20 tribals die in Jharkhand in one month

Despite a plethora of welfare schemes, 20 members of three primitive tribes of Jharkhand have died during the last month.

The government has attributed the deaths to food poisoning while social workers say the deaths occurred due to malnourishment.

In Chatra district alone, 17 members of two primitives tribes have died in two villages, officials say.

In Hindiyakala village, around 210 km from state capital Ranchi, eight members of the Birhor tribe died early in October while nine members of the Baiga tribe died.

Two members of the Birhor tribe died in Koderma district in the last one week while one death has been reported from Dumka district.

"In Hindiyakala, the Birhor tribals died due to hunger. They were not getting foodgrain from the public distribution system for a long time," said Balram, an advisor to a panel appointed by the Supreme Court to supervise the food security schemes in the state.

He also refuted the claim of government officials that the tribals died due to food poisoning.
The Jharkhand government last week constituted a three-member committee headed by Welfare Secretary U K Sangama to assess the situation in the three districts and probe the cause of the deaths.

"We will submit our report to the chief secretary on Friday," said Sangama.

Jharkhand has 30 tribes, of which nine have been declared as primitive tribes. Their population is just 0.80 per cent of the states' 26.90 million population. The state government runs 10 schemes for them, among others, to provide jobs to youth who complete their schooling, food and housing but despite this, the population of the primitive tribes is declining and hunger deaths are reported, officials privately admit.

"We plan the programmes and ensure funds, but the schemes have to be implemented by the district administration," a defensive Sangama said.

"We will ensure free foodgrain for the primitive tribes. All necessary steps will be taken to prevent malnutrition among them," was all that Jharkhand Chief Minister Shibu Soren said when asked about the deaths.

Source: NDTV

Tribal service wins NGO award

Ranchi: A Jharkhand based NGO has been selected for the Swami Rama Humanitarian Award 2008 for its contribution in tribal welfare.

The NGO, Vikas Bharati, would be given a cash prize of Rs five lakh along with a citation at a ceremony to be held in Dehradun on November 13.

The award has been instituted by the Himalayan Institute of Hospital Trust, which runs a post-graduate medical institute and hospital with 700 beds at Dehradun and works for micro rural development, health, education and water management.

A panel of judges headed by former chief justice of the Supreme Court M.N. Venkatachaliah selected Vikas Bharati for its work in remote villages in Gumla and Latehar districts. “The award is an honour for the members of Vikas Bharati, who work tirelessly for the development of the tribals,” said Ashok Bhagat, the secretary of the NGO.

Source: The Telegraph

Tribals pitch for separate identity

Two hundred adivasi leaders assembled in Delhi on Wednesday to demand recognition of their religion in the national census. Tribals worship nature but are often categorized as Hindus or slotted under other religions by census enumerators.

With a population of over 8 crores, adivasi groups say it's time for the government to recognize "adhi dharma" as a separate religion.

The group will meet the Home Minister on Thursday.

Rameshwar Oraon, Minister of State for Tribal Affairs says: "Adivasis come third after Hindus and Muslims. Yet there is no separate category for our religion. We are put under Hindu or other religion. We demand that a separate column be made for adivasis."

The development comes at a time when reports have come in from different parts of the country, including Kadhmal in Orissa, that tribals are being increasingly categorised as Hindu.

Dr Karma Oraon, head of anthropology department at Ranchi University, says: "This has been going on for a long time now. We should have reacted earlier. But over the last thirty years, we are now coming together and fighting to save our religion."

Adivasis say this is a fight for their religious identity.

Source: NDTV

Just cards, but no jobs for Tribals

Dumka: When job cards were distributed among villagers of Chiharbona under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) in 2006, migrant labourers had started dreaming of a dignified life. But, two years on, their hopes have nosedived.

Reason: the tribal daily wagers of the hamlet never got a job against the card though it is mandatory under the act to provide 180 days of work against the card.

