Kandhmal violence: Tribals to join peace talks

Chakapada (Kandhmal): After a month of relentless violence driven by ethnic and communal passions, the tribals of Kandhmal on Sunday decided to join the peace talks.

Separate talks will be held between the administration and representatives from Christian and Hindu Pana communities. Senior government functionaries have made arrangements for organising the maiden joint meeting involving tribal Kandhs, dalit Panas and Christians at Phulbani on Monday.

"I appeal all of you not to engage in any act of violence for at least a month so that the government can fulfil some of our demands. If rioting continues then the administration cannot settle forged caste certificate and land alienation issues," Lambodar Kanhar, secretary of Kui Samaj Samanwaya Samiti told a convention of tribals.

"However, if the government does not keep its promises then we will again give a call to all of you to fight for our rights. In such an eventuality, the agitation would be much more intense and nobody can stop us," he warned, as the audience of around 1,000 tribals cheered him. Christian representatives and Hindu Pana community leaders, meanwhile, ventilated their grievances and demands at a meeting chaired by SC, ST welfare secretary Taradutt.

The tribal meeting to discuss peace, the first since communal and ethnic strife hit the region in the aftermath of Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati's murder on August 23, coincided with the spotting of the bodies of a couple in Badasalunki river at Bisipada village near here. The couple was killed at Sankarakhol on Thursday. Some tension between local women and CRPF personnel was also reported from Tikabali area.

Source: The Times Of India

The life of Benjamin Lakra

A professional writer, a social thinker, and the Accountant General of West Bengal


At the click of a mouse Benjamin Lakra can rattle off fiscal figures of the West Bengal government, which one may say, he is expected to, in any case, he being employed as an accountant general.

So, when one comes across books and articles credited to an author Benjamin Lakra, one can be forgiven for scratching one's head and wondering if the strong, satirical language dealing with burning issues of the day are by the same man busy compiling fiscal data. For, that's not very expected from a man dealing with fiscal figures. People often wonder if this is the same Benjamin Lakra about whom the young talk so enthusiastically and draw inspiration from. He is all this. And much more.

His life story is the story bollywood blockbusters are made of. There's simply no stopping him. Nothing ever did. For if a man didn't get disheartened even after having to work as a manual labourer after graduating from an institution like St Xavier's College, Ranchi, very little else can. And he proved it by continuously reaching new milestones in his career.

From his beginning in a middle class family in Jharain village of Simdega district to where he is now, it's a journey worth looking back with pride.

Coming to Patna after his graduation, he found the employment scene not so bright, even in mid 1970s. But not one to sit back and wait, he started with a job of loading sand on trucks and tractors at Pahalwanghat. Moving on to be a peon after a year, while holding on to hopes of better things. He kept up with his readings and writings, contributing articles to various leading periodicals, which was satisfying, but obviously not enough to make ends meet.

His hard work began to pay off and he became an assistant teacher in an English-medium school, which is today considered one of the best schools in the capital. After two years of dedicated teaching, he became the principal of the school. But he knew this was not the end of his destined journey.

Quitting the post, he became a clerk-cum-currency note examiner at RBI, Patna. In 1982 he was selected for the Indian Audit and Accounts Service (IAAS).

Today, after 25 years in the services, he stands as rooted to the grounds as he ever was, embracing all his achievements with a quiet humility, proud of the effort that has gone behind the carving out of his destiny, but not boastful of it.

He has held important positions in different parts of the country but remains one of the few senior officials who is accessible to people. But being accessible doesn't mean he doesn't know where to draw the line. Even off the record comments are hard to draw out of him, if he feels he ought not to.

But talk to him about contemporary literature, tribal affairs or challenges facing the youth, and he will pour his heart out. Ask him about this and he straightaway says: I am a munshi (accountant). Though I have updated accounts of everything, I cannot divulge information.

But that hardly matters. One has more interesting things to hear from him. With the kind of experiences he has picked up in his life, it's not surprising he has even penned an autobiography. True to his personality and interests, it's called Aye Yuva Tu Rota Kyun Hai? and hit the stands about 3 years ago.

It's not a soft, romantic rumblings of how he made it. It's very satirical and strong in its comments and confessions, which actually managed to stir quite a controversy in literary circles. This writer's honesty didn't even spare his father, which is evident from the title of the chapter dedicated to his father Abhaga ludhakta Patthar (unfortunate rolling stone).

His creative juices are far away from being dried up. Yuva Doston Ke Nam khusat Buddhe ki Chittiyan is his compilation of 12 well-researched articles. These articles give the youth valuable tips on personality development and character building.

