An important question for the democratic movement is the position of the
tribal people in our society and the problems that they face. According to the
1991 census, 8.08% of the total population in India are tribal and they are
76.8 million (this figure would have gone up in the 2001 census). These
eight crore adivasis consist of some of the most oppressed and exploited
sections of our society. A large number of them are part of the proletariat
working in mines, plantations and as contract labour. They also constitute an
important section of the landless rural poor.
The updated Programme of the CPI(M) talking about the tribal people states:
"The Adivasi and tribal people who constitute seven crores of the
population, are victims of brutal capitalist and semi-feudal exploitation.
Their lands are alienated from them, the right to forests denied and they are a
source of cheap and bonded labour for the contractors and landlords. In
some states there are compact areas inhabited by tribal people who have
their own distinct languages and culture. The tribal people have been roused
to new consciousness to defend their rights for advancement while
preserving their identity and culture. Due to the threat to their identity and
very existence and the callous policies of the bourgeois-landlord rulers,
separatist tendencies have grown among some sections of the tribal people.
Regional autonomy for protecting their rights in the areas which are
contiguous and where they are in a majority is a democratic and just
demand. The capitalist-landlord-contractor nexus constantly seeks to disrupt
their traditional solidarity with some concessions to their leadership, denies
their legitimate rights and suppresses them with brutal force" (Para 5.6)
It is with this perspective that we must look at the tribal question. The main
problems affecting the tribal people are:
1. Land and their alienation from it
2. Forests and their access to it
3. Largescale displacement due to development projects
4. Status of women
5. Social Oppression
6. Lack of Educational Facilities
7. Language and culture
8. Autonomy and Constitutional safeguards
3
The Indian State, since independence, adopted a flawed approach to the
tribal people. The Nehruvian notion being that the tribal people have a
unique culture which should be preserved while bringing about the
economic modernisation of tribal societies. Economy and culture were seen
as two separate and different realms. Therefore, it was not understood that
changes in the material life would necessarily bring about changes in the
cultural life of the tribal people.
From the colonial period, the productive capacities of the tribal economy
were destroyed because of the land and forest policies and their knowledge
base was marginalised and destroyed. Most of the tribal people had thus to
resort to unskilled labour for a livelihood and as they could not survive on
this, they were made dependent on the welfarism of the State. The
industrialisation in the post-independent period has heightened the pattern of
industrial use of national resources of the tribal areas which results in an
unequal exchange between the tribal and other areas.
Since successive governments refused to recognise this process which
began under colonial rule, they concentrated more on welfare measures
rather than on building up constructive and productive economic activity in
the tribal areas. The bourgeois-landlord policies have resulted in a system
where tribal people just provide cheap labour and raw materials to the rest of
society. Deprived of modern education, they are unable to have access to
better jobs as compared with the other sections of society.
The CPI(M) views the development of the tribal people as a process not
separate from, but inter-dependent with that of the non-tribal people. The
productive capacities of the tribal people must be developed and tribal
knowledge and skills must be upgraded in order to enhance their social and
economic status.
1. Land & Their Alienation
Traditionally in tribal society, land was not a commodity for sale. There was
no concept of private property in land in most tribal communities.
The process of separating the tribal people from their land originated in
colonial times and their right to ownership of the forests they lived in was
never recognised. The introduction of the land revenue and money economy
began this process. The first tribal revolts took place against this colonial
exploitation. The first laws to protect the tribal land were passed after this
unrest, such as the Chotanagpur Tenancy Act.
4
However, with capitalist development being stepped up, a continuous
process of land alienation of the tribals has taken place. Laws have been
ineffective. Through legal manipulation and other fraudulent means
largescale transfer of tribal land has taken place to non-tribal people. This is
a problem common to all tribal areas except some states in the North-East.
The laws enacted for protection of the tribal lands in the scheduled areas
under the Fifth schedule of the constitution have not prevented alienation of
tribal lands and largescale transfers. The loopholes in the laws, the
connivance of the bureaucracy and the political authorities have subverted
whatever legal safeguards existing.
Non-tribals are taking over tribal lands through methods such as mortgages,
lease agreements, benami transfers, false title deeds in collusion with
revenue officials, by marriage to tribal women or holding land in the name
of their (bonded) tribal agricultural labourers.
Our basic demand is for restoration of the land so alienated, to the tribal
people. They should have access to credit and technology. Science and
technology should be used to develop a sustainable model of agriculture in
tribal areas.
In this connection also comes the problem of jhum cultivation (slash and
burn) which is undertaken by the tribal people. One quarter of the tribal
people in the country have been doing this form of cultivation. The steps to
shift them away from the jhum cultivation must be done in such a manner as
to help them adjust to settled cultivation or sufficient rehabilitation in other
occupations.
Land Reforms
To meet the demand for land, a central question is to implement land
reforms and ensure the distribution of surplus lands to the landless adivasi
families. In West Bengal under the Left Front government, distribution of
surplus land to the extent of 11 lakh acres had taken place to 25 lakh
families. Of this, nearly 5 lakh families are from the tribal people. In Tripura
too, landless tribal households have benefitted from land reform. Further
7000 acres of land alienated from tribals were restored to them by the Left
Front government. Since then, there has been no alienation of tribal land.
The struggle to restore land alienated from the tribal people by illegal means
must be pursued. The existing laws to protect tribal lands from alienation
5
must be modified to plug loopholes. Firm action should be taken to check
fraudulent means of transferring land with the collusion of the bureaucracy.
While conducting such a struggle both to tighten laws and to ensure their
implications, we should also work out concrete measures to maintain the
unity of the tribal-non-tribal peasants wherever conflicts arise. Small nontribal
peasant settlers on tribal lands should be given equivalent land
elsewhere, or differentiation can be made between the bigger and smaller
land holdings illegally acquired. But the principle that the tribal people must
be restored the lands illegally transferred must be upheld.
