As the phase of implementation of the law approaches, there is palpable unease among the tribal populations.
DEMOLITION DRIVE
By Dionne Bunsha in Burhanpur district
THE road to Pipalkhura is long, rocky and dusty. Across a parched, hilly landscape occasionally broken by a village, farm or bazaar, we make our way to this remote village in Madhya Pradesh. Suddenly, we see a cluster of white tents breaking out of the brown earth – that is all Pipalkhura has been left with. Tents and blankets.
“A huge team from the Forest Department destroyed 55 houses on January 11. Their machines bulldozed our homes, and then they set it all on fire. They took everything – our livestock, chickens, foodgrains, utensils, bedding, and left us bare in the cold,” said Shankar Bahadur, a Barela Adivasi who is considered an illegal encroacher in this dry, degraded forest, where the only sign of forest is a sprinkling of trees. When their leaders made a complaint about the demolition in the State capital of Bhopal, the tehsildar (local revenue official) sent them tents and blankets. Small consolation in the biting cold here, where night temperatures touch zero.
“Every three or four months, the Forest Department tries to clear us out. They take our crops, set our homes on fire and leave. They say we are illegal encroachers, but we were born and brought up here. Our elders came here from Khargon [a neighbouring district] because there was no land in that village. If we can’t stay here, where else can we go? Why did they [the forest guards] take our money and let us settle when we first came here?”
Just before the coming into force of the Forest Rights Act in January 2008, the Forest Department of Burhanpur district demolished seven villages. Uttarkumar Sharma, the District Forest Officer (DFO), says that they are encroachers who can claim no right over the land but are trying to take advantage of the new law. The Adivasis say that the Forest Department is trying to get rid of them to deny them their legal rights.
The conflict turned violent in Bomliapat, where 47 homes were broken, including a school run by the Adivasi Ekta Sanghatan (AES), a non-governmental organisation that the DFO has labelled “naxalite”. Four people were injured in police firing, of which one, Damidia Harlia, lost his eye. “We even took him to Delhi for treatment, but they could not do anything to take the bullet out of his eye. He has lost his vision forever,” says Vasant Jamra, a local activist of the AES.
At most of the eviction sites, the forest guards looted in one day’s time and never returned to guard the forest. If they were truly interested in guarding forest land, why did they not return the next day?
“They took everything. We slept out in the open in the freezing cold, and borrowed food from others in the village whose homes were not broken,” says Junabai Bhangda. “We have been living here for around 15 years. Earlier, we were in the neighbouring village of Mandwa. But there was no land there, so we came here.”
Across India, atrocities are part of the daily grind for Adivasis, and Burhanpur is no different. The Forest Department here has a long history of terror and abuse. Over the years, several cases have been filed against them for illegal arrests and torture of tribal people.
The DFO dismisses all these accusations as lies and says that his personnel fired in self-defence. “There is a law and order problem in these villages. My team cannot enter them to carry out their work without being stoned. We were surrounded and had to fire six rounds to leave the place,” said Uttarkumar Sharma. “We have not demolished a single structure in the past six months. These accusations are totally false.” Yet, he admits that there have been violent skirmishes. In the past seven years, three Adivasis have been killed in police firing and one forest guard was killed during an anti-encroachment drive.
“Starting from 1999, we have been removing these encroachments into the forest,” says the DFO. “People come from nearby Khargon and Sendhwa. They are not originally from this place. They are encroaching on the rights of villagers who are already settled here and have to suffer on account of these illegal occupiers of the forest.” Of the 1,90,000 hectares of forest land in the district, 40,000 ha was encroached; the Forest Department has managed to remove half of the encroachers, he estimates.
“They are trying to take advantage of the Forest Rights Act, but we do not consider them eligible under the Act,” says Sharma. “We have been instructed by the State government that only those residing for at least three generations (75 years) from December 13, 2005 are eligible. The gram sabhas will decide, but I expect that we shall find very few Adivasis who will be eligible.”
Who is eligible depends on how the government chooses to interpret the new law. “The Act clearly states that Adivasis should be given the rights denied to them. Adivasis have been in Burhanpur for generations, even before the Mughal rule. They know no district boundaries and move within the forest in search of land in order to survive. To say that they are encroachers is ridiculous,” says Bijaybhai from the AES.