It's a subject he has a sound grip on, his writings on youth and tribals published in leading journals already having been well appreciated by known anthropologists and social scientists.

A self-made man, Lakra doesn't even wait for publishers. He wants his ideas to reach the people, and to do which if he has to publish his works himself, he is willing to walk that extra step. He stocks and sells them from his house, too. For every problem, he has his solutions.

An active social worker, Lakra is also the president of Kurdeg Students Association. He was the secretary of RBI SC and ST Employees' Association and has been associated with various tribal and catholic organisations. He has addressed over a hundred social and religious gatherings in different parts of the country.

"Our youth needs proper guidance. I strongly feel that the youth today are emotionally challenged," he said. As if so many interests are not enough to juggle, Lakra is a keen gardener, too. And his wife Jacainta, who earlier worked as a translator with the Bihar government, says they hardly ever have to buy vegetables, rather, they even have enough to gift some away.

Having seen so many sides of him, Lakra is perfectly summed up by one of his probationers, who says Lakra is an inspiration for them, someone they can count on, always.

By Sudhir Kumar Mishra

Cut-off marks for STs in medical exam under SC scanner

The Supreme Court has agreed to examine the validity of the 40 per cent cut-off marks in entrance exam prescribed by the Medical Council of India (MCI) for Scheduled Tribe students seeking admission to medical and dental colleges.

A bench of Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and P Sathasivam has sought a response from the MCI, Dental Council of India and the Kerala Government on the issue.

Though the issue has been raised by some aggrieved students of Kerala, a decision by the apex court is bound to have its bearing on the rest of the country.

According to the petitioners, on account of the 40 per cent cut-off marks, reserved seats meant for tribals either remained unfilled or were filled by Scheduled Caste students or general category candidates, thus, frustrating the very purpose of reserving seats for the tribals.

Quoting statistics, the petition claimed that ST students who secured 90 per cent marks in the qualifying examination, were ranked behind the 10,000 top rankers in the entrance exam rendering them ineligible for admission as they had failed to achieve the 40 per cent cut-off marks.

The petitioners submitted that in the present academic year only two out of 51 seats allotted for the ST students in the medical stream were filled due to the cut-off marks being fixed at 40 per cent.

The petitioners said unlike other students, they did not have the wherewithal to afford high tuition fees to compete in the entrance exams for achieving the 40 per cent cut-off marks.
Hence, they wanted reduction in the cut-off marks to enable them successfully compete in the entrance exams.

Ancient genetic imprint unites the tribes of India

By Anil Ananthaswamy
NewScientist.com news service

The first humans to arrive on the Indian subcontinent from Africa about 65,000 years ago left a genetic imprint that can still be found in the tribes of India.

Anthropologists have long argued over the genetic makeup of the country's population, because of its complex history of migrations and movement.

The first humans to people the sub-continent came from Africa, following the so-called southern route, along the tropical coast of the Indian Ocean.

"Whether the original inhabitants of India were replaced by more modern immigrants or contributed to the contemporary gene pool has been debated," says Michael Bamshad of the University of Washington in Seattle, who has studied the genetic diversity of India.

One way researchers have used to figure this out is to use linguistic groups.

The tribes speaking Indo-European languages, for instance, are known to be descendants of the people who migrated into India relatively recently from Central Asia and the Caucasus. It was also thought that the Austro-Asiatic speakers were direct descendants of the original settlers.

Mothers of India
To determine which groups can trace their ancestry to the founding population of India, Vadlamudi Raghavendra Rao of the Anthropological Survey of India in Kolkata and his colleagues analysed 2768 samples of mitochondrial DNA taken from 24 tribes all over India.

Mitochondrial DNA is inherited from the mother, so can be used to trace the maternal lineage of a population.

The researchers looked for a particular set of mutations in the mitochondrial genome called the M2 haplogroup. This set of genetic markers is unique to India and is a sub-lineage of the M haplogroup that identifies the first humans who arrived in India from Africa 65,000 years ago.

The analysis showed that the M2 lineage began in India about 50,000 years ago, about 15,000 years after modern humans arrived.

The team also found that the M2 lineage and its branches made up nearly 10% of the mitochondrial DNA of the studied tribes.

"We found these 'footprints' in all the tribal populations," says Rao. "We analysed the most primitive tribes, spread over the south, central and east India and found the signatures of earliest antiquity."

Unifying genes

Significantly, the M2 lineage cuts across major linguistic barriers. The new study shows that both the Dravidian and Austro-Asiatic language groups share these same genetic markers.