2. Forests and their access to it
A big section of the tribal people have been traditionally living in the forests
and their life and work is intimately connected with the forest. The forest
laws have ruptured the organic link between the forest and the life of the
adivasis. One of the tragic aspects of tribal life has been the alienation of the
tribal people from their traditional habitat. Forests no longer belong to them
but to the forest officials and contractors.
The disappearance of the forests and the degeneration of green cover is not
because of the tribal people but because of the rapacious nexus of
contractors-forest officials and ruling class politicians. The plunder of the
forests and the cutting down of trees has been one of the inexorable features
of capitalist development.
The Forest Act and its latest version, the Forest Conservation (Amendment)
Act of 1988 treats the adivasis as interlopers and encroachers in the forests,
rather than as an integral part of the forest environment. The degraded forest
land is also not accessible to the tribal people. The deprivation of access to
the forest and the tyrannical rule of the forest guards-bureaucratic nexus has
led to tribal people not getting nutritious food which is their traditional diet
and the sundering of their traditional way of life with all its social and
cultural consequences.
Restoring the tribals access to forests is an important issue which we must
fight for. Further, the minor forest produce which provide livelihood for the
tribal people must be available for the tribals and they must own it.
Cooperatives for marketing such produce have to be run by the government
in cooperation with the tribals. Steps must be taken to protect the indigenous
tribal knowledge of plants and their uses.
6
3. Largescale displacement due to development projects
According to an estimate, 15% of the tribal population have been displaced
or affected by development projects. The uprooting of the tribal people from
their homes and habitat for building dams and other industrial development
projects has been one of the shocking scandals of post-independent India. It
is a fact that we have not paid sufficient attention to this problem.
Providing monetary compensation has not been of much use. Not only was it
inadequate, but the tribal people given lumpsum amounts of money could
not use it properly. They were left with nothing in a short period of time.
Even to make claims for alternative land they had no records of their
ownership or titles in many cases.
The rehabilitation projects were flawed as the tribal people were put in areas
which had no similarity with the habitat they were used to. They were given
often rocky or barren land. Displacement has meant that the evacuated tribal
people are driven to take up back-breaking jobs as construction labour
working in brick kilns and other forms of labour in the unorganised sector.
Our Party must insist that in every case of displacement which cannot be
avoided for essential development, a full and comprehensive rehabilitation
package must be put in place and implemented before the project actually
begins. The norms for such a package would need not just monetary
compensation but an approach which takes into account all the needs of the
displaced tribal people including their cultural requirements.
4. Status of women
By and large in tribal communities the status of women has been better than
in caste Hindu society. This is reflected in the higher ratio of women to men
in the population. Women in many tribal communities have equal status and
rights in property. Women in many tribal communities are active in
economic and social life. But these positive aspects have also got eroded
with the penetration of bourgeois and semi-feudal values of the dominant
society. The impact of these values and the media is now marked among the
younger generation too.
Dowry instead of bride price and fall in the status of women is a result of
these trends. With the increasing proletarianisation and divorce from their
natural habitat, women are subjected to much more hard work such as
fetching water or collecting firewood from great distances. Adivasi women
7
who go into the forests to gather firewood and forest produce are constantly
subject to sexual harassment by forest guards.
A serious problem faced by tribal women is the sexual exploitation by
contractors, landlords, bureaucrats and those who hold power in mainstream
society. We must be able to address all these issues. We must stand for
preservation and encouragement of equal status of women which exist in
various spheres. We must oppose any retrograde practices against women
which are either traditional, or, which have crept in. Against sexual
exploitation of women also we must be able to build organised resistance.
5. Social Oppression
One of the worst features of socio-economic development under capitalism
in India is the brutal exploitation of the tribal people. The traditional social
forms of tribal life have broken down in the relentless march of capitalism,
the cash nexus and the impact of the policies of bourgeois-landlord State.
The old collective forms of tribal life with egalitarian features has been
smashed by the capitalist and feudal onslaught. With no means of
production, without the social and educational skills to face modern society,
with the uprooting of their tribal social system, the tribal people have been
subjected to ruthless exploitation by landlords, contractors and petty
bureaucrats. In many cases, the adivasis work in serf like conditions. Large
number of adivasis migrate from their homes to other areas and states to eke
out a meagre livelihood. During this seasonal migration, they are bereft of
any protection or benefits of minimum wages and labour laws. Bonded
labour also prevails in many parts involving tribal labour. Protection given
to scheduled castes and scheduled tribes under various laws are generally
unavailable to the tribal people in the remote areas and they have no voice
because they are not organised.
Impact of Liberalisation Policies
In the past one decade, the impact of liberalisation policies has been
particularly severe on the tribal people. Firstly, the curtailment of the public
distribution system and cutting of state of State funds for social sector have
badly hit the tribal people. In the tribal areas in remote hilly and forest
regions, the vulnerability of tribal people to hunger and starvation has
tremendously increased with the collapse of the PDS. Most tribal people
deprived of their traditional means of livelihood, land and forests, were
totally dependent on cheap food through the PDS schemes. Reports of
deaths due to hunger and malnutrition emanate mainly from the tribal areas,
whether it be in Orissa, Maharashtra, Chattisgarh or Rajasthan.
8
Secondly, the deregulation and privatisation of mining and mineral sector is
leading to the corporate sector both Indian and foreign entering this area
which is mainly in the tribal regions. Already in Orissa, Jharkhand and
Chattisgarh, the setting up of new projects to mine bauxite and other
minerals has led to tribal people losing their lands. Their protests are met
with brutal police repression. The trend of displacing the adivasi people for
industrial projects is getting heightened. The State and the bureaucracy is not
willing to adhere to the Samata judgement of the Supreme Court which has
declared that in the scheduled areas (under Fifth Schedule), private
industries or state enterprises cannot be set up without the consent of the
adivasi people and such projects must be undertaken through cooperatives of
tribal people.
