Adivasi - v28_No.3-4

Abstract

Tribal situation in the country has always been sensitive and vulnerable. The ethnographic accounts of the tribal communities give a chronicle of tribal disturbances which, have been taking place in a cyclic order in different parts of the country. The causes of tribal unrest [ire many, and of them the processes of land alienation, exploitation of the merchants and money-lenders, stringent forest policy restricting the freedom of the tribals over forest are most important.

Ever since the Independence of India in 1947 the. tribal areas are seething with discontent in greeter intensity and for the past decade or so the rumblings of the growing discontent bas beenexplosive and at times has led to large scale violence and armed conflict. The contemporary tribal rebellion and disturbance are mainly the results of various socio-psychological and political factors of which the complex processes of the adjustment of the tribal communities to the idiom of the emerging nation and the impact of the industrial and mining activities on the tribes are crucial. As a part of the economic development of the country, industrialization has come to India in a big way in recent times. Some of the tribal areas such as Bailadile in Bastar, Rourkela in Sundargarh and Hatia, in Ranchi which lay hidden in thick forests are already exposed to such development. The sound of the dumpers and bulldozers and. of the wheels of the mills can now be heard in such out of the way places where only chrips of birds disturbed the silence. The railway lines and the tarmac roads have made it easier for thousands of immigrants to reach these places which were a decade or so ago difficult of access 'and were thinly populated only by primitive tribes. Modern townships provided with facilities such as water supply, market center, school, hospital and residential quarters have changed the landscape of the area where only a few clusters of tribal huts were present. The most modern and the most primitive are in juxtaposition in these industrial and mining belts. In the wake of industrialization large scale acquisition of tribal land has taken place, and the forest economy of the tribals has been shattered. The tribals have been placed in a situation of sudden confrontation with thousands of intruders from all parts of the country. The outcome of these events is that the tribals have been displaced from their heard and home and are rendered landless and unemployed. They have also been over-taken by a feeling of fear and insecurity resulting in considerable psychological stress and strain Rehabilitation and colonization of the displaced tribals have been tried in many places. But improper attention, defective planning and the perfunctory manner in which the problem of resettlement of the affected tribals has been tackled have resulted more in failure than in success of these schemes and widespread resentment among the tribals. This book brings together the problems which the tribals are facing as a result of the, impact of the mining and-industrial activities on them. The main themes which were, studied are the processes of displacement, measures of rehabilitation, problems of adjustment of the tribals to industrial discipline, growing politicization of tribal situation and messianic movements and manifestations of tribal unrest. The mining and the industrial areas which are covered in the, study are Bailadila in Bastar (M.P,) where the mechanized iron-we mine is in operation, Rourkela in Sundergarh (Orissa) where the steel plant is installed and Ranchi in Bihar where the Heavy Engineering Corporation is in commission, A few tribal villages and rehabilitation centres were selected in the hinter land of the mining and industrial areas for the purpose of the study. A scientific study of the tribal unrest in its regional variations and ramifications is lacking. But the occurrence of growing tribal disturbances and discontent has been a matter of great concern to the social scientists in general and administrators and political leaders in particular.