Tribals must be open to modern thinking
I was in Kohima a few months back and spoke to a number of youth there. Most of them want jobs in metro cities like Delhi, Mumbai or Bangalore. Earlier in the year, I was in Agra. Most of the hotel staff where I was staying were young women from the North-eastern States. A visit to areas like Shanti Niketan or Sunder Nagar in the Capital will give you an idea where the youth from these areas is headed after giving their Class XII exam. Most head for the US or the UK for their graduation.
The history of the communities who migrate has more to reveal. The Jews the world over are considered most affluent and successful in any field they work in. As we all know, people from this community are found all over the world. Parsis came to India during 8th-10th centuries. They came from Persia (present day Iran). Parsis are one of the most affluent and successful communities in India today.
From the Marwar region, the Marwaris moved all over the country. They are perhaps one of the greatest achievers in our country. Indians who crossed borders from the Pakistan (Sindh and Punjab) are also one of the most successful people in the country.
The Center for the Advanced Study of India (CASI), University of Pennsylvania, conducted a study on 20,000 Dalit households in Uttar Pradesh. The findings of the study show the Dalit families that have at least one family member working in the city is much better off than those who stayed back. Studies all over the world show that migration is one of the greatest paths to progress. Studies also show that within the developed world, migration within the country is higher than migration by people in developing nations.
Ask all those people, non-tribals, who profess to be championing cause of the tribals and the most common slogan that one gets to hear is — jal, jamin and jangal (water, land and forest).
For the tribals, the forest produce, minerals and land falling in the area where they live belongs to them and therefore, the State must pay royalty to them if the Government wants natural resources. On the face of it, the demand appears to be reasonable. But if we continue with the argument on the same lines, it is bound to hurt the feelings of many. This is because the argument explodes against the tribals when it is suggested that they will have to live in their homeland and with their own system of governance. If the tribals were to continue on this path, it will block their progress. Moreso, when their culture teaches them to block everything that is modern.
People who have forgotten their own culture and send their children to English medium schools and to universities abroad want the tribals to live in forests. At the same time, any development in the tribal area is considered anti-tribal.
But were not all the communities in the world once tribals or lived as nomadsIJ Didn’t all the communities live in forests once upon a timeIJ Didn’t all the community speak their own dialects onceIJ Didn’t all the communities have their dress code once upon a timeIJ Didn’t all the communities have their own musical instruments once upon a timeIJ Didn’t all the communities survive by hunting once upon a timeIJ
If that’s the trajectory of all the civilisations that are considered advanced today, then why can’t the trajectory of tribals in India be differentIJ In many discussions, among those who consider that everything westerner is good, it is asked why should the State decide what is good for the tribals. They see all Governmental intervention as interference from outside.
My question to the people who speak on behalf of the tribals is — what makes them representatives of the tribals considering that they are non-tribals themselvesIJ What right do these people have to take up the cause of the tribals when there is not even a single tribal in their group.
India is passing through a very critical phase. It has changed a lot. Social characteristics of legislative bodies and bureaucracy have changed as well. Although changes are taking place in tribal areas, these are very slow. People who are fighting for the betterment of the tribals need to take up issues and work out strategies that help and benefit the tribals the most. One of the biggest reasons for the backwardness of the tribals in our country is very slow or minimal level of migrations to cities. Well-wishers must tell the tribals that in order to progress and to earn good money they should migrate to industrial cities if they have to taste fruits of modernity and development.
All those who have been working in the tribal areas are their worst adversaries. By painting a wrong picture of what modernity is all about, the well-wishers are scaring the tribals from walking the path of progress. The cruelty to tribals must end and State should start playing a bigger role in their welfare.