The predicament of being North-eastern

When most of us were busy watching the India-pakistan test match, somewhere in the north-eastern state of Assam, tribals and villagers were being brutally beaten by a mob comprising the local 'urban' people and police personnels.

Their crime : They had taken out a procession demanding ST status and were on their way to stage a dharna in-front of the assembly.

What was meant to be a march for demanding their legal rights soon turned into a ‘rural versus urban’ battle. In the ensuing use of force more than 15 tribals were killed and more that 250 including woman and children were seriously injured. Those who died didn't fell to bullets but were beaten to a painful death.

The tribals who according to media reports were armed with bows and arrows were hopelessly outnumbered and when they sought protection from the police, the police threw them to the urban-educated-class who assaulted them with sticks and blows. In one of the TV footage a constable is seen handing over a teenage-protestor to his would be killers.

Amazingly the print media neglected the whole incident and most of them including The Times of India decided that the suicide attack in Pakistan was more important and as a touching gesture placed the Guwhati incident in s four line snippet with the details in the inside pages.

A couple of months back one of my colleagues in PTI who hails from Silchar, Assam expressed his sense of dejection and hopelessness after he saw a shootout in Mumbai where two gangsters were killed was given more media attention than a bomb blast in Assam where 15 innocent people lost their life. He sadly yet candidly said that life in the north-eastern states is cheap and expendable.

Sadly the term "Quality matters not the quantity" is now increasingly being used by the media houses to decide how important the news is.

Some section of the state population of the seven remote states of India are demanding separate statehood. Doesn't the step motherly treatment that has been meted out time and again by the Center to them justifies their demand ?

A journalist is manhandled in Bihar and the whole administrative machinery stirs up into action. Central ministers condemn the incident , talk shows on news channels take the front seat and the whole media unites in protest the assault.

But in these hill-locked states local journalists are stuck between the devil and the deep blue sea in the form of the army and the militants. There have been instances where editors have been threatened for refusing media coverage to the militant organizations. Those who bow down to their demands are harassed by the army and police on charges of assisting the militants.

The region is also known as the land of seven sisters. The North eastern states are very different in many ways from the other part of India. These States have the maximum number of Tribals living within. Many tribal languages are spoken throughout these seven states. The northeastern states have the highest percentage of Christians. Territory wise this region is the most sensitive region touching many countries like China, Tibet, Bhutan, Myanmar & Bangladesh.

Both Kashmir and NE-states face the same problem, extremism and lack of economic developmet. But Kashmir gets more attention and a seperate article of the constitution governs the state. '. Why are the North eastern states provided with the same exemptions and economic subsidies ? Is it because Kashmir is more important internationally?

Is Delhi waiting for situation is the seven states to get worse? or does it imply that until the Northern states encounter militancy of the same magnitude they won’t be attended to? Here comes the notion of "step-motherly treatment

It is hardly surprising that though India has made rapid industrial progress with growth rate touching 9% the entire northeastern region has remained largely an agrarian economy. The only industries that came up were set up by the public sector. The North East’s ties with the Indian hinterland have been expensive and regressive. The presence and discovery of oil reserves has brought some respite but that is not enought

The successive regimes in Delhi have not been able to appreciate the consequences of their isolationist policies.

To ‘fair-minded’ regimes who are more interested in consolidating power in the centre of Delhi , the North East are a burden , best left to army and police to manage. In the name of development military-used infrastructures have been erected.

India in recent years has embarked on a "look east policy but will it usher in a new era of economic growth and increasing trade and commerce in the region is a million dollar question.

The eastern region has absolute poverty ranging between 42-58% making it one of the most backward regions in India. Its per capita income too is far below the national average, with Assam having a per capita income of Rs 10,000 in 2001-02, compared to Rs 18,000 for India.

Intelligentsia and political leaders are raking up the issues of civil society, rule of law in view of the Nandigram violence. Authors, writers, artists are pressuring the government to protect Taslima and uphold the freedom of speech.