Thirdly, the health and educational facilities provided by the State has
deteriorated with the cutbacks in State expenditure and drive for
privatisation. Unlike, other sectors, ordinary tribal people cannot avail of the
more costly private education and medical facilities.
One of the major problems for the tribal people is the exploitation by money
lenders. Once they get into the bondage of usury they are reduced to the
plight of serfs. This bondage is the most degrading aspect of adivasi life
today.
Going against the whole trend of liberalisation we must fight for sufficient
credit to be provided to adivasis through cooperatives and bank loans so that
the scourge of usury can be contained.
The State cannot abandon its responsibility towards development of
infrastructure and fulfilling basic needs such as education and health in the
tribal areas. The State's role is especially important as the tribal areas have
the least number of roads and public transport, higher illiteracy and special
problems of mortality and endemic diseases exist than in other areas.
Thus, the policies pursued by successive bourgeois-landlord governments
and their all-round exploitation has led to a total alienation and a crisis in
their identity. It is this threat to their identity which has a political dimension
and at the root of the demand for a separate set up and protection.
The Communists should be able to see the deeper socio-economic
phenomenon by which these most vulnerable communities are driven to
demand a separate and distinctive position as against the dominant Hinducaste
society.
9
6. Lack of Education Facilities
During British rule there was no systematic plan to provide for education to
the tribal communities except the work undertaken by the Christian
missionary organisations. In independent India, despite various plans for
imparting education, the reality is that the bulk of the adivasi community
except in certain North Eastern states are outside the ambit of the formal
education system. Even today in some areas whatever little educational
facilities exist are provided by Christian organisations. Such neglect of
education has led to the highest percentage of illiterates among the Adivasis
and scheduled tribes.
7. Language and culture
The threat to the identity of the tribal communities has brought the question
of their linguistic and cultural identity to the fore. The bourgeois-landlord
State in India has paid no attention whatsoever to fostering their distinctive
identity, culture and traditions except for bureaucratic exercises in
promoting what is called as tribal folk culture.
There are major languages of the tribal people like Santhali and Bodo. Such
languages must be given proper recognition including listing in the eight
schedule of the Constitution. The Alchiki script is recognised by the West
Bengal government. The Kokborok language is officially recognised by the
Tripura state government. Similarly, efforts by tribal communities to
develop their languages must be supported even when their numbers are
small.
As far as the cultural aspect is concerned, the positive aspects of the
traditional tribal culture particularly their egalitarian and collective ethos
must be protected and encouraged. There are, ofcourse, certain regressive
social practices in some parts which cannot be upheld as protection of tribal
culture. Whether it is witch-hunting, or polygamy or depriving women of
certain rights or superstitious practices and so on -- in all such cases, our
work among the tribal people should inculcate consciousness to fight such
practices from within the community.
8. Autonomy and Constitutional safeguards
The question of protection of identity and the interests of tribal people has
led to various movements in the last two-three decades. This has assumed
the demand for separate states such as Jharkhand or Bodoland. Our Party
10
stand has been that where tribal people live in contiguous areas and
constitute the majority or the substantial section of the population, there
should be regional autonomy provided. The CPI(M) pioneered the
development of the Tripura Tribal Autonomous District Council in this
regard. The present powers given to the autonomous councils under the
Sixth Schedule of the Constitution should be amended so that adequate
powers may be devolved to them for the development of the autonomous
areas. The question of providing for regional autonomy structures has to be
popularised in all areas where found necessary to counter the separatist
demands which break the bonds between the tribal and non-tribal people.
North-Eastern Region
The tribal peoples who inhabit the north-eastern region have a social,
economic and cultural environment distinct from that of the adivasis in the
rest of India. In all the north-eastern hill states (except Tripura and
Manipur), the tribal people are in a majority. In states like Nagaland,
Mizoram and Meghalaya, Christians constitute the dominant population.
Unlike the tribal people in Central India, they are not subject to the ruthless
exploitation of contractors, landlords and capitalists. The problems in the
North-east are different. It is also more complex. There are a large number
of tribal communities with distinct ethnic and social features. In some areas,
there are inter-tribal conflicts. The entire tribal people suffer from the effects
of the bourgeois-landlord rule from Delhi. Some of the common problems
are the policy of neglect, failure to develop the region economically and
insensitivity to the aspirations of the peoples of the region. An entrenched
system has developed whereby a narrow elite section has profitted from the
Central financial assistance and the diversion of development funds. Such a
corrupt ruling class, which is highly opportunist, has been nurtured from
among the tribal people also over the decades.
In this background of discontent and thwarted aspirations, separatist feelings
have grown and strengthened. The efforts to suppress separatism and
insurgencies, devoid of a democratic perspective to effect all-round
development of the region and failure to give due recognition to the
nationality and cultural diversities have led to a situation of stalemate. The
imperialist agencies have been using such a situation to fan separatist
demands and ethnic-based conflicts. The tribal people's problems are
therefore integrally connected with resolving the problems of political
economy of the entire north-east. Only by fashioning of a federal,
decentralised set-up with genuine autonomy for minority groups can the
diverse aspirations connected with identity, language and culture be met.
11
The RSS & Hindutva Gameplan
In the recent years, the RSS has stepped up its work in the tribal areas. It
seeks to counter the influence of the Church and Christian institutions.
Through its front, the Vanavasi Kalyan Parishad, the RSS seeks to
"hinduise" the tribal people who have their own religious beliefs and
practices including native worship and animistic beliefs. The sinister plan is
to inculcate Hindu chauvinist ideas including the caste system. This is
motivated by the aim of putting Christian and non-Christian adivasis against
each other. Such trends have been seen in parts of Orissa, Jharkhand and
other places.
