Tribes, who are commonly known as adivasis or original inhabitants of the soil, are the groups who have been historically deprived of social, political and economic rights. Recently, in Mahidharpur village of Kamakhyanagar tehsil in Dhenkanal district such a case has come to the limelight.
According to the media reports, 26 ST families sought protection against some upper class people who forcibly cut and took away paddy from their farmland. Surprisingly, the upper caste people were not in a way to follow the verdict ofthe Orissa High Court. Earlier, the district administration of Dhenkanal had identified around 16 acres of land and issued Record of Rights in respect of the lands to the 26 ST families in accordance with the HC judgement. When the ST land owners protested against such exploitation of the upper class people, they were attacked and their houses were also set on fire.
It was also alleged that, the local police were reluctant to receive their FIR. Ultimately, the atrocities are not only committed by the upper class people but also by different Government departments.
According to NCRB data 2022, the atrocities and crimes against Scheduled Tribes have increased by 6.4 percent in 2021 with 8,802 cases over 8,272 cases in 2020. Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Odisha, Maharashtra and Telengana share 74.57 percent of the total cases.
Odisha stands at third position with 676 such cases. Similarly, 12,159 cases of atrocities against Schedule Tribe were pending for investigation in 2021 whereas 8,825 cases of atrocities against STs were disposed of by police. The charge sheeting percentage for the atrocities against STs was 81.4 percent for Scheduled Tribes. A total of 2, 42,512 cases of atrocities against STs came for trial in the court. Out of these cases, trials in 1,947 of atrocities against STs were completed. The conviction percentage under the SCs and STs (PoA) Act in conjunction with IPC remained at 28.1 percent for STs. At the end of the year, 95.4 percent of cases of atrocities against STs were pending for trial. The numerical and statistical data are not sufficient to describe the plights of the STs because these issues are multidimensional and there is no proper measuring rod for tribal development.
Developmental projects have brought apathy to the tribal lives in varieties of ways. Many tribal majority areas and States have been experiencing the problem of heavy in-migration of non-tribals which put questions of tribal autonomy and preservation of their indigenousness. The industrial pockets of Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh have suffered the dilution of the tribal share of population. Earlier, in the North-East, the State like Tripura had the tribal share of its population which was halved within a single decade and they became minorities. Now similar pressure has been built up in Arunachal Pradesh. Due to lack of skills and knowledge, tribes are not beneficiaries of developmental projects of their own areas; rather they become migrant casual workers in other States.
Even after the implementation Forest Rights Act, PESA and the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, the problem has not been sorted out. The chilling incident of maiming hand of Dial Majhi for not obeying the dictates of the labour contractor is a burning example of the exploitation of migrant labourers. The lethargic attitude of different departments to keep the records of migrant workers from the supplying States to receiving States has made the issues more sensitive.
Two important issues are responsible for the tribal unrests in different States. Firstly, the control over vital economic resources like land and specially forests and secondly, the issues pertaining to the matters of preservation of the sanctity of ethnic-cultural identities. Mostly two of the issues go together. However, it varies in different tribal societies and there are the chances of divergence. In this juncture, a new development is found which is termed as assertions of tribal identities. A new class has emerged among them who have been handling the issues of culture, tradition, livelihood even the control over land and other resources as well as demand for a share in the benefits of the developmental projects.
The articulations of identities among the tribes have become an integral part of their life. The transitions in both educational and occupational patterns have also been the responsible factors for the development of newclass consciousness among the tribes. Unfortunately, it has not freed them from different ill practices and blind beliefs.
Murder of people, injuring them, forcing them to eat human excreta, parading them naked before public on the suspicion of witch craft even after passing of the Odisha Prevention of Witch Hunting Act of 2013 have been prominent news. These are mostly from tribal pockets where the women were the targeted groups. The attempt to analyse the issues and developing the awareness is very abysmal. The simple argument in this favour is the illiterate are incapable to understand such issues and unable to take precautions against these practices. However, these incidents are not confined to the illiterate only; rather they are common in almost all the tribal societies.
The internal dynamics and external forces need to be understood, analysed and scrutinised to give a proper shape to the tribal development and protection of their rights.
(Email: tripathysk1947@gmail.com; Mob-9778764394)