Less than 24 hours have passed and Assam has been forgotten.

What about these 'trivial-not so important states' ? Aren’t principles of civil society , rule of law and intellectual thinking applicable to these states?

Does the number of parliament seat allotted to a state decides the level of favour granted by the Centre? Is that why UP, Maharasthra and the south states more important for people sitting in Delhi?

It’s a very simple fact yet a very important one : 28 states constitute India not 21.

http://merinews.com/catFull.jsp?articleID=128058

http://desicritics.org/2007/11/28/235936.php

Tribal renaissance

By seeing through the hypocrisy of industrial houses that want to acquire their land by fair means or foul and the government’s pathetic rehabilitation package meted out in the name of industrialisation, tribals of Orissa and Chhattisgarh have demonstrated that they cannot be ignored any longer, writes Abhinandan Mishra.
The recent revolt by Kalinganagar tribals against poor compensation for the land acquired for establishment of a steel plant is the upshot of a renaissance taking root in the tribal belt of the country.
After the Kalinganagar uprising against industrialisation, tribals of Rourkela and Bastar have also started a revolt against the poor package meted out to them by government and industrial houses.
The renaissance among tribals of Orissa and Chhattisgarh appears to be spontaneous as political parties and politicians and even leaders of non-governmental organisations surfaced at a later stage ~ after the killing of 13 tribals and the chopping off of the hands of five tribals. There was no Medha Patkar or Anna Hazare to champion their cause.
The plan of a big industrial house(Tatas) to establish a Rs 10,000- crore steel plant at Lohariguda in Bastar is also facing tough tribal resistance.The industrial house proposes to acquire land in 10 villages which would uproot at least 250 families.They have been assured of a house site of 3,000 sqft for each family, water and road connectivity and compensation between Rs 50,000 and Rs 1 lakh per acre as compensation.
Jobs have been promised to one person per family by the industrial house which has told the government it would invest two per cent of the profit on the area’s development.The public sector National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) had also planned to set up a steel plant at Nagarnar, twenty kilometres from the Jagdalpur divisional headquarters. The foundation stone for the project was laid four years back and the land of the tribals was acquired by the corporation for the project. Tribals have been dispossessed of their cultivable land by the corporation which had promised “peripheral development” of Nagarnar.In the last four years, there has been no development. Contrary to the NMDC’s promise, neither have schools nor hospitals come up in the area.Tribals of Nagarnar are also opposed to the proposed steel plant now.
Another private sector company (Essar) had entered into a memorandum of understanding with the Chhattisgarh government for setting up a steel plant at Bastar.
Tribals of the area have declared they would not give their land for the steel plant. One more private sector company had signed an MoU for another steel plant in Bastar four years back. After resistance from land holders, the group backed out. Tribals are holding their jan adalats (people’s courts) at different places, including Belar, Nagarnar and Lohariguda and passing resolutions such as, “We will not give our valuable land, whatever may be the price”.
The tribals feel betrayed by the non-implementation of the commitments made by the government and the industrial houses in the past.“We would not like to be cheated again,” said Laikan Vaghel. “The government had made a commitment to give Rs 5 lakh a year to the nagar panchayat of Nagarnar, but not a single paisa has reached us so far,” he said, adding, “We want to reclaim our land”. The tribals have genuine reasons to complain. In the process of land acquisition, the mandatory consent of the gram sabha is not taken. This happened in the case of Nagarnar. During investigations, panchayat employees confirmed that the pages from the register of the gram panchayat’s special sabha of Kasturi had been “removed”.
“I do not know who tore off the pages missing in the proceeding register,” Lakhan Singh, panchayat employee of Kasturi panchayat told the divisional commissioner(now the post is abolished), while giving details about irregularities in the acquisition of land for the Nagarnar steel plant.
Rahuraj Devangan, panchayat employee of Bamhani panchayat, said while elaborating on the proceedings of the gram sabha held for land acquisition: “I did not write the proceedings. Seven pages are missing from the register. I do not know how these pages disappeared and who removed them.” There are similar statements made by employees of the panchayats in several villages where vital pages from the registers were missing.
The pages were removed as they carried objections from the tribals and an impression was given outside that the villagers had consented to the land acquisition. Tribals of the area are illiterate and the lowest-grade employees of the Panchayati Raj bodies who maintain office records of the panchayats come under the influence of agents of industrial houses to manipulate documents to suggest the entire “gram sabha” had given its approval for construction of the plant and land acquisition. Tribals had filed affidavits to claim they had been obliged to accept cheques even though they had not consented to land acquisition.
The tribals appeared to have taken lessons from past mistakes committed by their elders and seem to have realised that their ignorance should not be taken for granted in the name of industrialisation by the government or big industrial houses.