The RSS wants to coopt the adivasis into its brahmanical Hindutva fold. It
refuses to recognise the tribal people as "adivasis" which means original
people and terms them as "vanavasis" which confines the tribal people solely
to the forests. By this, they negate history. Many of the adivasis today are
descendants of those who were driven out of the fertile plains into the hills
and forests by successive wave of settlers centuries ago. But the RSS seeks
to impose the upper-caste Hindi order by relegating tribal people to
"vanavasis".
The nature of institutions run by the RSS outfits poses a serious challenge to
the secular democratic forces. The Party should take steps to work among
the tribal people to counter the RSS influence politically and ideologically.
The CPI(M) has to foster the unity of the tribal and non-tribal people and
counter the divisive forces. In certain areas, particularly in the north-east,
some of the Church groups are fostering separatist tendencies with the
sectarian aim of consolidating their religious influence. This is being used
for divisive purposes and weakens national unity.
Unity of All Toiling Sections
The CPI(M) while taking up the special problems of the tribal people, will
also work for forging bonds of solidarity between the tribal and non-tribal
working people. Within tribal communities also class differentiation is
taking place. The CPI(M) stands firmly for the cause of the toiling tribal
people and establishing their unity with the rural poor of the non-tribal
sections. The exploitation of the tribals by the semi-feudal and bourgeois
classes cannot be fought back successfully without the broad unity of the
oppressed of the tribal and non-tribal sections.
12
Conclusion
For the CPI(M), the tribal question is not just a question of protection of
ethnic identity or defending the rights of a significant minority. It is also a
class question. There are millions of tribal people who are the landless rural
poor, the semi-proletariat or the working class. They constitute an important
part of the proletariat in India. We have to organise them to fight for their
rights as workers, agricultural labour and poor peasants. This can be done
successfully by building the common movement alongwith the working
people of the non-tribal sections. At the same time, we have to emphasise
their special problems of alienation from their land, of their access to forests
and its produce, of ending the brutal exploitation of the bourgeois-landlord
classes and the contractors and protection of their identity, language and
culture.
For this, wherever necessary, we must to set up mass organisations of the
tribal people, a platform which can voice their specific demands and link
them up to the general democratic movement. At the same time, we must
ensure their participation in class and mass movements.
A Tribal People's Charter
The charter of demands for a better life for the tribal people should consist
of the following:
1. Stop alienation of land belonging to the tribal people; plug loopholes in
existing laws and take steps to restore land illegally transferred from
adivasis. Register land records for tribal lands. In scheduled areas under
Fifth Schedule, adhere to the Samata judgement of Supreme Court regarding
use of land for industrial and commercial purposes.
2. Takeover surplus lands above ceiling and distribute them to landless
adivasis along with other landless families. Provide irrigation facilities in
remote tribal areas.
3. Amend the Forest Act in such a manner as to recognise the rights of
adivasi forest dwellers to access and use of forests. People's participation in
forests through community management should be introduced.
4. Forest produce must be accessible to forest dwellers and neighbourhood
adivasi communities. The tyranny of forest guards must end. For marketing
forest produce, cooperative efforts which are not bureaucratically managed
but of the adivasis as producers of forest goods should be set-up.
13
5. No project industrial or developmental can be undertaken where
displacement occurs without a comprehensive and sustainable rehabilitation
package. Such a scheme must be put in place before any displacement or
work on the project begins.
6. Women should have equal rights in land and other communal resources.
Campaign to end practices degrading women's status must be carried out.
The practice of dowry infiltrating tribal society must be countered. Practices
such as witchcraft must be combated.
7. Provision of drinking water in remote hamlets must be a priority for
ending hardships to tribal women in this regard. Sexual harassment by forest
guards of adivasi women who go to forests for gathering produce and
firewood must be strictly punished. Tribal developmental schemes should
pay adequate attention for employment for adivasi women. Protection for
women at work sites from sexual exploitation.
8. Enforce protection against money-lending/usury which exploits adivasis.
Bonded labour and exploitation of adivasi men and women by contravening
all labour laws must be effectively checked. Strict implementation of
atrocities on adivasis under the Prevention of Atrocities on SC & ST Act.
9. The public distribution system should be revamped so that all tribal areas
are covered with fair price shops and cooperatives. Instead of BPL cards, all
tribal areas scheduled and non-scheduled must be covered by a universal
system where all tribal families get foodgrains and other essential
commodities at a subsidised rate.
10. Special composite educational programmes for tribal students should be
promoted by the Central Government and all the state governments.
Arrangements for setting up of schools in the tribal dominated areas with
provision of vocational training and hostel facilities for the tribal youth
should be undertaken.
11. Implementation of reservation of ST quotas in all categories of
employment and education. Curb issuance of bogus ST certificates to nontribals.
Special allocation for public health facilities and setting up of
primary health centres in the remote tribal areas.
12. Tribal languages and scripts should be recognised and developed.
Santhali and Bodo should be included in the eighth schedule of the
Constitution. Oppose moves to eliminate indigenous cultural traditions,
14
which foster collective consciousness and egalitarianism. Campaign against
social evils, which are intensifying among the youth by penetration of
bourgeois values of commercialisation, and degenerate sex and violence
purveyed through the media. Foster cultural expression and creative folk arts
based on the rich cultural forms of tribal communities.
