What Democracy!
I stand in a unique position to evaluate what is being
considered as the greatest internal security threat to the Democracy of India.
I am the scion of a family that once had ruled over a race of indigenous tribes
in Harishchandrapur for 150 years giving me an understanding of their troubles
but I am also the descendant of the same people who ultimately ensured mass
conversions to Islam to escape from Religiously sanctioned extortion and
coercion that amounted to torture. However my family who were zamindars were replaced with Democratic
Bureaucrats whose Actions did not vary. The tribals even in Independent India
have faced a continuous and unabated stream of apathy and at times outright
animosity. While Minority Groups have had their rights protected by the
Government and their representatives and there has been a steady development
among the Scheduled Classes the Tribes remain even today bereft even of basic
primary education due to reluctance in the administration and severe economic
disparity in the Country and thus fail to even take advantage of the
Reservations allotted in higher education.
It is unfortunate that a section of the population with an
enviable physicality and mental resolve are today in the garb of terrorists
instead of adorning our Military and Police Services or bringing glory in
Sports. The simple Physical Conditioning of the Tribal Individual is at par
with the needs of the National Defence Forces but their regressive existence
where they lack exposure to the Modern World render them unfit for such duties.
Perhaps Recruitment Cells in the Tribal Areas for the Army and the Police could
germinate the seed of ambition in the Tribal Youth to take the path of
Patriotism instead of Leftist Extremism. Moreover like among the Santhals in
West Bengal a fear and hatred for the Police could be mitigated by the
Induction of the tribals in the same, a project the British had started with
Induction of the Athletic Santhals as Constables in the Calcutta Police Force
after the Santhal Revolution.
However no manner of economic reforms could successfully
bring the spectre of Extremism to extinction unless it was followed with social
reforms. The average Bengali barring the large number of practicing Communists,
veterans of many revolutions, even in today’s world suffers from a sense of a
superior state of existence to the tribals and the same is true in every state
of the Country. The Social Isolation of the Tribal Individual added to the
deprivation suffered at the hands of the Social forces finds no release in
special committees like those made for the Religious Minorities due to their
non-viability as a Vote Bank. Moreover the lack of Basic level of Education,
which is due to a lack of Governmental Schools in these regions, ensures that
they are unable to access any private means of Income while the path to
Government Services is barred as aforesaid due to the same. The simple
desperation leads to the extreme attachment to their land which it appears
always falls in Areas of Importance for the National Economy or Ecology. There
are greater Policy Makers than me but these seem to be the factors that give
birth to Incidents like the Slaughter of CRPF Jawans in Dantewada after which
the plight of the Tribals become a fashionable topic of discussion for a time
being and is then forgotten by both the Policy Makers and the Population and a
part of the National Citizenry continues to live in a state of existence sans
electricity sans education sans regular Nutrition even and continue an existence
dependent on Charitable Institutions and other NGOs and Socio-Religious
Institutions like the Ramkrishna Mission.
In such a situation where generations have taken birth under
the shadow of oppression and depression the path to Violent Revolution must
seem inviting to the Tribal youth which is complemented by the Romanticism of
the Communist Dream of a classless society. Perhaps like in North East and
Kashmir the Children should be taken on a tour of India to show them that there
is a life beyond the smell of Gunpowder they have grown up with and perhaps
then we will have a better World for them and for us.