Chhattisgarh: Tribes on verge of extinction

Some tribes, particularly, Abuj Madias and Baigas are cut off from rest of the world as the areas inhabited by them have no infrastructure like roads, bridges etc, points out Abhinandan Mishra.

The centrally government aided schemes for the development of primitive tribes- Baigas, Pahari Korbas, Abuj Madias and Birhors in Chhattisgarh have failed to uplift the condition of the tribals staying in the jungles and hills of the state. The Centre had sanctioned Rs 100 crores three years back for their development and the state had separate development authorities for the primitive tribes' development with their headquarters at Bastar, Kawardha, Bilaspur and Jashpur, but the agencies failed in improving the lot of the aboriginal tribes, admit the officials.

A few weeks back, the district administration of Jashpur had uncovered a racket of defalcation of crores of rupees meant for the development of Pahari Korba who were served recovery notices from the nationalized banks for the loan which they had never taken. The primitive tribes are so backward that they are not even enrolled as voters in most parts.

The primitive tribals have been given concession in the family planning which is not imposed on them due to their fast declining population. The doctors and quacks have been warned against family planning on the primitive tribes as their number is not even 50,000 taken together all the primitive communities from Bastar to Surguja. The literacy rate among the Pahari Korbas staying near villages of Korba town is 2 per cent and for the Abuj Madias and Baigas, the Ramakrishna Mission have started "ashram pattern" schools near their villages. Among the Baigas of Kawardha and Bilaspur it is nil.

The then prime minister, Rajiv Gandhi and Ms Sonia Gandhi had made an over night stay at Gugul, one of the villages inhabited by primitive Kamar tribals, but even after 20 years of the PM's stay, there is no change in the life of the villagers.

Some of the primitive tribes, particularly, Abuj Madias and Baigas are still cut off from rest of the world as the areas inhabited by them have no infrastructure like roads, bridges, dispensaries and markets.

They have not even joined the political activities and many of them have not even voted in the elections-from panchayats to the parliament. A couple of Pahari Korbas had voted in the last elections near a booth at Korba. The government intends to preserve their traditional culture and in the pockets of Abuj Mad, outsider's entry is still restricted. The area of Abuj Mad was not surveyed as yet and for the first time, the state has entered into an agreement with the ISRO for aerial survey with ground support as the entire area is Naxalite infested and they have their training centres too.

In certain pockets, food items are sent in advance for four months of monsoon as the villages have no pucca roads. Most of the Baigas are illegal settlers on the protected forest areas. The National Remote Sensing Agency-(NRSA), ISRO's unit at Hyderabad will start an aerial survey of the 6,000 sq metres area of Abuj amad, inhabited by 12,000 primitive tribes of Abuj Madis soon. This will be first survey of the area which remained cut off from all governmental activities so far. According to the agreement, 237 inhabited villages in Narayanpur, Dantewara and Bijapur (covering Abuj Mad) will be covered under the aerial survey to be done by two modified Super King aircraft which would get ground security support from the police.