The irony is that the Forest Department sees only the most deprived Adivasis as encroachers, whereas contractors and corporates who exploit the forest wealth are welcome. Sharma boasts how the Forest Department provides the Madhya Pradesh government with Rs.500 crore of revenue every year.
The Ministry of Environment and Forests has diverted 1,133,123 ha for “non-forest purposes” from 1980 to 2006, of which more than half has been in the past five years, points out Madhu Sarin, activist with the Campaign for Survival and Dignity, which is fighting for Adivasi rights. Almost the same area – 1,343,000 ha of forest land – is under encroachment in the country, of which the government has regularised only 3,66,000 ha.
“From 2002 to 2004, the government removed ‘encroachers’ from 1.52 lakh ha of land. If you assume one hectare per family, 1.5 lakh families who have lived there for generations have been displaced. But we never hear of the removal of multinational corporations, or the Tatas or the Birlas,” says Sarin.
In the new, Shining India that is envisioned, business is always welcome. And Adivasis are a nuisance in this vision of progress and need to be dealt with firmly.
REAL THREATS
By T.K. Rajalakshmi in Udaipur
The forest boundary wall in Hyala village of Udaipur district, which is a source of conflict between the tribal people and the Forest Department.
SHIVA RAM, Nima Ram and many others of Karmela Phala hamlet in Padrada village have reasons to be worried. Despite having lived in the village, in Gogunda block of Udaipur district in Rajasthan, for over three decades, they have no entitlements and face routine harassment by officials of the State Forest Department. Not only have cases been filed against them for encroaching on forest land, but they face threats of eviction regularly. Nearly 70 families in the village stand affected owing to the non-implementation of the legislation enacted for their benefit. They have complained to the Sub Divisional Magistrate’s office, hoping for redress under the new law.
Takhat Singh Chauhan of the same village, protests against the Forest Rights Act. “It is going to create problems in the village if the tribal people start demanding our land. The law should be fair to everyone. I am not a big landlord. My condition is as bad as theirs. I work hard and even go abroad for work,” he said. He clarified that by abroad, he meant Mumbai. Implicit was the notion that the tribal people were not only lazy but lacked enterprise.
In Visma village in the same block, Prabhu Garasia is unsure if the Act will help him. Prabhu does not have the legal rights to the land in which he has lived for over 40 years. The Forest Department even threatened to “take” away this land and include it within the forest boundary.
Twenty-one villagers of Kurra have now written to the All India Kisan Sabha, requesting its intervention in order to get them the rights of cultivation and residence of their lands. A few months before that, five villagers from Suwali in Jhadol block wrote to B.L. Singhvi, district secretary, Communist Party of India (Marxist), requesting the party’s intervention in winning them the rights to the land they had lived and cultivated for almost three decades. They complained that the Forest Department had begun constructing boundaries in their area and were growing the jatropha plant as part of the biofuel initiative of the State government. An Udaipur-based organisation called Astha had also received such complaints over the past several years. But ever since the passage of the Act, the complaints have become more frequent and desperate. The forest “boundary” is a much-hated word here.
Lakharoopa Garasia, who lives in Phala Balavira, Gogunda, was tortured by Forest Department personnel for sowing maize on what is forest land. There is a boundary, or “kot” running through his land now. Ironically, the wall was constructed as part of work commissioned under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. Lakha’s father had written to the District Forest Officer in the 1960s to regularise the plot of land but there was no response.
In 1980, as many as 56 residents of Hyala village were evicted from their plots when the Forest Department claimed the land was its. The gram panchayat had recommended the allotment of pattas or land titles to the tribal people but nothing happened.
According to Singhvi, two years ago, at Palaswa village in Gogunda block, the wells of two tribal families were dug up; in Patia village of Kherwada block, 200 families were evicted; and at Bichiwara village in Dungarpur, families who have been in possession of their lands for over 60 years now face the threat of eviction. Similar stories of intimidation have been reported from Jogiwar and Talao Bhamra villages in Kotara tehsil; in Ambasa panchayat in Jhadol tehsil, cases have been registered against 27 persons.