Located around 20km away from Dumka district headquarters, Chiharbona, a typical tribal hamlet, does not have any income-generating opportunities. Lack of irrigation facilities and infrastructure has made life difficult for the residents of the hamlet.

The village, divided into six tolas (localities), comprises Santhals, Paharias and economically weak non-tribals. Most of those living there are daily wagers and many migrate to distant places in search of jobs.

“When 44 people from our village received the job cards in 2006, we thought our fortune would change in soon. But now we are frustrated,” said Sibodhan Marandi, a resident of the village. Suresh Moholi, Marandi’s neighbour, echoed him.

A block worker said that no work had been allotted under NREGA in the village. He 6also disclosed that job cards were not distributed among several villagers due to lack of work.

The frustrated villagers have not thrown away the cards, though. They still have a glimmer of hope.

With cards in plastic covers, several of them are still running from post to pillar to get some job. It’s a different matter that they have no idea when the card would actually establish their right to work.

Babu Dhan Hansdak, a landless labourer of Chiharbona, Premlal Marandi and Dhaneshwar Marandi are still hopeful that one day their cards would fetch them jobs.

Source: The Telegraph

Fanning Communal Fires

BY GLADSON DUNGDUNG
20 October, 2008

Hindutva groups attack a mistake in a Bible translation into a tribal language in Jharkhand

After a successful campaign against Christians in Orissa, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Chhatisgarh, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Kerala, the rightwing Hindutva forces – RSS, VHP and BJP are all busy fanning the communal fire in Adivasi dominated areas of Jharkhand. A hate speech against the missionaries by the RSS chief K.C. Sudarshan at Ranchi on September 14 and the BJP’s huge agitation in the Jharkhand Assembly on the issue of wrongly translated Bible on 22-23 September, was followed by the allegation of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) General Secretary Pravin Togadia, who visited Ranchi on 3 October, that the missionaries were humiliating Adivasis and their Sarna religion in the name of social service. He also justified the violence against Christians in Kandhamal of Orissa. He said, “The violence against Christians in Kandhamal of Orissa and the agitation against church in Jharkhand are the manifestations of the missionaries’ unholy work.”

The rightwing Hindutva groups, protesting the flaws in the translation, have created communal tension in the state. The Sarna Adivasis too are organising a series of agitations against the Church. They burnt the effigy of Cardinal, demanded action against the publisher and ran a smear campaign against the Church. According to Ajay Tirkey the president of the Kendriye Sarna Samiti, the issue will be taken to the villages. “We will fight against it till the culprits are punished”, he said. The members of Sarna Raksha Manch, Karma Oraon and Bahura Ekka are trying to politicise the issue. Karma Oraon said, “The missionaries are working for destruction of the Sarna religion. We are, therefore, campaigning against them as it hurts sentiments the Sarna Adivasis”.

This has provided a golden opportunity for the Hindutva groups to pounce on. The Bible has been translated in Adivasi language “Kurukh” spoken by the Oraon Adivasis the second largest Adivasis of Jharkhand. The “Nemha Bible”, as the translation is called, uses a word “Sarna-tree” in place of “green-tree” in the original Bible. After spotting this error, the Bible Society of India apologised to the Sarna Adivasis and withdrew the books from the market. Secretary of the Society Soma Bhatker said, “The Bible has been translated to the local dialect and 3000 copies were published in demand of North Western Gossner Evangelical Lutheran (NWGEL) Church in 2000. The Society then apologised for the mistranslation and withdrew the book”. Bishop of NWGEL Church Nirdosh Lakra said, “The hurriedly done translation of the first edition would have led to the flaw.”

Although this does not concern the Catholic Church, the Cardinal Telesphore P. Toppo has apologised to the Sarna community for the wrong translation and appealed to the communities to sort out the differences through dialogue. He said, “The matter needs to be sorted out through dialogue and the unity of the Adivasis should not be broken. There are many burning issues in the state that demand the unity.”

