehydration just a few kilometres away from her village in Chhattisgarh, while walking back from Telangana, symbolises what Adivasi communities are facing during this period of the national lockdown. Adivasi migration is mainly for seasonal agricultural and construction work, work in brick kilns or as …

Having an ear to Adivasi ground
5 years ago

Having an ear to Adivasi ground

The Hindu  

In November 2018, the Adivasis of Jhargram, West Bengal, were overtaken by an event while preparing for the Bandhna festival; seven adults of the KhariaSavar community died within a span of just two weeks. The rich moral, cultural and social values, and linguistic and other practice-acquired developments that the Adivasis have been nurturing throughout history could have added immensely toward …

Adivasis and the Indian State: Tribals' philosophy of collectivism is humanity's best chance to end cycle of exploitation
5 years, 6 months ago

Adivasis and the Indian State: Tribals' philosophy of collectivism is humanity's best chance to end cycle of exploitation

Firstpost  

It is the Adivasi philosophy of collectivism, being one with the nature and all its elements, which will ultimately end the cycle of exploitation Editor’s Note: In this eighteen-part series, we will attempt to address the tropes associated with the communities in question from an Adivasi perspective while also exploring the contemporary relationship of Adivasi citizens with the Indian government. …

Adivasis and the Indian State: Abysmal wages, ineffective labour unions leave tribal tea garden workers high and dry
5 years, 6 months ago

Adivasis and the Indian State: Abysmal wages, ineffective labour unions leave tribal tea garden workers high and dry

Firstpost  

It has been 71 years since Independence. Workers on tea plantations have to contend with woefully low wages, inadequate implementation of the Plantation Labour Act, gross violation of the Provident Fund Act and an overall lack of agency in their work. Neglect of Plantation Labour Act, 1951 The wages of the tea garden workers in West Bengal are presently lower …

Adivasis and the Indian State: From Lohra tribals to Rautias, in Jharkhand, vulnerable groups bear burden of identity
5 years, 7 months ago

Adivasis and the Indian State: From Lohra tribals to Rautias, in Jharkhand, vulnerable groups bear burden of identity

Firstpost  

During one Census, the administration erroneously entered Lohra, as Lohar in the records, and in the process stripped the community of its Adivasi identity, and along with reservations on jobs, education and several other social welfare benefits Editor’s Note: In this eighteen-part series, we will attempt to address the tropes associated with the communities in question from an Adivasi perspective …

Adivasis and the Indian State: Stereotyped as 'primitive' and 'savage', tribal communities fight for right to choose social, cultural, land-owning systems
5 years, 7 months ago

Adivasis and the Indian State: Stereotyped as 'primitive' and 'savage', tribal communities fight for right to choose social, cultural, land-owning systems

Firstpost  

Adivasis or indigenous people are the descendants of those who inhabited the region since before the time when people of different cultures and geographical regions arrived. Colonial rule in India produced several policies and legislations aiming to “civilise” the “savage and uncivilised” Adivasi communities; in effect invalidating our knowledge systems, our way of life, and our existence. Under the garb …

How democracy has failed India’s adivasis
5 years, 10 months ago

How democracy has failed India’s adivasis

Firstpost  

The process of injustice that began with the imperial forest department intensified under our forest departments. It did not come as a surprise to me when in 1990s an adivasi resident of Madhya Pradesh’s Betul district told me, “We are called aadhabaasi because we are aadha vasi, which means half humans and you people are pura vasi, complete humans.” The …

How one woman’s mission to help indigenous Indians backfired into post-empire soul-searching
5 years, 11 months ago

How one woman’s mission to help indigenous Indians backfired into post-empire soul-searching

The Independent  

I came to India, seduced by the vivid, parched, colours, the thick hot air, the cows chewing cud in the street. Moved by the Adivasis’ plight, I began to direct an exciting art project that would open the Adivasis’ culture and build an awareness of their ancient traditions and self-resilience. open image in gallery Villagers washing clothes – no one …

