THE BEST way to understand the phenomenon of tribal regionalism may be to study it within the socio-economic, geographical-political set up. Regional movements indicate that there is something wrong with the system. Very often answers to these could be found in the socioeconomic set up of the region. Movements of this nature aim at attracting the attention of the centre towards local problems. For the healthy development of the nation the state must respond promptly otherwise regionalism may get transformed into secessionism.
IT HAS been a common phenomenon in India that, wherever, local needs and aspirations are ignored for longer periods and the people start feeling that the state is not coming up to their expectation, separatist tendencies emerge. With the emergence of separatist tendencies, identification of oneself with the region gets a massive boost and this, in turn gives rise to regionalism which plays a vital role and provides mass support to separatist or secessionist movements.
SOCIAL scientists have often regarded religion as one of the important factors contributing to regionalism. However the case of India is different. Here the religious communities are distributed throughout the country and therefore religion may not contribute towards regionalism.
Instead, the varying socio-economic characteristics of different regions have played very important role in giving rise to regional movements. Thus most of the regional movements started in regions which were underdeveloped and exploited in every respect. The quest for regional identity is not always antithetical to the process of nation building. In its positive aspect regionalism connotes a quest for selfidentity and self fulfilment on the part of the particular region vis-a-vis over-all national development. In its negative form, however, it reflects a psyche of alienation from the national mainstream which may emerge from a sense of insecurity or deprivation and fear of domination.
THE Jharkhand movement in Central India and the tribal regionalism of north-eastern india are two most important examples. The agitation for a separate Jharkhand in the tribal populated regionspread over the four state of Bihar, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh and Orissa is not new. The movement for separate Jharkhand state started in 1939. In the national perspective it has assumed an extra dimension because of the fact that some of the country’s biggest public undertaking are situated in this region. The Jharkhand region comprises 21 districts in four states the most important of which are Palamau Hazaribagh, Dhanbad and Singhbhum in Bihar, Mayurbhunj, Keonjhar, Sundergarh and Sambalpur in Orissa, Purulia, Midnapore and Bankura in West-Bengal and Sarguja and Raigarh in Madhya Pradesh. The fault for the rising discontent lies with the state governments who have neglected the area to the hilt. Though the Chotanagpur plateau and the Santhal Parganas constitute the country’s richest mineral wealth tract and provided a major share of state’s income very little developmental work has been done in this area. The very fact that only five percent of the area is electrified testifies to the dismal situation.
THE disperate and unemployed tribal youth of the region now seems to think that a militant revolt is the only answer. They have long been witness to rampant corruption by government officials whose patronage to greedy contractors and businessman has already resulted in denundation of forests and reckless exploitation of the region’s mineral wealth andcreated an acute problem of livelihood of tribals. There is a popular song among the local tribals which echoes the stretches of the once thick forest of the jharkhand:” you enter our country thin as needle, but you leave it as thick as a plough share…”The term diku (outsider) has become synonym for robber. These words speak of volumes of story of exploitation. Dr. Ram Dayal Munda, former Vice Chancellor of Ranchi university and belonging to Munda tribe of the region expresses the popular feeling in the forthright manner. In an interview (1988) he says that though at the highest level there are good people, many well meaning and competent people. But in the middle and lower levels the functionaries have little commitment and the government does not unfortunately pay much attention. He suggests that the government have never been serious. Pointing towards one of the basic issues of the Jharkhand stir Dr. Munda remarks that government took over all the forests, ostensibly to manage them scientifically. Now let the government say how successful it has been. It has grossly mismanaged the forests which were the mainstay of Jharkhand economy. The forests have virtually disappeared and social forestry has failed to become people’ movement. Projects have acquired more land than necessary and the land has been used for private housing in many places while the original landowners have become destitutes. Government statistics will also corroborate the fact that contrary to the rules providing for reservation to the extent of 90 percent to the local people in employment and training, In practice it has been just the reverse. Land alienation continues unabated; outsiders continues to get preference in matters of training and employment and even loans. There is no evidence of decentralization.
THE state of affairs has taken such a turn that many of the aggrieved ones have started saying that Jharkhand is ‘internal colony’of Bihar. Apart from Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) the most important organisation in the movement the all Jharkhand Student’s Union (AJSU) has also been formed on the pattern of All Assam Student’s Union (AASU). According to newspaper reports, it has already become very popular. Itseems that theemotional phase of the movement is over and it has obtained intellectual maturity. Active involvement of some known intellectuals and political personalities have lent credibility to the movement. But the question which largely goes unanswered today is the feasibility of such a homeland now when the tribal population of Chotanagpur plateau and the santhal parganas region has considerably decreased. For example at the time of independence tribals constituted 60 percent of the population of Singhbhum district, now they constitute only 40 percent. There are tribes like the Birhors which are on the verge of extinction. The demography of Orissa, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal has also considerably changed; then the problem of link language in the proposed state. Different tribes living in this region have different dialects of their own without any common script.
JHARKHAND however should not be viewed in isolation. Regional imbalances and unfulfilled aspirations coupled with organised exploitation have found outlets in many other areas, too. Vidarbha in Maharashtra, the demand for Uttarakhand in Uttar Pradesh, Gorkhaland in West Bengal and so on are parts of the chain.