13. Strictly, enforce constitutional safeguards for the scheduled tribes.
Provision of autonomy under the Sixth schedule should be strengthened by
amending the schedule. Extend provisions of Autonomous District Council
to other states where compact, majority tribal areas exist. Under Fifth
schedule, provide for democratic participation in the Tribes Advisory
Council with elected representatives from lower units. Formulate effective
laws to protect tribal rights in scheduled areas.
tribal people in our society and the problems that they face. According to the
1991 census, 8.08% of the total population in India are tribal and they are
76.8 million (this figure would have gone up in the 2001 census). These
eight crore adivasis consist of some of the most oppressed and exploited
sections of our society. A large number of them are part of the proletariat
working in mines, plantations and as contract labour. They also constitute an
important section of the landless rural poor.
The updated Programme of the CPI(M) talking about the tribal people states:
"The Adivasi and tribal people who constitute seven crores of the
population, are victims of brutal capitalist and semi-feudal exploitation.
Their lands are alienated from them, the right to forests denied and they are a
source of cheap and bonded labour for the contractors and landlords. In
some states there are compact areas inhabited by tribal people who have
their own distinct languages and culture. The tribal people have been roused
to new consciousness to defend their rights for advancement while
preserving their identity and culture. Due to the threat to their identity and
very existence and the callous policies of the bourgeois-landlord rulers,
separatist tendencies have grown among some sections of the tribal people.
Regional autonomy for protecting their rights in the areas which are
contiguous and where they are in a majority is a democratic and just
demand. The capitalist-landlord-contractor nexus constantly seeks to disrupt
their traditional solidarity with some concessions to their leadership, denies
their legitimate rights and suppresses them with brutal force" (Para 5.6)
It is with this perspective that we must look at the tribal question. The main
problems affecting the tribal people are:
1. Land and their alienation from it
2. Forests and their access to it
3. Largescale displacement due to development projects
4. Status of women
5. Social Oppression
6. Lack of Educational Facilities
7. Language and culture
8. Autonomy and Constitutional safeguards
3
The Indian State, since independence, adopted a flawed approach to the
tribal people. The Nehruvian notion being that the tribal people have a
unique culture which should be preserved while bringing about the
economic modernisation of tribal societies. Economy and culture were seen
as two separate and different realms. Therefore, it was not understood that
changes in the material life would necessarily bring about changes in the
cultural life of the tribal people.
From the colonial period, the productive capacities of the tribal economy
were destroyed because of the land and forest policies and their knowledge
base was marginalised and destroyed. Most of the tribal people had thus to
resort to unskilled labour for a livelihood and as they could not survive on
this, they were made dependent on the welfarism of the State. The
industrialisation in the post-independent period has heightened the pattern of
industrial use of national resources of the tribal areas which results in an
unequal exchange between the tribal and other areas.
Since successive governments refused to recognise this process which
began under colonial rule, they concentrated more on welfare measures
rather than on building up constructive and productive economic activity in
the tribal areas. The bourgeois-landlord policies have resulted in a system
where tribal people just provide cheap labour and raw materials to the rest of
society. Deprived of modern education, they are unable to have access to
better jobs as compared with the other sections of society.
The CPI(M) views the development of the tribal people as a process not
separate from, but inter-dependent with that of the non-tribal people. The
productive capacities of the tribal people must be developed and tribal
knowledge and skills must be upgraded in order to enhance their social and
economic status.
1. Land & Their Alienation
Traditionally in tribal society, land was not a commodity for sale. There was
no concept of private property in land in most tribal communities.
The process of separating the tribal people from their land originated in
colonial times and their right to ownership of the forests they lived in was
never recognised. The introduction of the land revenue and money economy
began this process. The first tribal revolts took place against this colonial
exploitation. The first laws to protect the tribal land were passed after this
unrest, such as the Chotanagpur Tenancy Act.
4
However, with capitalist development being stepped up, a continuous
process of land alienation of the tribals has taken place. Laws have been
ineffective. Through legal manipulation and other fraudulent means
largescale transfer of tribal land has taken place to non-tribal people. This is
a problem common to all tribal areas except some states in the North-East.
The laws enacted for protection of the tribal lands in the scheduled areas
under the Fifth schedule of the constitution have not prevented alienation of
tribal lands and largescale transfers. The loopholes in the laws, the
connivance of the bureaucracy and the political authorities have subverted
whatever legal safeguards existing.
Non-tribals are taking over tribal lands through methods such as mortgages,
lease agreements, benami transfers, false title deeds in collusion with
revenue officials, by marriage to tribal women or holding land in the name
of their (bonded) tribal agricultural labourers.
Our basic demand is for restoration of the land so alienated, to the tribal
people. They should have access to credit and technology. Science and
technology should be used to develop a sustainable model of agriculture in
tribal areas.
In this connection also comes the problem of jhum cultivation (slash and
burn) which is undertaken by the tribal people. One quarter of the tribal
people in the country have been doing this form of cultivation. The steps to
shift them away from the jhum cultivation must be done in such a manner as
to help them adjust to settled cultivation or sufficient rehabilitation in other
occupations.
Land Reforms
To meet the demand for land, a central question is to implement land
reforms and ensure the distribution of surplus lands to the landless adivasi
families. In West Bengal under the Left Front government, distribution of
surplus land to the extent of 11 lakh acres had taken place to 25 lakh
families. Of this, nearly 5 lakh families are from the tribal people. In Tripura
too, landless tribal households have benefitted from land reform. Further
7000 acres of land alienated from tribals were restored to them by the Left
Front government. Since then, there has been no alienation of tribal land.
The struggle to restore land alienated from the tribal people by illegal means
must be pursued. The existing laws to protect tribal lands from alienation
5
must be modified to plug loopholes. Firm action should be taken to check
fraudulent means of transferring land with the collusion of the bureaucracy.
While conducting such a struggle both to tighten laws and to ensure their
implications, we should also work out concrete measures to maintain the
unity of the tribal-non-tribal peasants wherever conflicts arise. Small nontribal
peasant settlers on tribal lands should be given equivalent land
elsewhere, or differentiation can be made between the bigger and smaller
land holdings illegally acquired. But the principle that the tribal people must
be restored the lands illegally transferred must be upheld.