The Abuj Mad area is literally under the control of the Naxalites of Bastar. The IG of police of Bastar has assured full protection to the technical staff of the NRSA, Hyderabad during the survey.

The NRSA has sought clearance from the three units of the defence- Navy, IAF and the Army for the aerial survey. The agency will get clearance from the union home ministry before starting the year-long survey. The ministry of railways will also have to give clearance for the survey though there are no railways installations in the area.

In each of the sorties, the defence ministry staff would accompany the agency team during the survey. All photographs taken from the height of 15,000 feet would be examined by the defence ministry before allowing it to be handed over to the state government. The defence ministry staff would examine the photos with their negatives and would have all authority to delete them as there are some defense installations in the Bastar.

The one-year long aerial survey would cost the state and the Centre Rs 5.50 crores. The ISRO would take Rs 1.50 crores as photography charges.

The photographs taken from the height of 15000 feet would give a clear picture of the trees, cattle-wealth, human population, their constructions, rivers etc in the area. The object of ten metres would be visible in the photographs taken from the aircraft with computer controlled navigation system. The Abuj Madias are scattered in the 237 villages of the region and they practice shifting cultivation. There is no road communication in the area.

The government will start physical verification of the findings made by the air for two years and this would help in extending the government schemes to the primitive tribes.

The exercise of aerial survey was used by the American defence ministry in Iraq, according to the NRSA scientists who claimed recently they completed the aerial survey of the entire islands dominated Maldives, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Abuj mad remained neglected so far.

While the NRSA will help know the details of Abuj Madias, the state government has prevented family planning among another primitive tribes-Baigas staying in Kawardha and parts of Bilaspur .The primitive Baiga tribes are on the verge of extinction and thanks to the efforts of family promotion schemes launched by the Government of India, the population has reached 29303 from 20,002 in ten years. Baigas still stay in the jungles and on the hills, still semi-naked and dependent on the minor forest produce.

The central government launched a special assistance programme for the Baigas in 134 villages of the district where 2712 families are staying. The centre has created a special Baiga development authority headed by one of the tribal leaders who is himself illiterate and is the titular head of the authority. The Rs 1.25 crores scheme is aimed at creating health facilities for them and opening food godowns, giving them tools and animals for farming.

The state government and the society is promoting live-in relationships among the primitive tribals too. Live- in- relationship (Pethu in local dialect)) is getting popular among the tribals of Bastar region as it has got social sanctions. Children borne out of these live -in relationships are recognized in the society and the couples marry even after the birth of children who attend the marriage of their parents. According to the sociologists engaged in tribal researches, 80 per cent of the couple have live in relationships.

At one such mass marriage of primitive tribals, 22 year old Van Kumar formally married his live in partner Rachnawati at Nagarnar village in presence of a priest and friends. The two had their two year old daughter Dhanwanti as witness to the marriage ceremony. They went to the local Shiva temple before joining the "mandal" in the local weekly market place.

Van Kumar admitted they were staying together for the last three years and both of them are from the same village-Kutabadan, 20 kms from the divisional headquarters of Jagdalpur. The boy said he had paid Rs 800 to the parents of the girl when he took her away from a local market. Acceptance of the "Mahala" was the approval of the live in relationship by her parents.
The tribals community has fixed Rs 2500 as Mahala (dowry to be paid to the girls parents by the boy). They can stay together for years before formalizing their marriage. Phool Singh Bogde and Padmawati, another young couple also married in the same fashion. Live in relations have got social and legal sanction too. This is common in entire Bastar. The "Udhalka vivah" (marriage after kidnapping) is common among the tribals here.

The system is more popular in Bijapur, Farasgaon, and Narayanpur blocks among the Gond and Mariya tribes.

Under the system, any youth can hold the arms of the girl in a public place, mostly in weekly haats or Madiyas, the festivals. If the girl does not protest, she agrees for the relationship. The boy takes the girl to his home and informs the society about the Udhalika vivah. Next day, he goes to the girls parents and gives the amount of Mahala (dowry). This may include money, liquor, goats, bulls or boars.