According to team member Satish Kumar, the M2 haplogroup can also be found, albeit with reduced frequency, among members of the so-called higher castes of India, such as the Brahmins (priests) and the Kshatriyas (warriors).

Upper castes are thought to be the outcome of the arrival over time of a more technologically advanced people that marginalised the indigenous population, starting about 10,000 years ago.

Even these new migrants assimilated into India and to some extent mixed with the population, as the presence of M2 genes in the group attests.

"The early settler component is not restricted to one particular language family, or one particular population," says Kumar.

Rao agrees. "Biologically, there are no castes and tribes, there are only communities," he says

India's first tribal varsity starts working in MP

Tribal students of India have a better study option now as Indira Gandhi National Tribal University, country's first tribal varsity, has started functioning in Madhya Pradesh. Intake of students and recruitment of teaching faculty are underway.

India’s first tribal university has started functioning from 2008 session at Amarkantak, a town in Anuppur district in Madhya Pradesh.

The university has been set up with the aim to promote higher education among the Scheduled Tribes (ST). Authorities of the university like executive council, academic council, college development council, boards of studies, academic boards, management boards and finance committees will be chosen from among the ST community.

Union Human Resource Development (HRD) minister Arjun Singh had laid the foundation of the first of its kind university at Amarkantak on April 19, 2008. This tribal institution is yet to have its own academic council and currently it has adopted the syllabus of Banaras Hindu University (BHU) for the courses. Meanwhile, the varsity has started the recruiting process of its registrar and teaching faculty.

Named as Indira Gandhi National Tribal University (IGNTU), it has provided enrollment to 150 students this year. The university will offer courses in humanities, commerce and research on tribal affairs. CD Singh vice-chancellor of IGNTU informed mediapersons that the university has given admission to about 150 students, including 100 belonging to tribal communities. It is offering bachelors degree programmes in anthropology, tourism, political science, geography, history and commerce.

However, the university does not have teachers and a campus of its own. A major portion of the land area allocated for it comes under the forest land and it has not been transferred to the university till date. For the time being, it has hired a building of an ashram at Amarkantak where the classes will be conducted.

Amarkantak has been chosen as the university site because it is a central point of the tribal areas stretching between Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Maharashtra. With its headquarters at Amarkantak, the university will also have its regional centres and campuses in other tribal pockets of the country.

IGNTU has been founded under a Central law enacted last year. It will be funded by the University Grants Commission (UGC) and will have jurisdiction all over the country. Established on the pattern of existing central universities of the country, it will cater to the tribal people of Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Gujarat.

The education of the tribal people has been a matter of concern for the Central government since 1947. In fact, gross enrolment ratio (GER), which is measured with the percentage of people of the relevant age group in the realm of higher education is very low among the tribals. While the national GER is 11.6 per cent, the GER of tribal people is just 6.6 per cent. Hopefully, the university will succeed in reducing the gap between the national and tribal GER percentage and also promote education among tribals.

What's new at Cultural Survival?

One-year Anniversary of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples:September 13th marks the historic adoption by the United Nations of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples after over 25 years of lobbying by indigenous peoples. Les Malezer, Cultural Survival board member and former chair of the Global Indigenous Peoples Caucus on the Declaration said in his statement honoring the anniversary, "It is pleasing to report that during the past year there has been rapid growth in the awareness of the Declaration and the expectation that change must occur. Indigenous Peoples everywhere are citing the Declaration as a standard to be met. The rights contained in the Declaration are being used by Indigenous Peoples as benchmarks for outcomes. Many governments are also responding in a positive way. In Latin America in particular we can see governments are taking steps to incorporate the standards into laws and are distributing copies of the Declaration to the Indigenous communities." Despite these successes much remains to be done and the focus is now on putting the document into practice.

Source: cultural survival e-news

Chhattisgarh Govt. fails to provide security to tribals: Soren

RAIPUR: Jharkhand Chief Minister Shibu Soren today charged the BJP government in Chhattisgarh of having failed to provide security to the thousands of tribals from Maoists.

"Is Salwa Judum our culture," asked Shoren addressing a rally here at Gandhi Maidan while referring to the controversial anti-naxal campaign going on in the Bastar region of Chhattisgarh.

"Thousands of people are living in (Salwa Judum) camps. But due to lack of security by the State government several were killed by Maoists in those places," he said.

Asking the SC and ST communities to leave liquor consumption and other bad habits which are affecting the culture, the tribal leader said.

"If culture and tradition are not protected then a civilisation would be endangered. The tribals are not getting respect in Orissa, Chhattisgarh and many other places," he said.