A forum of Adivasis, the Jharkhand Indigenous People’s Forum sees the issue differently. According to the forum, the issue of the Bible has been raised deliberately to divide Adivasis on communal lines so as to quell the uprising of those affected by displacement. The Bible was published a long time ago but the timing of the protests with the elections just round the corner raises suspicions about their intentions. The Forum’s president Xavier Kujur said, “The Rightwing wants to divide the Adivasi community so that the MOUs signed by the BJP government can be executed. We should question their intentions.”

The general secretary of the CPI (ML) Dipankar Bhattacharya has demanded the banning of the RSS, VHP and Bajrang Dal for spreading communal hatred.

Observing the seriousness of the matter, Sibu Soren the Chief Minister of Jharkhand has warned the rightwing Hindutava forces against fanning the communal flame in the state. He said, “The state government will ban the VHP and Bajrang Dal attack on the churches takes place in the state.”

In the last monsoon session of the Jharkhand Assembly, the issue of reservation to converted Adivasi Christians was also raised by the BJP, curtailing the proceedings of the house for a couple of days before the Jharkhand High Court judgment that conversion does not lead to a change in social status. The Sangh Parivar had argued that the Christian Adivasis, professing a foreign religion, should not be entitled to reservation.

The communal divisions among the Adivasis were engineered during the regime of the BJP. Sangh Pracharaks and former Chief Ministers of Jharkhand Babulal Marandi and Arjun Munda both claimed that Adivasis are Hindus. Babulal Marandi had justified the claim by saying that 'every one who had links with the Sindhu Ghati (Sindhu Valley) was a Hindu because the word ‘Hindu’ derives its meaning from ‘Sindhu'. Reiterating Marandi's stand, Arjun Munda stated that there are similarities between the Adivasi religion and Hinduism, as Hindu Gods are worshipped in many Adivasi festivals.

Both the Chief Ministers supported the other stalwarts of the Sangh Parivar – K.C. Sudarshan, Praveen Togadia and Dilip Singh Judeo — as they went around spreading hatred among the Adivasi communities in the name of “Ghar Vapsi” (‘homecoming’ meaning re-conversion) and reservation to Christian Adivasis. They distributed trishuls (tridents), idols of Hanuman and Ganesh. The communal passion has already been ignited by the Rightwing in the state but it has stayed away from attacking the Christians, churches and their institutions only because the BJP is not in power.

It is an irony that in a secular state, the political parties use religion to canvass and nobody is bothered. Instead of punishing them, the likes of Babulal Marandi and Arjun Munda are rewarded for dividing people in the name of religion. The people who once occupied Chief Minister’s chair accompany the team that gives out trishuls (tridents), idols of Hanuman and Ganesh instead of providing livelihood and education to the people. It is a political conspiracy to divide and rule the Adivasis.

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

Tribals call meeting after Bible translation attacks their beliefs

Ranchi: In the wake of a controversy following the recent translation of the Bible into a local language Kuduk, a number of tribal organisations have called a Mahapanchayat (large meeting) here Oct 19 to discuss issues related to their cultural identity.

The translated version exhorted people to destroy the trees and the places they worship. The issue had rocked the state assembly. The Bible Society of India has apologised for the error in translation and both the society and the state government have decided to recall all copies of the translated Bible from shops.

'The Mahapanchayat, to be attended by the representatives of seven states, will discuss many issues related to tribal people. There is a conspiracy to end the tribal identity across the state and in the country,' president of Kendriya Sarna Samittee (KSS) Ajay Tirkey told IANS. 'The Mahapanchayat will discuss how the cultural identity of tribals can be protected.'

The meeting will be attended by the representatives from Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Rajashthan, West Bengal and Jharkhand.

'It will also discuss the translated Bible issue and decide our course of action,' said Tirkey. Kuduk is the language of one of the tribal groups who live in Jharkhand.

Source: Indo Asian News Service

No reservation for converted tribals: Tribal body

Ranchi: An organisation representing tribals in Jharkhand on Sunday demanded that reservation facility should be withdrawn from those tribals who have converted to another religion.

They also demanded change in population counting so that the converted tribals are no longer counted under the category of tribals.