2. Forests and their access to it
A big section of the tribal people have been traditionally living in the forests
and their life and work is intimately connected with the forest. The forest
laws have ruptured the organic link between the forest and the life of the
adivasis. One of the tragic aspects of tribal life has been the alienation of the
tribal people from their traditional habitat. Forests no longer belong to them
but to the forest officials and contractors.
The disappearance of the forests and the degeneration of green cover is not
because of the tribal people but because of the rapacious nexus of
contractors-forest officials and ruling class politicians. The plunder of the
forests and the cutting down of trees has been one of the inexorable features
of capitalist development.
The Forest Act and its latest version, the Forest Conservation (Amendment)
Act of 1988 treats the adivasis as interlopers and encroachers in the forests,
rather than as an integral part of the forest environment. The degraded forest
land is also not accessible to the tribal people. The deprivation of access to
the forest and the tyrannical rule of the forest guards-bureaucratic nexus has
led to tribal people not getting nutritious food which is their traditional diet
and the sundering of their traditional way of life with all its social and
cultural consequences.
Restoring the tribals access to forests is an important issue which we must
fight for. Further, the minor forest produce which provide livelihood for the
tribal people must be available for the tribals and they must own it.
Cooperatives for marketing such produce have to be run by the government
in cooperation with the tribals. Steps must be taken to protect the indigenous
tribal knowledge of plants and their uses.
6
3. Largescale displacement due to development projects
According to an estimate, 15% of the tribal population have been displaced
or affected by development projects. The uprooting of the tribal people from
their homes and habitat for building dams and other industrial development
projects has been one of the shocking scandals of post-independent India. It
is a fact that we have not paid sufficient attention to this problem.
Providing monetary compensation has not been of much use. Not only was it
inadequate, but the tribal people given lumpsum amounts of money could
not use it properly. They were left with nothing in a short period of time.
Even to make claims for alternative land they had no records of their
ownership or titles in many cases.
The rehabilitation projects were flawed as the tribal people were put in areas
which had no similarity with the habitat they were used to. They were given
often rocky or barren land. Displacement has meant that the evacuated tribal
people are driven to take up back-breaking jobs as construction labour
working in brick kilns and other forms of labour in the unorganised sector.
Our Party must insist that in every case of displacement which cannot be
avoided for essential development, a full and comprehensive rehabilitation
package must be put in place and implemented before the project actually
begins. The norms for such a package would need not just monetary
compensation but an approach which takes into account all the needs of the
displaced tribal people including their cultural requirements.
4. Status of women
By and large in tribal communities the status of women has been better than
in caste Hindu society. This is reflected in the higher ratio of women to men
in the population. Women in many tribal communities have equal status and
rights in property. Women in many tribal communities are active in
economic and social life. But these positive aspects have also got eroded
with the penetration of bourgeois and semi-feudal values of the dominant
society. The impact of these values and the media is now marked among the
younger generation too.
Dowry instead of bride price and fall in the status of women is a result of
these trends. With the increasing proletarianisation and divorce from their
natural habitat, women are subjected to much more hard work such as
fetching water or collecting firewood from great distances. Adivasi women
7
who go into the forests to gather firewood and forest produce are constantly
subject to sexual harassment by forest guards.
A serious problem faced by tribal women is the sexual exploitation by
contractors, landlords, bureaucrats and those who hold power in mainstream
society. We must be able to address all these issues. We must stand for
preservation and encouragement of equal status of women which exist in
various spheres. We must oppose any retrograde practices against women
which are either traditional, or, which have crept in. Against sexual
exploitation of women also we must be able to build organised resistance.
5. Social Oppression
One of the worst features of socio-economic development under capitalism
in India is the brutal exploitation of the tribal people. The traditional social
forms of tribal life have broken down in the relentless march of capitalism,
the cash nexus and the impact of the policies of bourgeois-landlord State.
The old collective forms of tribal life with egalitarian features has been
smashed by the capitalist and feudal onslaught. With no means of
production, without the social and educational skills to face modern society,
with the uprooting of their tribal social system, the tribal people have been
subjected to ruthless exploitation by landlords, contractors and petty
bureaucrats. In many cases, the adivasis work in serf like conditions. Large
number of adivasis migrate from their homes to other areas and states to eke
out a meagre livelihood. During this seasonal migration, they are bereft of
any protection or benefits of minimum wages and labour laws. Bonded
labour also prevails in many parts involving tribal labour. Protection given
to scheduled castes and scheduled tribes under various laws are generally
unavailable to the tribal people in the remote areas and they have no voice
because they are not organised.
Impact of Liberalisation Policies
In the past one decade, the impact of liberalisation policies has been
particularly severe on the tribal people. Firstly, the curtailment of the public
distribution system and cutting of state of State funds for social sector have
badly hit the tribal people. In the tribal areas in remote hilly and forest
regions, the vulnerability of tribal people to hunger and starvation has
tremendously increased with the collapse of the PDS. Most tribal people
deprived of their traditional means of livelihood, land and forests, were
totally dependent on cheap food through the PDS schemes. Reports of
deaths due to hunger and malnutrition emanate mainly from the tribal areas,
whether it be in Orissa, Maharashtra, Chattisgarh or Rajasthan.
8
Secondly, the deregulation and privatisation of mining and mineral sector is
leading to the corporate sector both Indian and foreign entering this area
which is mainly in the tribal regions. Already in Orissa, Jharkhand and
Chattisgarh, the setting up of new projects to mine bauxite and other
minerals has led to tribal people losing their lands. Their protests are met
with brutal police repression. The trend of displacing the adivasi people for
industrial projects is getting heightened. The State and the bureaucracy is not
willing to adhere to the Samata judgement of the Supreme Court which has
declared that in the scheduled areas (under Fifth Schedule), private
industries or state enterprises cannot be set up without the consent of the
adivasi people and such projects must be undertaken through cooperatives of
tribal people.
