Wednesday, March 18, 2009

ADIVASIKARAN


Best Way for the Protection of Tribal / Adivasi Human Rights

Some thirty years back various ethnic groups of India were seen making social and cultural revival of their societies at various levels in India. At first sight, I was very delighted to note that these cohesive efforts, being made in the country, will solidify all the citizen of India in one national mainstream of life. I was eagerly waiting to see ultimately the positive results of these cohesive efforts. But after two decades I began to feel very uneasy and insecure, as a member of an indigenous Indian ethnic group namely Bhils that my society had no respectful place in the main stream society since it was a caste ridden. And, if I allow myself and my people, the Bhils, to be guided in this context by the process of sanskritisation, at the end I shall be either Dalit, Shudra or Chandal and assimilated forever with no return. My land and other resources too shall be vanished by the higher castes and richer people, as it is already happening now and except media no one is to support the tribals or the indigenous peoples of the country. I also felt, no traces of my history, culture, folklore and society will be left over. They all shall be concealed or wiped out in near future. I shall totally lose my Adivasitva, speaking a language or languages totally strange to me.

My origin as a tribal will be lost forever. I shall be deceived since there shall no relationship with the upper castes of roti (bread) and beti (daughter)....! This shall be the tragic future of the nearly 80% of the population in the country. On the top, 8% people in the country shall not lose anything, their origin, name, identity and resources, but only gain at the cost of overall loss of 80%, possibly chandal, or dalit or shudra forever. Slavery, neo imperialism of powerful castes whose bondages no one shall be able to break. Who shall be the redeemer or the Messiah then of the 80% of these cultural and social slaves.....?

Many of my friends from Adivasi India, had similar problems for respectful survival but there was no satisfactory solution either thought by the indigenous peoples themselves, or provided by the social scientists of the country. But what then..? If all the educated tribals or the indigenous peoples are absorbed like in the national mainstream of India like this, as it is happening now, who shall give lead and be the voice of the illiterate and the ignorant ethnic groups of Adi-Vasi India.......? I did not cease to search for satisfactory solutions. I thought, once we were invaded and enslaved but now, we must fight by fair cultural means and should defend ourselves, otherwise we shall be assimilated in the lowest strata of the Indian society once again and possibly forever.

Several ideas emerged in our discussions. Lastly I thought that, while remaining rooted to our origin and culture, should bring in one solidarity, among all indigenous communities of India, innovate their our own cultures to suite the need of time, thus integrate all in the national mainstream of Indian society as dignified peoples of the country, maintaining our own original image. And this process I call Adivasikaran.

My friends and well wishes have liked the concept of ADIVASIKARAN as a means for respectful survival of indigenous peoples at present, we are sharing the idea of Adivasikaran with our friends and those engaged in protecting the human rights of Adivasi India whose culture was once upon a time the dominant factor and prime heritage of India.

Web Hosting In Indore By Black Soft

BHIDHA.: THE PUREST FORMS OF BHIL COURTS

Traditionally the tribals and other indigenous communities of India settled their village and community disputes by their own legal institutions based on their customary laws, such as in the case of Bhils it is called Bhidha. A Bidha is a form of Bhil Panchayat, folk court in which the Bhils settle their disputes, through referendum, transparency, instantly, cheaply, justly and the best way as compared to to the expensive, manipuative, corrupt, delayed, non transparent, and defactive system of today.

The present system of court, police, lawyers etc have made the tribal communities of India very poor. Their 60% of the hard earned money is invested by the pesent legal system for fighting justice which is beyond their means making them almost leading into huge debts, What is the use of such system in which non the tribals or indigenous peoples are benefiting but the non tribals. But the tribal way of maintaining law and order, protecting their human rights ,cultural rights, indigenous rights, in the case of the Bhils through Bidhas should be restored. The non tribals have introduced the court and other systems for the breaching of tribal rights and exploiting the tribals enormously. This has way of imposing 'imported' legal system is not of the tribals, which has weakened tribal communities of India since the tribal customs and cultural ways of life are not in keeping with the legal system which is introduced falsely, consequently they are exploited and looted through the present legal systems.

In the tribal system justice is immediate, cheap and transparent. The Bhil Bhidhas and Bhil Panchayats should be restored for the protection of their human, cultural and legal rights immediate effects...

Web Design Indore