A TRIBAL PRINCESS OF ODE : RESTORED BHIL RIGHTS FOR WATER

Some centuries back, a tribal Princess called Kunwari Jasma Odeni, arrived in the city of Dhar from the ancient land of Khandesh (present district of Dhule in Maharashtra) accompanied by her team of Ode community. The Odes were famous for excavating water tanks in charity for the poor, needy and the marginalized peoples in those days of history. Seeing the pathetic conditions of the tribal and other peoples in the state of Dhar Jasma Odan excavated a water tank geneously which is being deepened these days by good civil administration in collaboration with the civilians of the town of Dhar today with the kind permission of King Bhoj.

The oral tradition of the Bhils say, that later the king of Dhar was infatuated by her rare beauty and expressed his desire to marry her. The beauty of Jasma is well narrated poetically in the folksongs of Bhil of women and Bhil legends. Noticing the infatuation of the king , Jasma quietly disappeared from the city of Dhar after completing her charitable job.

Jasma arrived to the anceient town of Bhagor, a capital of Bhago Bhil in the pre historic times. She made another gesture of charity by excavating the water tank of Bhagor and then later Jasma Odan marched towards west in the land of Gujarat, where she excavated for the deprived tribals the water tank of Dahod, called Sabyan nun Talav (water tank of Sabyan) also narrated in the oral tradition of the Bhils.

Today we need the persons like Kunvari Jasma Odan and Mama Baleshwar Dayal both of them are historically remembered and honored by being deified in the Bhilanchal, but the present politicians and the NGOs are being condemned by the Bhils for their vast areas of corruptions.

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TRIBAL MIGRATION

In the district of Jhabua (MP), the monsoons have failed, there is acute shortage of drinking water for men and animals both, no food and fodder, much worse, there is no availability of relief funds for the tribals except on the papers, consequently, the Bhils are migrating in large numbers to any place they find to migrate such as Rajasthan, Gujarat, etc. Government has no concern for them in real life for the poor and the needy tribals who are nearly 80 % of them below poverty line, not even one meal a day, not even drinking water available at home or in the village. All the rivers and lakes those regularly supplied water for villagers and the cattle’s are dry hence no source of springs for the wells.

There are no facilities for basic amenities such as food and water in Jhabua district which has received highest amount of funds for the tribal development... in the last three decades. Is there any record....? Should there be public accountability....? If it was with the tribals, with just 10 % of the funds they would have done better and complete jobs for the tribal development in the district...And now much worse, the tribal Sarpanches have acquired the habits of corruption from the non tribals. Certainly that has made progress and not what was supposed to be. In such a case is there any hope for the tribals.....?

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TRIBAL LINGUISTIC RIGHTS DAMAGED

Tribal or Adivasi India was the land of 98% of indigenous peoples in the country, who had their own languages, literature cultures and elements of folklore. In the course of time the invading peoples suppressed these indigenous peoples, their languages, cultures and folklore. And today, they are with no languages of their own, or they are still in the developing stages. But the languages of some of the major tribes of India, such as of Bhils, Bhilalas, Warlis, Gonds, Oraons, Khadia, Munda, Santhals , Nagas, etc are capable of delivering required goods to their own indigenous communities and serve effectrively the cultural or linguistic human rights which are the need of time. Some of the tribes , though demographically not large enough, but their literature is very rich and provide capabilities for modern day communications they need and sifficiently indicate to be useful intruments to be a means of tribal communications even for education and development within thier communities and in our country. This gives us encouragement and a strong linguistic ground to claim that the many if not most of the tribal languages have potentialities to be effective bearers of their own educational, economic and other forms of development.

In these cases, why to depend on the non functional elements of languages which are imposed on the tribals from outside by the non tribals, when they have their own means of communications. It is high time that the state Governments of India respect the tribal liguistic rights of the indigenous peoples of India and restore them in time without further breaching tribal human and cultural rights today.

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TRIBAL BHILS' YEARNING FOR EDUCATION

As a whole the Bhils are royal race of the past who controlled or ruled once upon a time a vast region of the Central, Northern and western part of the country. Historically all the castes and creed of peoples such as Aryans, Rajputs, Moguls, Marathas, British people and the rest, who encountered the Bhils, feared them for one or the other reasons. One such reason was a political one that the Bhils who are in such a great force numerically, may not rise against them as a political threat especially to demand for a separate Bhil state (Bhilanchal) within the Indian federation. For this hidden reason, the peoples of vested interests deprived the Bhils of their basic educational human rights, for the last many decades, which was their fundamental right as well as their most basic need of the time.. They are still deprived of quality education till today and more systematically and secretly than ever, fearing that they may rise and revive their political, cultural and social heritage and demand unitedly their other basic human rights especially a home for the Bhils ( Bhilanchal). And, when they are not educated it is easy to manipulate and misguide them. And that is what being done by the politicians, administration and NGOs repeatedly.

The present poem was composed by Mahipal Bhuriya the Bhil(tribal) poet in 1998, to bring educational, economic and other types of awareness among the Bhils, so that they can wake up, rise and demand their human rights.

In this context a boy lover, appeals to his girls friend to go to school for education. Since their Bhil community is deprived of it, hence easily cheated by traders and other castes of people.

DARLING !

Darling,
Our region is uneducated
Come, let's go to school,
Darling, all traders are educated ones
All the castes are literate.

Darling listen to me
If you study,
Later you will be happy.

Darling
Later we shall make romance
Dance on the ryhme of drums
On the beats of small drums too
And dance well
To the hearts satisfaction.

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SONG OF AWARENESS

Humble Prayer of a Bhil

The Bhils are very badly deprived and exploited by all, with no exception anywhere in the country. The 'Song of New Awareness' ( Chetna-Geet), originally composed in Bhili has been translated in many languages including German.This is the prayer of a humble and helpless Bhil against all the social, cultural, political forces in the country, for a new awareness to Bhagwan his Supreme deity. The Bhils are from pre historic times were rulling race, from whom the other invaders deprived them of their states, jal(water), jungle(forests) and jameen(land). They fought but no use, since they were defeated each time all through the centuries. It is a famous poem of Mahipal Bhuriya composed in 1977 and very much appreciated by Hindi media people. Dr. Nemichand Jain and other writers often quoted this piece of Bhili literature in their writings.

O Bhagwan!
There are lots of difficulties in my country
You make me alert
Against these here,.
We are simple and naive people
Hence cheated in this land
Do not avoid us
Hence make hast to help us.

Bring development in our land
And,
Show us the way
To progress in our land.

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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.

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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...

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