For more than two years, the State government refused to recognise the Bill that guaranteed rights to tribal people and other forest-dwellers. Even after its enactment last year and the subsequent notification of rules early this year, there has not been much state initiative to create awareness about the Act. The conflict between the Forest Department and the tribal people has increased because the former is keen to declare as much land as possible as forest land before the Act takes effect. The planting of jatropha on degraded land was one way of evicting the tribal inhabitants.
The biodiesel fuel policy of the State government is another tool for harassment. According to the policy, a District Collector can grant up to 20 leases for up to 100 hectares of government land each for biodiesel plantations. The lease can be granted to below poverty line (BPL) groups, private companies, cooperative societies and panchayats. The guidelines stipulate that private companies can be granted 30 per cent of the land in each district.
According to information compiled by Astha, the policy has had a devastating impact on the lives of the tribal people. The policy also violated the Panchayat (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996, or PESA, as there is no provision in it to consult local bodies. Not only has the threat of evictions increased, but actual evictions are taking place; non-existent “boundary markers” have suddenly surfaced; houses are demolished; trenches are dug; and social conflicts between BPL families have arisen owing to the selective allotment of land under the policy. In some blocks, upper-caste panchayats have used their clout to evict Dalits as well as tribal people. The problem spread to several blocks in Udaipur. There were instances of harassment in other districts in southern Rajasthan as well – from Banswara, Dungarpur, Sirohi and Pali. On Mt Abu Road, in village Jamori, Sirohi district, 200 families received eviction notices. Overall, the number of affected tehsils where tribal people were being harassed began to increase. Complaints also arrived from Kumbalgarh, Kherwara and other sanctuary areas in Udaipur.
Under the recently notified S.T. and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Rules, 2007, the gram panchayat is supposed to convene a gram sabha from which a forest rights committee of a maximum of 15 members would be constituted. The Rules stipulate that only one-third of its members shall be from the S.T. community. This, observers feel, is an injustice.
The District Collector of Udaipur, Alok Kumar, told Frontline that he was yet to receive any order regarding the implementation of the Act. He was equally unaware of complaints regarding harassment and eviction faced by tribal people.
Rajasthan has an S.T. population of 12.6 per cent. A high proportion of it lives in the districts of Udaipur, Dungarpur and Banswara; in Kumbalgarh block in Rajasamand district, Pratapgarh block in Chittorgarh district, Bali and Desuri blocks in Pali district and Abu Road Block in Sirohi district. In the tribal-sub plan areas, the decadal growth in population (1971-81; 1981-91) has seen a sharper decline than that of the rest of the population. While the average population density in the State is 129 per square kilometre, in tribal areas it is only 16. The landholdings are very small, much less than the district average. .
The issue of regularisation of pattas is not new. On September 18, 1990, the Ministry of Environment and Forests issued circulars to resolve the disputes over forest land between the State and the tribal population. The circulars gave guidelines to the States to regularise pre-1980 encroachments; review disputed settlements; convert forest villages into revenue villages and regularise leases, pattas or grants involving forest land. The directions were not implemented for 12 years. In 1991, the State government issued a notification stating that the regularisation of forest lands that were in the possession of tribal people, prior to July 1, 1980, would be done. The process was to be completed in six months. The notification was not made public for four years by the Forest Department, as a result of which it expired. Apparently, Astha found that only 11 persons had been considered eligible under this notification.
Meanwhile, on the ground, there was growing anger against the apathy of the State government. In 1995, this resentment took the shape of a struggle called the Forest Land People’s movement. With the support of Left parties in the State, this front is now determined to get the new legislation implemented.
HISTROY’s LESSONS
By Venkitesh Ramakrishnan in Ranchi
A tribal woman of Phuljharia village near the Bagjata mine in Jharkhand.
IT was the same everywhere you travelled across Jharkhand in the latter half of January and in early February. At scores of small meetings in villages, members of the tribal and other forest-dwelling communities sat with neatly bound copies of the Hindi version of the Forest Rights Act (FRA), discussing its provisions with political activists and forest rights campaigners. The meetings highlighted the positive dimensions of the Act and suggested ways and means to implement them gainfully while at the same time identifying the problems and discussing how these could upset the very objectives of the legislation.
