WORLD INDIGENOUS DAY, AUGUST 09

THE WORLD INDIGENOUS DAY should remind the world and the world leaders of many different forms of slavery and lack of freedom the indigenous are subjected to. Till yesteryears it was the colonial forage into the indigenous areas for commercial loot. India witnessed the foreign invasion, the Aryan, the Portuguese, the French, the Mohammedans, the Mongolians, the British and all who had great interest in the indigenous resources including land.

Today, the so-called development thrust by nations of the world are vying with one another to stake claim for a neo-colonial, neo-capitalist thrust particularly in the areas where the indigenous live.  For business expansion land is the primary asset. And development is generally equated with business interests. Tribal areas do have vast land mass. The business class have made the politicians believe that the tribals do not need land and, hence, the Government, the eminent domain, can make laws to claim land anywhere in the Indigenous area.

Due to tribal uprisings for over two centuries in the central belt of India, the British were forced to make laws pertaining to land tenancy. The Chotanagpur land tenancy act 1908 and the Santal Parganas Tenancy Act in Jharkhand  came into force. These tenancy laws were meant to protect the indigenous from land alienation and illegal business operations on such land.

The recent attempt by the BJP dominated Jharkhand government made certain false but calculated moves to destroy the identity and character of the land of the indigenous people. That is where it unleashed a hornet’s nest. The fury of popular anger swelled against this atrocious move and the people’s movement made the government bend its knee before the people’s ‘No’.

But, the Jharkhand government does not rest satisfied. It is unleashing its venom in different ways. The recent anti-conversion bill proposed by the government is meant to create confusion, panic and division among the adivasis.  Till now Sarna tribals and Christian tribals were living in peaceful co-existence. But the government, by brining this bill, wants to create enmity between the Sarna Adivasis and the Christian Adivasis. It is a political move to gain Sarna support and to alienate or disable the Christian religion.

Certain provisions of the bill are said to harm Christian institutions such as schools. Already a number of restrictions are put on the functioning of even registered societies run by Christians.

The indigenous community should be seen as one community, be they of any belief or of religious path.  The Constitution of India allows freedom of conscience and religion. Only forceful conversion is illegal. Belonging to the Christian faction, no Advisasi character is affected negatively. But, today, the Sang Parivar is all out with its dagger drawn against all sorts of Christian religious activities even if they meant simple prayer meetings. Prayer halls are burnt, people are attacked, pastors or catechists are paraded by hooligans, false charges are put on people and arrested illegally. Freedom of speech and movement and freedom of worship are denied.

The question is can’t the indigenous enjoy freedom of conscience and religion? It is a sinister move by the Sang Parivar to usher in the Hindu Rashtra. Thrusting down on the throat of people Hindu Rashtra consciousness is an all out effort for the Sang Parviar dominated Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) agenda. History is rewritten to suit the Hindu agenda. Mythological heroes are projected before school and college students as national heroes. You are told what to eat and what not to eat. You have to tune your taste buds to the Hindu food taste. Your right to worship any other gods other than those of the Hindu religion is decried as anti-national. Religious fanatics as vigilante groups are on a lynching spree in public.

Where will all these end up? A fascist state?