Tuesday, October 27, 2009

BTN: Crushed in the middle- Ramachandra Guha's article in Hindustan times

Sleeping son doesn't get any share in property (a popular proverb in Odia to emphasize that one must earn his share, by working hard, like others).
 
Majority of people are sympathetic to the sorry state of tribals and blame the governments for their sufferings. I , once a Government job aspirant-turned-private sector struggler, somehow have  a different opinion, being aware of the hard works put forward by individuals, who believe in the "system" as opposed to "Governments"
 
I believe that the Government is there to build a system, where a qualified citizen can find "a" job as opposed to "the" (reserved) job and survive by utilizing his hard work and skills.
 
All these 60+ years, the tribals ran away from education (didn't pay attention) and now, when it is too late, they realised that 'they were left behind" even from the scheduled castes and upper caste poor citizens.
 
Some will put the blame on Government because of lack on infrastructure in tribals areas. I put the blame on tribals as they didn't think of quitting their native place.
 
 
States own the mines - but Center allots them based on recommendation of the CM. Had the tribals been studied "CIVICS" (abridged version of Indian public administration, government and politics) in school, they would have known about their rights in a democracy themselves, without depending on activists.
 
Some may mock my views saying that when tribals are worried about food, I am talking about education as if that would provide them a job. What is the benefit of such education, which can't provide a job ?
 
Yes there are advantages. Any one can easily deceive gullible people; communists, activists, Christian missionaries and Naxlites hunt 'tribal minds" because of whatever reasons, I failed to understand.
 
The CM-industrialist nexus usually brought/bring loss to state exchequer; the Communication minister RAJA -Industrialist caused 60000 crore loss to Central Government's treasury. PM is worried about his job and gave Raja a clean chit. Raja's spectrum scam money detoured to Karunanidhi's party or family. We know this for sure, may bark but can't bite in a weak legal system and a compromised CBI ;have to bite dust. What happened to the seized 1800 crore from Om Prakash Chautala's residence ?Any news ? no.. . after 5 years Jats elected him as leader and made him a powerful opposition leader.In another 5 years, he will be elected as CM. This is our proven system where Lalu, Jaya,Chautala, Mayawati and Mulayam can survive and  Bangaru(s) are caught.
 
The "SYSTEM", which is managed by Government comes with the above kind of burden and we have to close our eyes and focus on the "SYSTEM" to survive.
 
How efficient the modern day Governments are ? and How a CM ends up in an industrialist's pocket ?
 
These are common sense, which average citizens know and hence don't look at Government to solve their problems. The far from the Government, the happier you are because you will love taking risks and grow with all kind of trouble caused by life. Most of educated, semi-educated and labors migrate to metros/big cities to kick-start their career, some times from a polythene slum.
 
A brilliant example would be our state and university employment exchanges. They were formed to provide the job seekers, interview call letters and had any one taken them seriously,waited for an interview call letter, would have died in hunger.
 
In Hyderabad, near Miyapur Chauraasta, there are thousands of polythene (tent) slums and I will bet, there won't be a single tribal. They may be scheduled castes and upper class poors. They migrated to a big city to to earn their bread and butter because there are huge apartment complexes nearby and there are people, who might hire them for  babysitting or housekeeping/cleaning activities. Why can't the tribal activists motivte tribals to come out of the cage and live with the system, just like other slum dwellers ?
 
Tribals are also BPL people. but it appears that they are not smarter BPL people and hence can't think of living in the "system" (aka without Government). They didn't learn the very language, which was the basis of division of states in India. Even Malayalees and other Dravidian people could learn Hindi but tribals won't do that. Even during a Rajya Sabha debate, a tribal MP of  Orissa, couldn't communicate his thoughts to then Science-technology minister Kapil Sibal; leader of Rajya Sabha B.J.Panda had to cover for him and rephrased the mind of the tribal MP. Is it difficult for a millionaire MP to enhance his communication skills ? International Call centers in India have got excellent training facility on communication and personality development. But, our so called tribal MP won't go for that;probably they are still waiting for a free government sponsored training !!. Not even ready for an on-the-job training, when he earns millions towards salary, perks and allowances.
 
An average healthy person, visits a doctor about 8 times in a year. If the doctor charges Rs. 50/- per visit - a spending of Rs. 400/- . In India, unlike USA, even medical stores can give  prescription only drugs without prescription; the doctor's fee $1 is by passed. In USA, a standard doctor gets around $125 to $200 for writing a prescription. We think that once in a while spending $1 for a doctor from our pocket is too much and wait for Government to  provide us socialised health care "free".
 
There is hunger - tribals are hungry. Some may not be getting two full meals. But, don't you think that they should share majority of the blame because they never came forward to work in a "system"  and always waited for the "Government" to take care of them ?
 
Comments welcome ..
 