The Gonds, Mariya, Bhatra, Dorla and Maharla tribals prefer this system. However, the problem arises when there is no match of sub-castes among the tribal boy and girls. Bonjha Ram, father of the Lohaniguda janpad panchayat was arrested by the police as his son Satyanarayan (a Madia tribal) kidnapped a Murya tribal girl in the weekly haat. The Sub divisional magistrate took cognizance of the complaint and the boy and his father were arrested as the tribals do not encourage inter-sub-caste relationship.

The Pethu or Udhalikya marriages are improved versions of the "Ghotul" system, which is still common among the primitive tribals staying in Abuj mad area of Bastar. In the Ghotuls, which are make shift pre-honeymoon camps, young boys and girls stay together under the same roof for a fortnight and get training in post marriage social customs. In the western part of Kondagaon and Narayanpur tehsils, even now, the Ghotul system is prevalent. By evening, girls called Behla (in local dialect) invite their boy friends described as Sirdhar (in local dialect) in the beautifully decorated huts with carvings and spend their night together for a fortnight to know each other before they go for formal relationship.
The centrally government aided mid-day meal scheme and Antodaya scheme are also absent in the areas dominated by the primitive tribes. According to a report of the National scheduled tribes' commission, the administration did not provide Antyodaya cards to Pahari Korbas as per directions of the Supreme Court.
The commission made surprise checks in many villages of Surguja having many Pahari Korba families, and found several schools where mid-day meals were not being provided regularly. Over 200 complains about absence of several food schemes and land rights of the primitive tribes were received at Pandripani (Surguja) these were registered with the Additional Collector. The advisor to the Commission played a proactive role and personally collected more complaints from the Pahari Korbas.
The Pandripani episode raised the larger issue of non-compliance of states with the Supreme Court order to issue Antyodaya cards to all primitive tribes.
According to the report of the commission, Koriya district highlighted the dysfunctional state of the integrated child development scheme among the primitive tribes in the district. The Commission took the state government to task on this and this prompted the complete overhauling of the ICDS system in Manendragarh block of the district.
The union government had sanctioned Rs 100 crores for the development of primitive tribes like Pahari Korbas, Baigas, Abuj Madias, Birhors, Patalkot and Kamar because of their fast dwindling population. The centre has asked the state to provide at least 100 days employment to a member of these families in a year, besides providing seeds and other facilities for farming.
9http://www.centralchronicle.com/20060206/0602304.htm)

Chattisgarh: Blood on the tribal land

In post independent India, more than 30000 villagers have been displaced and are now staying in refugee camps, says Abhinandan Mishra

The arrival of the American President nearly overshadowed the killing of more than 25 innocent tribals by Naxalites in Chhattisgarh. The inability of the Chhattisgarh government which is of "the people" and "by the people" to provide security "to the people" is a matter of grave concern in enforcement of Constitutional provisions in Chhattisgarh. Recent spurt in violence by the Naxalites and "irresponsible" and vague statements by the state's home minister and the senior police officers has raised serious concern over the containment of the Maoist' menace in the state.

The recent violence is one of the series of major incidents committed by the Maoists in last 30 days in the state. Tuesday's Maoists attack was preceded by killing of tribals, attack on police station, killings of jawans of Nagaland armed battalion, looting of explosives from the NMDC ore mines and blasting of high tension transmission tower.

The Naxalite who earlier used to operate only in the interiors of Bastar and Surguja are now visible in action on the highways in the two regions and police reports suggest they have even planted pressure bombs in water hand pumps. The growing influence of the Maoist can be gauged from the simple fact that they even managed to reach the state capital to distribute their VCDs and literature and that too in the flats of the MLAs.

Though there has been a significant increase in the Naxal related violence since the last one year, but inaction even after intelligence inputs and presence of large number of security personnel in the state shows the inability of the state to run the normal administration effectively in the Naxal infested areas.