A recurrent theme in the meetings was unity. “The FRA has come about after a long, united struggle, and unity of purpose and organisation are essential if it is to be implemented properly,” was the refrain.
Unity was the most important message that came out of the activists’ meeting at Chandwa in Latehar district, too, when Frontline caught up with it on the last day of January. Informally chaired by Bharat Jan Andolan activist George Monipally (locally referred to as the “Dhoti-clad Father”), the meeting had participants from almost all the development blocks in the district.
Before analysing the FRA clause by clause, it was unanimously agreed that tribal and other forest-dwelling communities would not fight among themselves about the location of the gram sabha nodal centre, which would oversee the implementation of the FRA. “Those who have tried for years to stall the very passage of the FRA are now constantly on the lookout for opportunities to freeze its implementation. This is something that one needs to watch out for,” Father George said.
Tribal rights activists say it is nothing short of an awareness campaign that is going on in most parts of Jharkhand. “In all probability, ” said Shankar and Priya Gopalakrishnan of the Campaign for Survival and Dignity, a federation of social organisations advocating the cause of tribal forest-dwellers, “the awareness campaign in Jharkhand would be one of the strongest.” The reasons are not far to seek.
By any yardstick, no other State in the history of independent India would have seen the displacement of tribal people and forest-dwellers on a scale that Jharkhand has in the past six decades. Studies by organisations such as the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) state that over 74 lakh tribal people in Jharkhand have been displaced out of their natural habitat on account of different private and public sector projects initiated between 1950 and 1990. Of these only 18.45 lakh persons were rehabilitated.
Organisations associated with the government, including the State Planning Commission, put the number of the displaced in Jharkhand from 1951 to 1995 at 15,03,017. As many as 6,20,372 of them belong to the Scheduled Tribes (S.T.), 2,12,892 to the Scheduled Castes (S.C.) and 6,76,575 to other categories.
Though the statistics may differ, there is little doubt that displacement has caused misery to vast numbers of people in the State. The displacements have generally been in the name of large-scale industrial, mining, irrigation and power projects. These include public sector projects such as Heavy Engineering Corporation Limited (HECL) and private sector enterprises such as Tata Iron and Steel Company in Jamshedpur.
Babulal Mahato’s family, comprising his parents and brothers, owned about 18 acres (1 acre = 0.4 hectare) of land in Pundag village in Ratu block of Ranchi district. The acquisition of land for HECL in the 1960s resulted in the family losing most of its land. Babulal says the compensation that the family got for the land at that time was less than Rs.10,000 and that there was no further rehabilitation. The family moved the court, but the case has been pending for over a decade and a half. Today Babulal makes a living as a casual labourer in agriculture and construction.
Not far away, in Murma block, Premnath Mahato, another displaced forest-dweller, makes a better living by running a medical shop and selling insurance policies part time. His larger family had to give up approximately 50 acres of land for HECL. He, too, has been awaiting court orders for over a decade for adequate compensation and rehabilitation.
According to the human rights activist Thakur Prasad, the long history of displacement has made the tribal people and other forest-dwellers wary of any development project. “For them, development projects advanced by various governments are nothing but ploys to take away their fertile, mineral-rich land and hand it over forcibly to avaricious industrialists and business houses,” he said.
After the formation of the Jharkhand State seven years ago, the new government has signed over 42 memoranda of understanding (MoUs) with global investors, including Mittal Steel, Tata Steel, Jindal Steel and several power companies. The cumulative worth of the projects is Rs.1,70,00 crore; approximately 48,000 acres of land is estimated to be required for the projects. Many of the proposed projects are in the mineral-rich Kolhan region. Informal estimates have it that at least 10,000 families would be displaced in Kolhan alone in addition to widespread deforestation.
Jharkhand’s history of displacement has accentuated these apprehensions and this has led to the eruption of a number of local resistance movements against many projects. Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) such as the Bhoomi Raksha Gramin Ekta Manch, the Moolvasi Adhikar Morcha, the Adivasi Adhikar Morcha and the Jharkhand Mines Area Co-ordinations Committee have taken the lead in many areas. Political organisations such as the Jharkhand Mukthi Morcha (JMM) and the Left parties – the CPI (M), the CPI and the CPI(ML) – are also associated with these movements in many places. The extremist Communist Party of India (Maoist) has expressed solidarity with the movement against displacement. The resistance against the new industrial-mining projects has been so strong that most of the MoUs have become non-starters.
