Highlight the role of tribal movements in maintaining their cultural and social identity.

Role of tribal movements in maintaining their cultural and social identity.

1. Tribal People: Generally the term tribe is used for those people who are referred to as the Scheduled Tribes (STs) in our country. They are also known (popularly) as Adivasi or aboriginal.

2. Tribal communities are found throughout the country but their population is in good number in the north-eastern region.

3. In fact, in Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland tribals are in a majority. Similarly, the states of Chittisgarh and Jharkhand have sizeable tribal population.

4. As far as total population of STs is concerned, it constitutes 8.08 per cent of the total population of the country.

5. Different tribal communities of India have their distinct culture, language, social structure, values etc. These communities have maintained their cultural and social identities.

6. Movements taking place among those communities are included under tribal movements. These movements have been directed towards numerous issues.

(a) While some of them have had agrarian content, (b) others addressed cultural, and (c) some of them political questions.

7. Historically speaking, tribal movements of our country have a rich tradition. The nature of struggles and issues involved in these movements differed considerably and therefore they have been sometimes referred to as ‘tribal uprising’, ‘tribal insurrection’ or ‘tribal revolts'.

8. (a) V. Raghvaiah in his book Tribal Revolts lists seventy tribals between 1778 and 1971.

(b) A survey of tribal movements undertaken by Anthropological Survey of India reported thirty-six ongoing tribal movements in India in 1976.

9. In nineteenth-century many uprisings and revolts took place in the tribal belts of eastern India as well as in central India.

(a) The Kol and (b) Bhumij revolts of 1831-33, (c) the Santhal uprising of 1855-56, and (d) the Birsa Munda movements during 1874-1901 are some of the major tribal insurrections reported by different historian.

10. Ethnic identity and economy tribals faced serious challenges due to the imposition of new revenue law by the British government. Imposition of enhanced rents, heavy interests charged by money lenders and the atrocities of British and other officials forced the tribals to become tenants on their own lands. All these factors produced a series of tribal revolts.

11. It is very significant to refer here that unrest and tension among the tribals did not subside even after Independence of the country. Several new movements have emerged during the last six decades (1947-2004). Most of these movements are directed against issues of land alienation, forced labour, minimum wages and exploitation by non-tribal landlords.

12. As time passed, the tener of tribal movements changed considerably and acquired political character.

13. The tribal movements of last five to six decades have been differently described by the sociologists. These are called as (i) the tribal political movements, (ii) ethnic movements, (iii) sub-national movements, and (iv) solidarity movements.

14. The Jharkhand Movement of Chhotanagpur was spearheaded by the tribals demanding a separate state to protect them from diku (outsiders).

The demand has finally been met and a separate state called Jharkhand was created in the year 2000 AD.

15. The Naga Movement for a separate State outside the Indian Union is the oldest of all tribal movements in India. It assumed a militant character from the very beginning and continues till date.

Conclusion : In short, we can say that it is quite clear from record and history that the tribal movements before and after the freedom have not only been widespread but also they have been diversified in terms of issues, organisation and leadership.

There is a strong tendency towards consolidating tribal the ethnic identities. This trend reflects the dynamism of these tribal communities.