There has been a debate over the movement of the Salva Judum campaign as whether the state has any rights of using people as an instrument in their efforts of eradicating the Left Wing extremism, The state government is not only determined to use them as tools, but is also glorifying it. Till now, more than 150 villagers associated with the movement have lost their lives in a span of eight months which averages to two persons being killed every third day. In a rare mass migration in post independent India, more than 30000 villagers have been displaced and are now staying in refugee camps. Even when so many people have lost their lives and homes with a commitment to drive out the Naxalites from their homeland, state government still has to formulate a policy as how to go about the public upsurge in these areas which is adding to the casualties. The tribals and the villagers who are associated with the campaign have been stranded with nowhere to go, for it's the Maoist who bay for their blood if the join the movement and if they do not, the same is done by the state government.

The development programmes and the rehabilitation of villagers displaced owing to the movement as announced by the government eight months back, are still at the policy formulation levels, furthering adding to the miseries of people. Government in a statement admitted non-utilization of 90 per cent of the fund allocated for Naxal infested
Dantewara district. Since September, there is no construction of roads, no relief works in the district.

The ministers and the senior leaders of the BJP in Chhattisgarh had been complaining of Centre's inability and inassistance in combating the problem. It seems the BJP government has no knowledge of the Constitutional provisions of police being a state subject and duty of the state government is to provide security to its citizens. The law and order is an exclusive issue to be dealt by the state government and the role of the Government of India is limited to extending support in form of resources, like extra force and funds. Even after getting the support of the Government of India, which was evident when the centre willingly allowed the state to use the services of the NSG commandos, the state's inability in combating the problem has now the forced it to find new excuses and new strategies to ignore its responsibility. The Irresponsible attitude of the chief minister was evident from his statement when he attributed the increase in violence to "inaction of the neighboring states".

The home minister too has been using idioms in state's response to the increasing violence of Maoists which are boasting, irresponsible and baseless. In addition to the politicians, the state's DG of police calling the Maoists as thieves, dacoits and smugglers shows the professional incapability of the state police chief. The state machinery in its statements has termed Maoist violence as an act of cowardice and has repeatedly talked of new strategies almost every week, but on the ground the situation is worsening day by day. Much hype was created by the state government officials regarding availing the expertise of the elite NSG commandos in combating the naxalites, now after these commandos have arrived in the state, no official has spoken anything regarding their effectiveness.

The phenomenal rise in the naxal violence is mainly attributed to sagging morale of the security forces of which the government is not even apparently aware of. There is no uniform policy of posting of police men in naxalite infested areas and most of police officers are posted in those areas as punishment. Police is struggling for the basic needs and even the senior police officials are struggling for their genuine needs.

Another reason for the increase in naxalite authority is the rampant corruption which has covered the state. The government sponsored scheme of free supplying of LPG cylinders to villagers and tribals of the naxalite infested district has run into rough weathers, with zero cylinders being distributed in Kanker and Dantewara and Seventy-four against the target of five thousand in bastar.

As described by the chief Minster the state Government is engaged in fighting a "battle" against the maoist, a battle which is being fought through pamphlets, posters and vcd's on the same scale as done by the maoist.

The "gentleman, humble and generous" chief minister of the state Raman singh has apparently become a victim of confusion, lack of coordination and communication among the different section of the state bureaucracy, police and his own office which became evident when contradictory statements were issued about the casualty figure and kidnappings following Tuesdays tribal massacre. The chief minister literally woke up following the message from the president and statement of the union home minister in the parliament and consequently the international community was fed with high alarming figures of death which remained un-confirmed.

The Salva judum campaign which was claimed to be launched 'by the people' is now leading to sufferings 'to the people' and the basic relief 'for the people' is the ultimate casualty. It now remains to be seen that when will the state government decide that enough is enough.

(http://www.centralchronicle.com/20060313/1303304.htm)