In this context, the notification of the FRA has accorded a new strength to the advocates of the rights of tribal people and forest-dwellers. Said Suresh Kishore, a Jan Andolan activist from Chitarpur in Latehar district, where resistance against land acquisition for a private power project is on: “Certainly, the FRA has given us a new instrument to fight for our rights, but we need to use it judiciously. ”
According to Kishore, even the geographical parameters of Jharkhand demand that the tribal population and other forest-dwellers stand united. For, the majority of forest-dwelling areas in Jharkhand are close to revenue villages. Forest-dwellers are geographically proximate to one village or the other and sometimes develop a kind of affinity to these revenue villages. This might lead to an insistence that the nodal implementation centre should be set up in one “favourite” village or the other.
Points like this were, of course, well taken at the meetings at Chandwa and other places. A lot in terms of implementation would depend on the commitment of the bureaucracy as well as the vigilance of social and political activists.
hinduonnet.com/ fline/stories/ 2008022950030100 0.htm
Add comment February 17, 2008
Jharkhand Forum hot discussions on interfering in to the lives of Tribals (Adivasi)
Respected Jharkhand Group members,
There was a long discussion / argument on this topic. Good! And now I also thought to give my FUNDA here.
First of all I should clear that there are different types of Adivasis / Tribes in India. They basically reside in remote areas / away from town or cities. Their civilization has grown up in the forests / hills / jungles since very early days. They have their own traditions / customs / language and even different religion. May be some of their traditions / social rules are interruptions in modern type development, but they are the pure worshipers of nature.
I don’t know much about the religion followed by the tribes of other parts of India but I know that most of Adivasis of Jharkhand, Orrisa, West Bengal and Chattishgarh i.e. Munda, Oraon, Ho, Santhal, Kharia etc. originally follow a religion called SARNA.
Before I proceed I should clear that personally I respect all the religions, whether it is Hindu or Christians or Shikhism or Muslim or Budhism. And, I expect that all the others should respect the religion SARNA. I strongly hate the people who deceive the others in the name of religion or God.
Unfortunately, Sarna people have NO written “Dharmik Grantha” like the Bible / the Geeta etc. In SARNA, the definition of GOD almighty is something like this: “BHAGWAN wo hai jiska na janam leta hai aur naa hi marta hai. jo nirakar hai, par prakruti ki har rachna mei vyapt hai.” According to Sarna Lord RAMA or KRISHNA or JESUS can not be Bhagwan, but they will be considered and respected as Ideal person or “Adarsh Purush”. Because, all these were born and died. In Sarna, the almighty God, a supernatural power which controls the world is known as SINGHBONGA. They worship Singhbonga through his Creations. Also, there is no concept of SWARG and NARAK in Sarna. They believe that after a person dies, he / she remain in house itself as HARAM HORO (PITRIDEVTA) .
This is a simple consept.
I am a Munda tribe. I have grown up in my village which is around 80 kms away from Ranchi and 40 kms from Chakradharpur. My village is situated in the hills and forests of PORAHAT in West Singhbhum district. Nearest bus stand is 7 kms away. I have grown up in village itself up to primary schools. But I am an IIT Graduate Mechanical Engineer. And I know the problems and the cause of problems of Adivasis. I have also seen how Missionaries have exploited the Religion SARNA.
One thing that is clear in my mind is that the Christians are very smart. Smart in the sence that they have successfully used the nice philosophical words of “Bible” for luring the Adivasis and taken the advantage of backwardsness / simplicity / innocency of tribes by presenting themselves as the well wishers of Adivasis.
They say that Sarna Adivasis can not develop unless and until they convert to Christians. They say that Christianity is the best religion in world. They also claim that God of Sarna (SINGHBONGA) is same as JESUS.
But I personally disagree when they say that Adivasis can not develop without converting their Religion. I believe that Development has nothing to do with religious faith. In Europian contries most of the people are NASTIKs, and the world knows that they are financially or technical advanced. I believe that Adivasis can develop while maintaining their unique culture. And, I also think that NO ONE SHOULD ATTACK / EXPLOIT THE SARNA.