Thirdly, the health and educational facilities provided by the State has
deteriorated with the cutbacks in State expenditure and drive for
privatisation. Unlike, other sectors, ordinary tribal people cannot avail of the
more costly private education and medical facilities.
One of the major problems for the tribal people is the exploitation by money
lenders. Once they get into the bondage of usury they are reduced to the
plight of serfs. This bondage is the most degrading aspect of adivasi life
today.
Going against the whole trend of liberalisation we must fight for sufficient
credit to be provided to adivasis through cooperatives and bank loans so that
the scourge of usury can be contained.
The State cannot abandon its responsibility towards development of
infrastructure and fulfilling basic needs such as education and health in the
tribal areas. The State's role is especially important as the tribal areas have
the least number of roads and public transport, higher illiteracy and special
problems of mortality and endemic diseases exist than in other areas.
Thus, the policies pursued by successive bourgeois-landlord governments
and their all-round exploitation has led to a total alienation and a crisis in
their identity. It is this threat to their identity which has a political dimension
and at the root of the demand for a separate set up and protection.
The Communists should be able to see the deeper socio-economic
phenomenon by which these most vulnerable communities are driven to
demand a separate and distinctive position as against the dominant Hinducaste
society.
9
6. Lack of Education Facilities
During British rule there was no systematic plan to provide for education to
the tribal communities except the work undertaken by the Christian
missionary organisations. In independent India, despite various plans for
imparting education, the reality is that the bulk of the adivasi community
except in certain North Eastern states are outside the ambit of the formal
education system. Even today in some areas whatever little educational
facilities exist are provided by Christian organisations. Such neglect of
education has led to the highest percentage of illiterates among the Adivasis
and scheduled tribes.
7. Language and culture
The threat to the identity of the tribal communities has brought the question
of their linguistic and cultural identity to the fore. The bourgeois-landlord
State in India has paid no attention whatsoever to fostering their distinctive
identity, culture and traditions except for bureaucratic exercises in
promoting what is called as tribal folk culture.
There are major languages of the tribal people like Santhali and Bodo. Such
languages must be given proper recognition including listing in the eight
schedule of the Constitution. The Alchiki script is recognised by the West
Bengal government. The Kokborok language is officially recognised by the
Tripura state government. Similarly, efforts by tribal communities to
develop their languages must be supported even when their numbers are
small.
As far as the cultural aspect is concerned, the positive aspects of the
traditional tribal culture particularly their egalitarian and collective ethos
must be protected and encouraged. There are, ofcourse, certain regressive
social practices in some parts which cannot be upheld as protection of tribal
culture. Whether it is witch-hunting, or polygamy or depriving women of
certain rights or superstitious practices and so on -- in all such cases, our
work among the tribal people should inculcate consciousness to fight such
practices from within the community.
8. Autonomy and Constitutional safeguards
The question of protection of identity and the interests of tribal people has
led to various movements in the last two-three decades. This has assumed
the demand for separate states such as Jharkhand or Bodoland. Our Party
10
stand has been that where tribal people live in contiguous areas and
constitute the majority or the substantial section of the population, there
should be regional autonomy provided. The CPI(M) pioneered the
development of the Tripura Tribal Autonomous District Council in this
regard. The present powers given to the autonomous councils under the
Sixth Schedule of the Constitution should be amended so that adequate
powers may be devolved to them for the development of the autonomous
areas. The question of providing for regional autonomy structures has to be
popularised in all areas where found necessary to counter the separatist
demands which break the bonds between the tribal and non-tribal people.
North-Eastern Region
The tribal peoples who inhabit the north-eastern region have a social,
economic and cultural environment distinct from that of the adivasis in the
rest of India. In all the north-eastern hill states (except Tripura and
Manipur), the tribal people are in a majority. In states like Nagaland,
Mizoram and Meghalaya, Christians constitute the dominant population.
Unlike the tribal people in Central India, they are not subject to the ruthless
exploitation of contractors, landlords and capitalists. The problems in the
North-east are different. It is also more complex. There are a large number
of tribal communities with distinct ethnic and social features. In some areas,
there are inter-tribal conflicts. The entire tribal people suffer from the effects
of the bourgeois-landlord rule from Delhi. Some of the common problems
are the policy of neglect, failure to develop the region economically and
insensitivity to the aspirations of the peoples of the region. An entrenched
system has developed whereby a narrow elite section has profitted from the
Central financial assistance and the diversion of development funds. Such a
corrupt ruling class, which is highly opportunist, has been nurtured from
among the tribal people also over the decades.
In this background of discontent and thwarted aspirations, separatist feelings
have grown and strengthened. The efforts to suppress separatism and
insurgencies, devoid of a democratic perspective to effect all-round
development of the region and failure to give due recognition to the
nationality and cultural diversities have led to a situation of stalemate. The
imperialist agencies have been using such a situation to fan separatist
demands and ethnic-based conflicts. The tribal people's problems are
therefore integrally connected with resolving the problems of political
economy of the entire north-east. Only by fashioning of a federal,
decentralised set-up with genuine autonomy for minority groups can the
diverse aspirations connected with identity, language and culture be met.
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The RSS & Hindutva Gameplan
In the recent years, the RSS has stepped up its work in the tribal areas. It
seeks to counter the influence of the Church and Christian institutions.
Through its front, the Vanavasi Kalyan Parishad, the RSS seeks to
"hinduise" the tribal people who have their own religious beliefs and
practices including native worship and animistic beliefs. The sinister plan is
to inculcate Hindu chauvinist ideas including the caste system. This is
motivated by the aim of putting Christian and non-Christian adivasis against
each other. Such trends have been seen in parts of Orissa, Jharkhand and
other places.
