Write short notes on:

Tribal movements.

Introduction: Different tribal groups spread across the country may share common issues. But the distinctions between them are equally significant. Many of the tribal movements have been largely located in the so called ‘tribal belt’ in middle India, such as the Santhals, Hos, Oraons, Mundas in Chota Nagpur and the Santhal Parganas. The region constitutes the main part of what has come to be called Jharkhand.

Tribal Movement in Jharkhand:

(i) Jharkhand is one of the newly-formed states of India, carved out of south Bihar in the year 2000. Behind the formation of this state lies more than a century of resistance. The social movement for Jharkhand had a charismatic leader as Birsa Munda, an Adivasi who led a major uprising against the British after his death.

(ii) Birsa became an important icon of the movement. Stories and songs about him can be found all over Jharkhand. The memory of Birsa's struggle was also kept alive by writing. Christian missionaries working in south Bihar were responsible for spreading literacy in the area. Literate Adivasis began to research and write about their history and myths. They documented and disseminated information about tribal customs and cultural practices. This helped create a unified ethnic consciousness and a shared identity as Jharkhandis.

(iii) Main issues taken by Jharkhand Tribal leaders:

The issues against which the leaders of the movement in Jharkhand agitated were:

• acquisition of land for large irrigation projects and firing ranges;

• survey and settlement operations, which were held up, camps closed down, etc;

• collection of loans, rent and cooperative dues, which were resisted;

• nationalisation of forest produce which they boycotted.

Result and achievement of Jharkhand tribal movement:

(a) Literate Adivasis were also in a position to get government jobs so that, over time, a middle-class Adivasi intellectual leadership emerged that formulated the demand for a separate state and lobbied for it in India and abroad.

(b) Within south Bihar, Adivasis shared a common hatred of dirkus - migrant traders and money-lenders who had settled in the area and grabbed its wealth, impoverishing the original residents.

(c) Most of the benefits from the mining and industrial projects in this mineral-rich region had gone to dikus even as Adivasi lands had been alienated.

(d) Adivasi experiences of marginalisation and their sense of injustice were mobilised to create a shared Jharkhandi identity and inspire collective action that eventually led to the formation of a separate state.

Tribal Movement in North-East India:

(a) The process of state formation initiated by the India government following the attainment of independence generated disquieting trends in all the major hill districts in the region. Conscious of their distinct identity and traditional autonomy the tribes were unsure of being incorporated within the administrative machinery of Assam.

(b) One of the key issues that bind tribal movements from different parts of the country is the alienation of tribals from forest lands. In this sense ecological issues are central to tribal movements. Just as cultural issues of identity and economic issues such as inequality are. This brings us back of the question about the blurring of old and new social movements

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