If the exploitation of tribals was not stopped there could be a revolution for justice, Shoren said adding that it takes hardly any time in democracy to change the guard.

The rally was also addressed by some SC and ST leaders of Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand.

Source: The Economic Times

Assam tribals demand stoppage of illegal migration from Bangladesh

Ethnic tribal groups in Assam have called upon the central government to enforce an “effective” legal mechanism to tackle the problem of illegal migration from Bangladesh.

The All-Assam Tribal Sangha, an umbrella organisation of different ethnic groups in the state, has also made an appeal to the Indian government to gear up vigilance infrastructure along the borders with Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan to check the threat of demographic invasion.

The Sangha, which had a meeting with different tribal groups on the subject, feared that infiltration from Bangladesh may intensify in the coming days, with environmentalists predicting that one-third of Bangladesh would submerge because of rising sea-level due to global warming.

The sangha in a resolution stated: “It is high time now that an effective legal mechanism is evolved to hasten the detection and deportation of infiltrators. Equal importance should be given to having a strong deterrent force along the borders of not just Bangladesh but Nepal and Bhutan as well”.

Demanding special constitutional safeguards, if necessary by amending the Constitution for the indigenous people of the state, the tribal body said that all the tribal autonomous council areas in Assam should be brought under the Sixth Schedule of the Indian Constitution besides introducing the inner-line permit system in the state.

The umbrella tribal body also demanded a blanket ban on transfer of land ownership in tribal belts in the state.

Kerala tribals to export organic pepper to Germany

KOCHI: Kerala’s tribals are now exporting spices to foreign shores. This is what government’s tribal empowerment programme has achieved in a few years’ efforts.

In a rare move, the tribals in the Periyar Tiger Reserve will export four tonnes of pepper produced in the reserve forest through organic farming to Germany soon.

According to forest officials, a deal to this effect has been signed between the Eco Development Committee of Periyar, under the State Forest Department, and Ecoland Herbs and Spices of Germany.

The export will fetch 33 per cent more price for the pepper, according to forest department officials.

The pepper to be exported was produced in the tribal settlements of Mannakudi, Puliakudy and Mannan and in the tribal hamlet of Vanchivayal under the Vallakkadavu forest range.

Periyar Foundation, the apex body of eco development committees in the tiger reserve, has received the quality certification for export of farm products from an organic certifying agency in Germany and the import-export code from the joint director of exports in Kochi.

This is for the first time in the country that a farm produce from tribal settlements is being directly exported to overseas markets.

Officials said the forest department, in association with Periyar Foundation, would market ginger and turmeric, apart from pepper, produced in the region by keeping the middlemen away.

Betrayed Innocence

By Gladson Dungdung
8 September, 2008

Poorly rehabilitated, adivasi families displaced by the Malay Dam in 1983 in Palamu of Jharkhand are now accused of encroaching on forest land

The adivasis, mostly the victims of the development process in India, rarely reap the benefits of it. The three buzz words – compensation, rehabilitation and development—are widely propagated during the land acquisition for dams, industries, mining companies, power plants and other development projects but ground realities the displaced masses live with are different. The agony of 56 Chero adivasi families who were displaced in 1983 during the construction of Malay Dam, situated at Satbarwa block of Palamu district in Jharkhand, discloses the truth of how the displaced struggle for survival after being betrayed in the name of compensation, rehabilitation and development.

These Adivasis had been living in Katautia and Dodang villages for generations, now submerged by the reservoir of the Malay Dam. They had adequate agricultural land, where they used to cultivate paddy, wheat, mustard, pulse and vegetables for their consumption and the surpluses were sold in the local market to meet other needs. 70 year-old Ganeshi who owned 29.85 acres of fertile land, received merely Rs. 36,000 as compensation and became a daily wage labourer says, “My family members were never used to earning livelihood from daily wages. We had more than enough land to sustain our families for years.” “None of 56 families had ever been labourers but we were simply betrayed in the name of rehabilitation. Now we have only daily wages as a major source to sustain our families,” he added.

According to the Land Acquisition Act 1894, the affected families must be served a notice prior to land acquisition. Here, the construction of dam was initiated in 1980 without any information. The purpose of dam was to irrigate approximately 65 thousand acres of land in three development blocks – Satbarwa, Lesliganj and Daltonganj. The Adivasis were promised adequate compensation for their land, government jobs to all 56 families and rehabilitation with all facilities including hospital, school, drinking water, paved road and electricity. Their village was supposed to be a model for the district.