The RSS wants to coopt the adivasis into its brahmanical Hindutva fold. It
refuses to recognise the tribal people as "adivasis" which means original
people and terms them as "vanavasis" which confines the tribal people solely
to the forests. By this, they negate history. Many of the adivasis today are
descendants of those who were driven out of the fertile plains into the hills
and forests by successive wave of settlers centuries ago. But the RSS seeks
to impose the upper-caste Hindi order by relegating tribal people to
"vanavasis".
The nature of institutions run by the RSS outfits poses a serious challenge to
the secular democratic forces. The Party should take steps to work among
the tribal people to counter the RSS influence politically and ideologically.
The CPI(M) has to foster the unity of the tribal and non-tribal people and
counter the divisive forces. In certain areas, particularly in the north-east,
some of the Church groups are fostering separatist tendencies with the
sectarian aim of consolidating their religious influence. This is being used
for divisive purposes and weakens national unity.
Unity of All Toiling Sections
The CPI(M) while taking up the special problems of the tribal people, will
also work for forging bonds of solidarity between the tribal and non-tribal
working people. Within tribal communities also class differentiation is
taking place. The CPI(M) stands firmly for the cause of the toiling tribal
people and establishing their unity with the rural poor of the non-tribal
sections. The exploitation of the tribals by the semi-feudal and bourgeois
classes cannot be fought back successfully without the broad unity of the
oppressed of the tribal and non-tribal sections.
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Conclusion
For the CPI(M), the tribal question is not just a question of protection of
ethnic identity or defending the rights of a significant minority. It is also a
class question. There are millions of tribal people who are the landless rural
poor, the semi-proletariat or the working class. They constitute an important
part of the proletariat in India. We have to organise them to fight for their
rights as workers, agricultural labour and poor peasants. This can be done
successfully by building the common movement alongwith the working
people of the non-tribal sections. At the same time, we have to emphasise
their special problems of alienation from their land, of their access to forests
and its produce, of ending the brutal exploitation of the bourgeois-landlord
classes and the contractors and protection of their identity, language and
culture.
For this, wherever necessary, we must to set up mass organisations of the
tribal people, a platform which can voice their specific demands and link
them up to the general democratic movement. At the same time, we must
ensure their participation in class and mass movements.
A Tribal People's Charter
The charter of demands for a better life for the tribal people should consist
of the following:
1. Stop alienation of land belonging to the tribal people; plug loopholes in
existing laws and take steps to restore land illegally transferred from
adivasis. Register land records for tribal lands. In scheduled areas under
Fifth Schedule, adhere to the Samata judgement of Supreme Court regarding
use of land for industrial and commercial purposes.
2. Takeover surplus lands above ceiling and distribute them to landless
adivasis along with other landless families. Provide irrigation facilities in
remote tribal areas.
3. Amend the Forest Act in such a manner as to recognise the rights of
adivasi forest dwellers to access and use of forests. People's participation in
forests through community management should be introduced.
4. Forest produce must be accessible to forest dwellers and neighbourhood
adivasi communities. The tyranny of forest guards must end. For marketing
forest produce, cooperative efforts which are not bureaucratically managed
but of the adivasis as producers of forest goods should be set-up.
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5. No project industrial or developmental can be undertaken where
displacement occurs without a comprehensive and sustainable rehabilitation
package. Such a scheme must be put in place before any displacement or
work on the project begins.
6. Women should have equal rights in land and other communal resources.
Campaign to end practices degrading women's status must be carried out.
The practice of dowry infiltrating tribal society must be countered. Practices
such as witchcraft must be combated.
7. Provision of drinking water in remote hamlets must be a priority for
ending hardships to tribal women in this regard. Sexual harassment by forest
guards of adivasi women who go to forests for gathering produce and
firewood must be strictly punished. Tribal developmental schemes should
pay adequate attention for employment for adivasi women. Protection for
women at work sites from sexual exploitation.
8. Enforce protection against money-lending/usury which exploits adivasis.
Bonded labour and exploitation of adivasi men and women by contravening
all labour laws must be effectively checked. Strict implementation of
atrocities on adivasis under the Prevention of Atrocities on SC & ST Act.
9. The public distribution system should be revamped so that all tribal areas
are covered with fair price shops and cooperatives. Instead of BPL cards, all
tribal areas scheduled and non-scheduled must be covered by a universal
system where all tribal families get foodgrains and other essential
commodities at a subsidised rate.
10. Special composite educational programmes for tribal students should be
promoted by the Central Government and all the state governments.
Arrangements for setting up of schools in the tribal dominated areas with
provision of vocational training and hostel facilities for the tribal youth
should be undertaken.
11. Implementation of reservation of ST quotas in all categories of
employment and education. Curb issuance of bogus ST certificates to nontribals.
Special allocation for public health facilities and setting up of
primary health centres in the remote tribal areas.
12. Tribal languages and scripts should be recognised and developed.
Santhali and Bodo should be included in the eighth schedule of the
Constitution. Oppose moves to eliminate indigenous cultural traditions,
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which foster collective consciousness and egalitarianism. Campaign against
social evils, which are intensifying among the youth by penetration of
bourgeois values of commercialisation, and degenerate sex and violence
purveyed through the media. Foster cultural expression and creative folk arts
based on the rich cultural forms of tribal communities.
13. Strictly, enforce constitutional safeguards for the scheduled tribes.
Provision of autonomy under the Sixth schedule should be strengthened by
amending the schedule. Extend provisions of Autonomous District Council
to other states where compact, majority tribal areas exist. Under Fifth
schedule, provide for democratic participation in the Tribes Advisory
Council with elected representatives from lower units. Formulate effective
laws to protect tribal rights in scheduled areas.
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