India’s forest dwellers plan protests against mass eviction order
6 years, 1 month ago

India’s forest dwellers plan protests against mass eviction order

Al Jazeera  

Indigenous groups plan protests against Supreme Court verdict to evict over 1 million tribal people from forestlands. New Delhi, India – India‘s top court’s order to evict more than a million forest dwellers has sparked anger among activists, with tribal groups calling for mass protests against the verdict. The top court’s order came in response to a petition against the …

In Jharkhand, a tribal assertion met with fierce police crackdown
6 years, 6 months ago

In Jharkhand, a tribal assertion met with fierce police crackdown

Al Jazeera  

Authorities say they are legally acquiring land to be used for ‘development’ projects, but villagers tell another story. {articleGUID} But he said police had filed several criminal cases against the farmers because they were “not allowing the administration’s movement in the area”. The officials told us they were acquiring land for a 'Knowledge City'., but now they have stated that …

Adivasi unrest: What is to be done?
7 years, 3 months ago

Adivasi unrest: What is to be done?

Deccan Chronicle  

There is a huge groundswell of unrest sweeping the adivasi areas of Central India. The Fifth Schedule provides protection to the adivasi people living in the scheduled areas from alienation of their lands and natural resources to non-tribals. The Fifth Schedule covers tribal areas in nine states of India — namely Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, …

Gondwana: The homeland of Adivasis
7 years, 3 months ago

Gondwana: The homeland of Adivasis

Deccan Chronicle  

The scion of the former Gond kings of Chandagarh or Chandrapur, now in Maharashtra, Birshah Atram, was recently visiting the Gond homelands in the former composite Adilabad district to meet his kinsmen in the various garhis in the region. He believes that the Centre needs to implement the constitutional provisions and promises made in the Constituent Assembly by recognising the …

Rampant coal mining: One in six of 87,000 Indians displaced is Adivasi, Amnesty says
8 years, 8 months ago

Rampant coal mining: One in six of 87,000 Indians displaced is Adivasi, Amnesty says

Firstpost  

Laws to protect vulnerable communities such as indigenous groups are poorly implemented and regularly flouted India’s drive to ramp up coal output to meet growing energy needs has resulted in members of the Adivasi tribe being displaced from their ancestral lands and forced to wait years to be resettled, Amnesty International said on Wednesday. One in six of the 87,000 …

Victims of development
12 years, 2 months ago

Victims of development

The Hindu  

Infused by his activist, non-neutral perspective, Kela narrates the historical roots of the Adivasis predicament today. A number of relevant aspects are described: the political and economic differences amongst various subdivisions of the Bhils inhabiting different parts of the central Indian hills and valleys; the long history of conscious autonomy and relative independence from surrounding peasant societies and kingdoms in …

'Policymakers should ensure tribals get benefits of resources'
12 years, 4 months ago

'Policymakers should ensure tribals get benefits of resources'

India TV News  

New Delhi, Nov 28: Union Minister Paban Singh Ghatowar today stressed on the need to ensure that tribals get due benefits of natural resources as they are preservers of these assets. “Tribals are the preservers of natural resources and policymakers should make sure that they receive the benefits of these resources.We cannot neglect tribals in our growth policy,” the Minister …

‘Adivasis most civilised people’
12 years, 6 months ago

‘Adivasis most civilised people’

The Hindu  

Renowned writer and social activist Mahasweta Devi termed Adivasis as “the most civilised people” to whom Indian forests, rivers and mountains owe their survival. Addressing students at the University of Hyderabad here on Monday, she attributed whatever natural balance left to survive in India to the presence of Adivasis. Referring to the Telangana struggle, she said she has always been …

Tribal travails
12 years, 6 months ago

Tribal travails

The Hindu  

A useful analytical framework to study the deprivation and development of Adivasis in the larger Indian context. Despite post-Independence India having aimed at both integrating the tribes into Indian society while also protecting and safeguarding their distinct social and cultural identity, the nature of the development pursued in tribal areas has consisted of expropriating the tribal people of their land, …

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