It is not a good sign that tribal and indigenous people are being displaced in the name of development, Jharkhand Assembly Speaker Shashank Shekhar Bhokta said on Wednesday. Bhokta said this while inaugurating a programme on tribal folk dance on the concluding day of the three-day “Akhra-2013: Tribal India Festival” being hosted by the Central University of Jharkhand at Brambe.
The speaker termed as “noble” the effort of the university saying the festival would certainly work as a defense mechanism at a time when different groups are engaged in quarrelling among themselves. He said the development was needed but the Government should see to it that the interest of the adivasis is not affected.
Vice-chancellor of CUJ Darlando T Khathing said the CUJ was making an effort to showcase the rich culture of the tribal society. The tribal games programme was followed by open air tribal dance show from groups belonging to different parts of the country.
Earlier during the day, the academic seminar on ‘Oral Narratives of the Tribal People in the 21st Century’ continued with its discourses on indigenous people. It was divided into two sessions, first presentation of folklores made by distinguished scholars and second-open discussion by learned tribal scholars and thinkers.
Other notable speaker Biren Ramesh, Chief CSR, Tata Steel articulated on some of the CSR activities carried out by Tata Steel for Tribal Community. Tata Steel has set up Tribal Ethnic Society to preserve ethnicity of indigenous community. Speaking on the theme Mr. Ramesh said that for culture to remain alive it is necessary for language to remain alive. Hence, literature in tribal script remains alive.