This is also true that, literacy rate in Christian (converted) adivasis is higher as compared to SARNA adivasis. Converted adivasis are financially better than SARNA counterparts. But now the Adivasi people have realized that they can develop without converting the religion. That is why now the conversion rate is almost ZERO.
Here I would like to share some of my personal experiences.
If I am not wrong, Pahle (when missionaries entered in tribal region) ye missionary PRACHARAK / FATHER / BROTHER / SISTER / MOTHER etc khule SAAND ki tarha gaon gaon, ghar ghar ghum ghum kar, parche bantkar DHARM PRACHAR karte the, SARNA adiwasiyon ko LAALACH, bahla fusla kar unhe CONVERT karwa lete the. Khud mere ghar kitne pracharak aaye!! But now .. this activity has come down .. kyunki kuch aise father / brother etc ka MURDER / PITAI bhi huyi hai.
They say that they can follow and spread out the religion which they like, because this is their Fundamental Right. Yaar AAPKA FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT hai, Constitution ne RIGHT de rakhi hai .. ki “AAP APNE DHARM KA PRACHAR KAR SAKTE HAIN” .. iska matlab ye to nahin hota ki kisi ke ghar jakar uske dharm ki burai karo .. aur convert hone ko kahte firte raho, uksate raho!!
When I was a school student, at that time people tried at least ten times to CONVERT me. This is my personal experience.
In 1997, during my summer vacation I was spending my HOLIDAYS at my village. During that period I had to go for watching the Rice Crops (Garma Dhan) in the nights along with other villagers. Because during the nights wild animals like PIGS, Elephant come and destroy the crops. One day, a person from missionary community came to meet my father. Raat ko wo bhi humare sath hi sone aaya.
Wahan wo apni aukat pe aa gaya . He started eulogizing Christian religion. “Christian dharm sansar ka sabse achcha dharm hai. Babu, kabhi Ranchi ke maha girjaghar jakar dekhna, kitna achcha girja hota hai. Father ki prarthna ko jesus sunte hain .. babut chamatkari hota hai, rogon (ILLNESS) se mukti milti hai.” Etc etc. Aur hum log sunte rahe chupchap. Bahut achchi baat thi ki wo apne religion ki tareef kar raha tha. Ok .. jab wo tareef karte karte taq gaya to .. he started CRITICIZING SARNA religion. Usne khoob burai ki .. ji bhar kar. Ki kya tum log nadi kinare SAAL ped ke niche POOJA karte ho!! Ped (tree) Patthar (Stone) ki puja karte ho!! Etc. This was not OK, lekin ye bhi sun liya. There were 4 other villagers but he was mainly targeting me. His “PRAVACHAN” was beyond the limits to be tolerated. Mun to kar raha tha ki usko LATH maarkar usko raton rat ghar ka rasta dikha hun. Lekin, Adivasiyon ka SARNA dharm itna bhi UNCIVILIZED nahin hai ki ghar k eek guest se aisa salook kiya haye.
Uske baad usne last mei ek sentence kaha jo mujhe andar taq jhakjor gaya tha aur aaj taq mere deemag mei gunjta hai. Wo mujhe straight forward ye challenge kar gaya “Babu .. yadi tum aage badna chahte ho jeevan mei, to CHRISTIAN ban jao, warna kuch nahin kar pahoge. JAB TAK TUM CHRISTIAN NAHIN BANOGE TUM AADMI NAHIN BAN SAKOGE.”
Koi dusra ladka hota to dusre din hi convert ho jata. Lekin maine wahin, usi raat munn mei thaan liya ki “BETA TUM AISA BOLTE HO, MAI TUMHE BINA CHRISTIAN BANE HI AAGE BADKE DIKHAHUNGA.” Aur sach kahun to wo raat meri zindagi ka ek TURNING POINT tha. Us raat taq mera koi irada nahin tha Engineering karne ka. I was interested to go for defence.