 
 
Thanks
Manoj Padhi
 
 
On Tue, Oct 27, 2009 at 6:39 AM, G. Srinivas <dhimsa@gmail.com> wrote:

Crushed in the middle

Ramachandra Guha

As the Union government prepares to launch an offensive on Maoist
revolutionaries, I am reminded of three conversations that I heard or had in
Chhattisgarh in the summer of 2006. The first took place in the state
capital, Raipur, at the home of the leading Congress politician, Mahendra
Karma. Karma was the begetter of the Salwa Judum, a vigilante army that has
been responsible for a wave of killings, rapes and lootings that has forced
thousands of tribals into refugee camps.

In an interview with a citizens� group, Karma suggested that all means were
fair in fighting an enemy as determined as the Naxalites. My colleague,
E.A.S. Sarma, a retired civil servant legendary for his intelligence as well
as his integrity, suggested that a wiser strategy would be to make adivasis
partners in the development process. The state government had just
sanctioned a slew of mining projects; why not allocate a substantial stake
to the adivasis, as was permitted by Schedule V of the Constitution of
India? Then the adivasis would place more faith in the government�s good
intentions, and turn their back on the Maoists. Karma dismissed this as the
utopian talk of �you intellectuals and human rights wallahs�.

The second conversation took place in a refugee camp on the banks of the
Indravati river. Here, a Muria school-teacher told me, in Hindi, �Naxaliyon
ko himmat nahin hai ki wo hathiyaron ko gaon ke bahar chhod kar hamare beech
mein behes karen� (the Naxalites do not have the guts to leave their arms
outside the village and have a reasoned discussion with us).

The conversation with Karma underscored the failures of the Indian State. As
numerous studies have shown, the adivasis have gained least and lost most
from six decades of political democracy and economic development. In terms
of access to decent healthcare and education, they are worse off than
Dalits. In terms of representation at the high levels of the state, they are
worse off than both Dalits and Muslims. They have not merely been neglected,
but more actively dispossessed. From the 1950s to the 1980s, the tribals
lost their homes and lands to large dams and commercial forestry schemes.
Now, under the guise of globalisation, they lose them to mining projects.

Their exploitation at the hands of the politician-contractor-industrialist
nexus forced many adivasis into the waiting arms of the Maoists. Thus, while
there was scarcely a Naxalite in Orissa a decade ago, the handing over of
large tracts of tribal land to mining companies has provoked sharp conflict
and an escalation of extremist activity in the state.

The remarks of the Muria teacher, meanwhile, underscored the authoritarian
methods of the Maoists. They come into a village, call a meeting, stand with
rifles at the ready and ask the tribals: �Now tell us whether you�re with
us�. The support they receive is not always through a process of
consultation � rather, it�s often compelled through fear. The Maoists also
fetishise violence, killing petty government officials who can scarcely be
termed �class enemies�, while subjecting so-called informers to kangaroo
courts that order their limbs be amputated.

The third conversation was with an unlettered adivasi deep in the forests of
Dantewada, who summarised the conflict between the State and Naxalites in
these chillingly unforgettable terms: � �Hamein dono taraf se dabav hain,
aur hum beech me pis gaye hain�. An altogether more prosaic rendition in
English might be��Pressed and pierced from both sides, here we are, crushed
in the middle�.

Viewed historically, a triple tragedy has been unfolding in central India,
the unvarying feature of which is that it is always the adivasis who are the
victims. The first tragedy began with the takeover of their forests by the
British, and has continued since Independence with their further
dispossession at the hands of both State and market. The second tragedy
commenced with the onset of electoral democracy in India, where, as a
powerless minority, the tribals have failed to activate the provisions of
the Constitution designed to protect their rights and interests. The third
tragedy commenced with the advent of the Maoists, whose path of armed
struggle, while intensifying violence in the short-term, offers no hope of a
long-term solution either.

With the refusal of the Maoists to lay down arms, and the Home Ministry�s
decision to send in massive forces to quell them, there may yet be a fourth
tragedy in the making. The obligation to prevent this lies with both the
Maoists and the government. I have no way of reaching the former, but can,
as a tax-paying and voting citizen, at least hope to address the latter.
Rather than think in narrowly militaristic terms, our political class should
consider constructive long-term measures to bring dignity to the tribals.
Thus, state and central governments must put in place a ban on new mining
schemes, and make tribals partners in the mines and factories already
sanctioned. They must also implement health and education policies that
allow tribals to compete on equal terms with the rest of the nation.

The social analyst Badri Raina recently wrote that �not a school, not a
dispensary, not a policeman, not a land-revenue dispensation, not a
government office, not a road, bridge or culvert, nor drinking water or
assured supply of the barest modicum of food is to be found in [many parts
of] Bastar, Dantewada, Koraput, Gadchiroli and so on.� Sending in fresh
battalions with deadlier armaments will solve nothing if unaccompanied by a
genuine desire to make amends for the neglect and abuse of adivasis by
governments of all parties down the decades.

Ramachandra Guha is the author of India After Gandhi: The History of the
Worlds Largest Democracy

The views expressed by the author are personal
http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print/468074.aspx
--
G.Srinivas/Samata
D.No.- 14-37-9, Krishna nagar
Maharanipeta, Visakhapatnam
Mobile : 9989860484
Telefax : 0891-2737662
www.samataindia.org
www.dhimsa.net
http://mmpindia.blogspot.com/



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