NORTHEAST India presents yet another scenario of tribal regionalism. Yet in the multiplicity of various separatist movements, big and small, the important ones are the case of the Naga and the Mizos. Here, tribal identity has been used as a defining character to evoke the support of the masses. Since a detailed description of the socio-economic and political background has been provided in the chapter on Discontent and Rebellion there is hardly any need of dwelling over it again. However, some supplementary comments would do. The cumulative effect of centuries old isolation led them to believe that their interests are not secured in the hands of the non-tribals. The political sensitivities of the Nagas came to surface as soon as the withdrawal of the British colonial power becamea distinct possibility.In the wake of independence in 1947 non-tribal people from all walks of life came in large numbers to settle in the hills. It was really unfortunate and disastrous that the first ‘Indians’ the Nagas came across were the greedy, crafty and cunning traders and contractors-businessmen who obviously came in search of greener pastures. However, the economic exploitation of the Nagas was confined to ‘manageable limits’ as the area was never really ‘swamped’ by non-tribals like the case with the Jharkhand.
THE so called ‘separatist’ tendencies among the Nagas and other north eastern tribes were initially only natural attempts on their part to define their socio-cultural identity vis-a-vis others in the new circumstances. For most tribes in north eastern hill areas the experience of being integral part of a nation is relatively recent and their difficulty in quickly and unqualifyingly accepting this fact needs to be sympathetically reviewed.The alleged oppressive role of our armed forces, in some cases, in the wake of Naga insurgency was also responsible for alienation and the consequent separatism and tribal regionalism. It must be noted that “regionalism is not merely an irrational outburst of primordial loyalties but it is the outcome of certain ‘power drives’ in a given community”. A country as large as India must have a better appreciation of regional cultures and at the same time the regional imbalances should be at the minimum level. We must adopt a policy of accommodation rather than assimilation.
THE echoes of Mizo‘problem barely faded away when the regionalistic movements of Zeliangrongs and Bodos came to the surface. About three and lakh Nagaland Zeliangrong Nagas have united , a minority under tribe the spread banner over of the Assam Zeliangrongs , Manipur People’s Convention (ZPC ) to seek a separate state. The leadership accuse the state governments of Assam, Manipur and Nagaland of neglecting the development of Zeliangrong inhabited areas and keeping the eyes closed over the open exploitation by the vested interests. The Zeliagrong people’s Convention’s spokesman has expressed the view that the state government insensitive and indifferent attitude to the ethnic aspirations of the Zeliangrong people were intolerable and their Zehangrongs tolerance had reached it’s limit.
THE proposed Zeliangrong homeland covers an area of 12,000 sq. km. and covers the sub-division of Nagaland, the North Cachar Hills and some parts ofthe Eastern Cachar district ofAssam and the western hills of Manipur.
THE Zeliangrong movement’s history dates back to 1930 when they revolted against the British.The struggle was led by Haipou Jadongang and Rani Gaidinliu. Jadongong was captured and executed at Imphal in 1931. Rani Gaidinliu who was only 17 years old took over the leadership but was soon arrested and imprisoned for life by the British rulers. Since the inception of ZPC in 1980 they have been demanding the integration of the Zeliangrong areas into a political unit. Till now their movement is largely free from any violent activities.
THE reorganization and divisions of Assam has still not atisfied all the groups. One more regionalistic movement is fast gaining ground in Assam and it is spearheaded by the All Bodo Students Union (ABSU): The main objectives of this movement is to get a homeland for the plains tribals of the state. The ABSU’s main demand is for the creation of a separate homeland with Union Territory status for the proposed homeland and its slogan is ‘Divide Assam Fifty Fifty”. They are of the view that the tribal homeland should comprise a stretch of territory along with the northern bank of Brahmaputra from Srirampur on the Assam – West Bengal border, in the west, to Sadia in the east. Its other demands include the extension of the Sixth Schedule of the constitution to the tribal dominated areas on the southern bank of the Brahmaputra and the creation of District Councils fortribals (except in karbi Anglong where an autonomous district council already exits). The call for a seperate tribal homeland is not new. In fact the Plains Tribals Council of Assam (PTCA) had raised the demand for ‘Udayachal’ in the late sixties but the then government had sabotaged the movement. Without going into merits of the demand it can be safely asserted that this movement is the by product of persistent neglect and exploitation of the tribal habitat. If the government is really serious in containing the growing tribal regionalism it would do well to ensure that the development work is speeded up in the tribal belts. In fact most of the agitations launched by the tribals and various other minorities are not without genuine reasons. These are not anti-national in nature. They merely demand that the constitutional provisions should be implemented in letter and spirit. They demand their legitimate share in the fruits of development and end to their planned exploitation.
WE SHALL be neglecting it at our own peril that regionalism is not only a geographical-political phenomenon but is a dynamic and multi-dimensional concept encompassing geo-physical, psychological, socio-cultural and politico-economic variables. Moreover tribal regionalism can never be tackled as merely a law and order problem, as we have been doing in their initial phases, but a multi-dimension alone deserving o be tackled with care, sympathy and appreciation of long suppressed tribal ,
aspirations.