But even these promises did not convince the Adivasis to leave their ancestral land. They resisted the displacement. According to 65 year-old Budhan, their fight with the police with their traditional weapons including bows and arrows continued till the dam was almost ready in 1983, when they were asked to vacate the village. When they refused, the police arrived at night, put them in trucks and were taken to the Land Acquisition Office in Daltonganj and locked up. They were threatened with dire consequences if attempted an escape. “Police told us if we agreed to vacate the village we are safe. Otherwise our remaining goods would go under water,” said Budhan.

Finally, the Adivasis were dumped in a new area and the village was named “Kushikarma”. They were compensated for their multi-cropping land at two thousand per acre, plus the revenue from the rabbi harvest. All 56 families were given plots in the hilly area for their houses. But merely 34 of them were given government jobs as peons in the irrigation department, 22 of them are still in the waiting list. Their struggle for livelihood began in their new village situated in the hills, where only maize could be cultivated. They started clearing trees and bushes for agriculture to sustain their families, but the forest department termed them encroachers. They filed cases against all 56 families alleging they were cutting trees and encroaching on forest land. A few of them were put behind bars but escaped after bribing the forest officials.

When Bhudhan cleared bushes to grow crops, he was thrown behind bars for a year and is still not off the legal hook. He fears going to jail a second time. The nightmare of displacement has stayed with him. He says, "We had demanded that they shoot all 56 families rather than move us to some barren land. This would have spared us of the pain of having to die everyday. The local MLA Indarsingh Namdhari was for the dam. He had said that as long as the Palamu farmers got water for their land, the submergence would not be a cause for concern.

35 year-old Lalan was merely 10 years old when his family was asked to part with their 21.62 acres of land, providing for their subsistence. Apart from the monetary compensation package and the plot for the house, his brother was given the job of the peon in the irrigation department. When the family settled down at Kushikarma village, Lalan started clearing bushes and prepared a few patches of land. But his desperate hunt for livelihood was soon declared illegal. The case against him, again, for encroaching on forest land was only withdrawn after bribing a forest department official.

The water from the Malay dam never reached to the proposed areas of Lesliganj, where 10 Dalits families died of starvation in 2004. They were agricultural labourers but did not get work due to drought. Ironically, the canal from the dam passes close to the rehabilitated village “Kushikarma” but never reaches them. If the displaced people had gotten water to irrigate their barren land, they could have gone for two crops. Now, the male members migrate to Punjab, Gujarat and Delhi in search of livelihood. Kushikarma still does not have a school or a health centre.

Only 30 families remain in the village, others have migrated. A few of them returned to the dam site where they at least get the opportunity to cultivate the rabbi crop and fish in the reservoir. The state cabinet of Jharkhand has passed the Resettlement and Rehabilitation Policy 2008, hailed as a panacea for addressing the issue of displacement but this does not cover the already rehabilitated. But, if the government cannot rehabilitate a mere 56 families, how will they rehabilitate the masses? For the ‘development’ and displacements have only begun.

Gladson Dungdung is a Human Rights Activist. He can be contacted at gladsonhrights@gmail.com

Dalit-tribal rivalry behind Kandhmal riots?

The week-long communal frenzy in Kandhmal has had one focus. Attack and destroy everything that's Christian: churches, homes and followers.

But significantly, one section of Christians has been left untouched -- the tribal Kandhs.

Not one of them has been killed, nor a single tribal home attacked by Hindu rioters. The major targets are Pano Christians, who are Dalits.

And in many villages, Hindu Panos have been attacked, like in the predominantly Christian Pano village where 20 percent of the population is Hindu.

Kuna Digal, resident of Sodonmendi says, "Both Christians and Hindus live together here." On being asked why was the village targetted, he replies: "This is a war between SC and ST. The tribal attackers do not choose between Hindus and Christians."

But the administration refuses to accept this.

Suresh Mohapatra, commissioner in charge of Kandhmal relief operations, says, "This time it's totally a communal fight and already substantial damages have taken place."

Kui Samaj, the highest body of Kandhs, says tribals are attacking all Panos irrespective of their religion because a threat letter similar to the one issued against Swami Laxmananand before his murder was sent to their president. The kandhs believe the letter was sent by a group of Christian Panos.

Lambodar Kanhar, president, Kui Samaj, Kandhmal says, "It started as a communal war but once the tribals came to know that I have received death threats they got angry and that's why it has taken a different hue now."

During the ethnic riots in the area in 1994, Kandh tribals burnt hundreds of Pano homes and killed 22 of them. The riots in December last year and even now bear the stamp of the century-old ethnic conflict between tribal Kandhs and dalit Panos. And what has complicated things is the dominance of Panos among Christians in Kandhmal.

By Sampad Mahapatra, NDTV