Ab .. ye batao yaro .. ki BIBLE mei kahin likha hua hai kya ki logon ko is tarha .. wo bhi ek bachhe ko bahla fusla kar CHRISTIAN banao. Ya FUNDAMETAL RIGHT ke kisi ARTICLE mei ye kaha gaya hai!!!
When I was in MIDDLE SCHOOL, I remember .. school mei ek BROTHER hua karta tha, wo humhe ENGLISH padaya karta tha. I remember his name also … brother VINAY BECK. Text book mei ek chapter National Unity / “Unity in Diversity” pe tha. In that book only four religions were refered, HINDU/MUSLIM/ SIKH/ISAI. Tab wo bolta hai .. hanske .. “AREY ISME TUM LOGON KA MURGI POOJAWALA DHARM ka naam kidhar hai? Tum SARNA log kya bekar dharm mante ho!!” Ab ye batao mere ELITE friends, as a teacher kya wo sahi karta tha??
Meri apni mausi ko bhi uski teachers ne bahla fusla kar CONVERT kara diya, SISTER banwa diya, when she was studying in 8th standard!! Uske dimag pe Christian Dharma ka bhoot is kadar gusa diya tha ki she did not listen to her family members. I know.. I have seen her mother (my NANI) crying for her. Meri nani ki sirf betiyan hain, uske jane ke baad wo kitna royi. Uske illiterate mother father ko yeh kaha gaya ki unki beti ko “NAUKRI” mil raha hai. Aaj bhi jab mujhse milti hai to roti hai. Ab batao dosto, kya BIBLE mei likha hua hai ki kisi ki maa ko rulakar uski beti ko SISTER bana lo!!
SARNA dharm mei BEEF / FORK nahi khate hain. JETH apni bahu (apne chhote bhai ki bibi) ko chhuta nahi hai. Iska bhi Christian majak udate hain. Mujhe kai baar logon ne FORCE kiya ki “Mahesh tumhe BEEF / FORK khana chahiye, bahut achcha lagta hai, SEHAT badta hai.” SARNA mei pooja karte hain, uske liye kai Christians ne majak udaya.
Up to my 9th standard I used to attend the invitations in Christian Marriage Parties. But once I had intentially been given BEEF telling that this is KASSI (MUTTON). That was purposely done by the educated christians. Since then I have stopped attending any Christian parties. I know nothing will happen to my body by eating BEEF, but what is the need to eat BEEF!! My ancestors were farmers and we know the role and importance of OX and Cow in our life.
After joining my JOB people have also proposed me to marry 2-3 Christian GIRL and get Converted. When I rejected their offer, I was asked, “kya tum bhi religion ki poonch pakadte ke baithe ho? Christian ladkiyan bahut sundar hoti hain.” Yaar ab to Sarna Adivasi mei bhi well educated, beautiful girls mil jati hain, then what is the need of conveting religion for a girl.” Aap kahte ho .. kuch SARNA wale educated hone ke baad convert ho jate hain. Arey yaar .. unhe baar bar bol ke convert karwa hi liya jata jai.
Ye sirf meri kahani nahin hai .. ye bahut se SARNA adiwasiyon ki kahani hai. Aur ye kahna galat nahin hai ki har SARNA adiwasi ko life mei kam se kam ek baar to is tarha bahlaya, fuslaya jata hai, convert hone ko kaha jata hai. Missionaries target those boys and girls, who are studying in high schools.
Kabhi kabhi sochta hun … ki ye Christian missionaries .. sirf TRIBAL areas mei hi kaam kyun kiye. Kisi HINDU ya MUSLIM ya SIKH logon ke beech kyun nahin gaye. Sidhi si baat hai .. because unke beech jakar unke religion ke burai karma, aur apne Christian religion ki badai karna to bahut muskil kaam hota na!! Shayad JAAN taq gawane ki naubat aa jati.
Most of the TRIBALS are uneducated, illiterate. jisne jo kaha maan liye.. logon ne kaha tumhara dharm BAKWAS hai, Christian dharm sabse achcha hai .. MAAN liye. Kisi ne khana khila diya .. humne uska dharma apna liya. Ek HUMAN psychology hi hai ki kisi ne aapko kuchh de diya, to hum uski AHSANMAND ho jate hain, uski bat ko NAA nahin karte hain.
