Should the indigenous be displaced from their ancestral holdings?
Today Indian tribals are frantically trying to hit and destroy the ‘bull’s eye’ that is having an avaricious glance on their land holdings. These holdings are situated in or near forested hill areas which are said to contain large deposits of minerals. The indigenous population has been the guardians of these for ages.
Today, all on a sudden, without knowing and appreciating the implications of tribal way of life, tribal heritage, and tribal culture, aliens from no-man’s land are launching an invasion on tribal land and life.
The cunning business men and industrialists and their aides are manipulating state governments and bureaucrats to carve out tribal holdings for excavating minerals and transporting them to their factories and processing centres. Red carpet welcome is accorded to these hawks that have no interest other than make capital accumulations for their ‘commercial break’ and self-indulgence.
The Jharkhand tribals in the central tribal belt of India are up in arms against the recent amendment of their century old land laws. In one fell swoop the BJP-led Jharkhand government has converted the non-saleable and non-transferable nature of tribal hand holdings into a transferable market commodity. The tribals are told they will get a good compensation and when the government decides to lease out or appropriate these lands for excavation or for other so-called ‘development’ needs, it will take over whatever land it prefers.
That is where the tribals smell a rat. They feel they are being pushed into the margins to become migrants and vagrants to fend for themselves. Therefore, today the war cry is: ‘We will give our life, not our land.’ With their traditional weapons they are out on the street crying foul. Mr. Raghubar Das, the first ever non-tribal chief minister of the state, has drawn his daggers by signing up Memoranda of Association (MOU) with over two hundred companies in February 2017.
The political opposition groups cutting across party line and the tribals as a whole are seeing this as a death knell for the indigenous. Mr. Hopna Murmu of Borio in Sahibganj district said that the tribal lands were no body’s gift to the tribals. True, historically, from mid 1700 to the fag end of 19th century there were tribal uprisings in central tribal India against unjust British laws and the cruel exploitation by non-tribal money lenders, landlords and business men. The uprisings under leaders like Tilka Manjhi, Birsa Munda, Sido-Kanhu, Phulo-Jhano, and others unleashed mammoth upheavals. They and their thousands of followers sacrificed their lives for the liberation of their tribal brethren.
The Land Tenancy laws of Chotanagpur and Santal Parganas in Jharkhand, like many other tribal tenancy laws, were the result of such uprisings. Hence, the tribals feel that their hard-won human and fundamental rights over their land and inheritance cannot be vaporized by the wave of a magic band by anyone or even by the so-called Eminent Domain.
The struggle goes on. The state government is determined to rush in where angels fear to tread. And, the tribals are determined not to yield to bullying and pressure tactics.