Chalo maan lete hain .. ki ye missionaries sirf ADIWASIYON ka udhar karne, develop karne aaye the, religion ka prachar karne nahin… to kyun nahin wo AFRICA/south AMERICA mei jate… wahan bhi to log underdeveloped hain!! kyunki wahan to bhai CONVERTION complete hai… wahan jakar log kya karenge! Mother Teresa had done excellent job for welfare of society. Lekin sawal hai … wo INDIA hi kyun aayi? Chaliye maan liya DEVELOPMENT karne. Par wo AFRICA/South America kyun nahin gayi … wahan bhi to log UNDERDEVELOPED hain. Par kyun jati .. WAHAN TO CONVERTION COMPLETE HO CHUKA THA.
Hum adiwasi logon ka area hi aisa hai ki humhe EXPOSURE nahin milta hai, develop kya karenge. Aur sach kahun to iske liye SARNA dharma jimmedar nahin hai.
Wo kahte hain … ki SARNA wale BHAGWAN / SIGHBONGA ke naam par MURGA/BAKRA ki bali chadate hain. Bahut kharchila hai. Bhai sahab, pooja karke fenkte to nahin hai, kha hi jate hain na. Bhai sahib, ye SARNA wale Church/Temple/ mosque banane mei rupya to nahin kharch karte hain. Phir .. jahan SARNA hota hai ..wahan koi TREE katte bhi nahin, and hence they are preserving the ENVIRONMENT. Can u give them ISO 14001 certification for protecting environment?
I don’t deny that missionaries have done great job for community development. The standard/quality of education in missionary school/college is much better than Govt school/college.
I also agree that following a religion is ones OWN will. But … I OBJECT my friends ki aap kisi ki majboori, innocency ka fayeda utha kar… kisi ko bahla fusla kar CONVERT kara lijiye.
If you see… ORAON community, you will find CONVERTION is more than 60%. You will also find that Oraon are in better conditions than MUNDAS, HO, SANTHAL, Kharia. Reason is that Oraons live near to town/cities like ranchi. If you see MUNDA and SANTHAL, conversion is low .. may be 20%. And they are not as much developed as ORAONs, because munda/santhal live in REMOTE villages. Adivasis are lagging behind because that they live in remote villages.
My ultimate request to Missionary Communities is that Please don’t attack or exploit the original Religion or faith of Adivasis. Let the Adivasis develope with their own religion, let them preserve their good traditions.
Sincerely Yours,
M.Maheshwar
Jharkhand Forum
A Global Network of Jharkhand
E-mail: forum@jharkhand.org.in
http://www.jharkhand.org.in/forum
Add comment February 12, 2008
Bokaro in danger of running out of iron ore
Bokarao Steel Plant is in danger of running out of iron ore in a few years time if current output is maintained, official sources say,
Current mining areas at Bokaro’s twin mines– Kiriburu and Meghataburu– together have reserves of mere 58 million tonnes, which would be depleted in just four to five years in the event of current output being maintained. Bokaro Steel plant contributes more than a quarter of SAIL’s profits.
Worse still, if Bokaro’s production is increased to 7.5 million tonnes as planned, then the reserves would be deplted even earlier.
Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) has been unable to start mining in other areas of its Kiriburu and Meghataburu leases due to delays in getting environmental and forest clearences from the Jharkhand government for fresh mining within its lease area.
Bokarao, which needs about ten million tonnes of iron ore annually to produce 4.5 million tonnes of steel, plans to increase output to 7.5 million tonnes within the next two years. Subsequently, Bokaro plans to increase production to 17 million tonnes by 2020.
SAIL wants to start mining at Kiriburu’s South Block which has a reserve of 60 million tonnes of iron ore and Central block of Meghataburu, which has 80 million tonnes of iron ore.
SAIL has also run into difficulties to renew leases at Chiria mines to feed steel making at Bokarao and IISCO, Burnpur and to start a new factory at Sarikela near Monoharpur. In all steel output at these three locations is set to go up to 32.5 million tonnes.
Sunday, February 03, 2008 12:30 IST
dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1148862
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Jharkhand News
news@jharkhand.org.uk
Jharkhand Online Network
http://www.jharkhand.org.uk
Add comment February 4, 2008