"There is strong need to introduce Sarana (as tribals are known in Jharkhand) code so that tribals could be separated from converted ones," Moti Kashap, member of Adivasi Jan Parisad (AJP), a tribal body, said on Sunday.

He said: "There is also a strong need to end reservation facilities to converted tribals. Both measures are required to protect the tribal culture and identity in the state."

AJP members will go to New Delhi to attend a meeting regarding population counting on Sarana code. Tribal leaders allege that in Jharkhand, reservation facilities were being enjoyed by the converted tribals and Saranas are deprived of their rights.

They also demanded a nation-wide ban on translated version of the Bible.

Bible Society of India had come out with a translated version of the Bible in Kuduk language. The translated Bible reportedly says that the places where Sarana's worship should be destroyed.
The issue rocked the state assembly and the state government announced that the book would be recalled.

UNICEF: SCs/STs account for 50% pregnancy deaths

Of the 301 women who die annually for every 1,00,000 live births, there are many stories that go untold. New data suggests that among the women dying during pregnancy, delivery or post-partum complications, a large proportion — about 50% — are from the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes.

According to data collected by Unicef from 16 districts of Rajasthan, West Bengal, Orissa, Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh, the maternal mortality ratio (MMR) shows that women are dying of preventable causes of death.

In the first phase of implementation of Unicef's maternal and perinatal death inquiry and response (MAPEDIR), cases of 1,600 women were analysed. While in Dholpur (Rajasthan), 49% of deaths were from SC/STs, in Purulia (West Bengal) of the 375 deaths examined between 2005 and 2008, 51% were from SC/STs.

In Ranchi (Jharkhand), 123 deaths in the last year were examined, of which 56% were from SC/STs and in 8 districts of Orissa — including Koraput, Rayagada, Kalahandi, Nuapada, Bolangir and Sonepur — the percentage of SC/ST deaths was as high as 68. In Madhya Pradesh's Shivpuri district, 60% of the deaths were of SC/STs while in Guna district the figure was 49.4%.

In some states, the MMR was higher that the national average of 301 — 358 in Orissa, 371 in Bihar and 379 in MP. Since many deaths occurred in the anonymity of women's homes or on the way to seek help at a medical facility, they often go unrecorded. An estimated 80,000 pregnant women or new mothers die each year in India often from preventable causes, including haemorrhage, eclampsia, sepsis and anaemia.

"The tragic reality is that too often maternal deaths are not visible. They don't leave any trace behind, and their deaths are not accounted for," Chris Hirabayashi, Unicef India deputy director of programmes, stating that Unicef was committed to continue working with the National Rural Health Mission to promote surveillance as a key strategy to lower maternal and child mortality.

For India to achieve the Millennium Development Goal of reducing maternal mortality by three quarters by 2015, social and economic factors like the low status of women in communities, the poor understanding of families on when to seek care, lack of transport, poor roads, the cost of seeking care, multiple referrals to different health facilities and delay in life-saving measures in rural areas need to be addressed. For the survey, a team of state government health and nutrition officials and NGO members, headed by a member of the local village council, conducted interviews with surviving family members at the community-level.

Source: The Times Of India

De-reservation of SC/ST jobs ends

New Delhi: In a politically significant decision in an election year, government on Wednesday decided to end de-reservation of posts meant for scheduled castes and tribes in central government jobs.

A meeting of the Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, approved enactment of a law to enforce job reservation for SCs and STs by stipulating penalties on offices which do not implement them effectively.

Briefing reporters after the meeting, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said the Cabinet gave its nod to enact the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Reservation in Posts and Services) Bill 2008.

"Posts reserved for SCs and STs will not be de-reserved and they (vacancies) will be carried over," he said, adding the proposed bill would contain provisions for imposing penalties on offices which do not implement the job quota.

Source: The Times Of India

Tribal students to rally in Delhi

All tribal students from Manipur and currently based in the capital are all set to hold "massive" rally in New Delhi on October 10 to show solidarity to the Manipur tribal students' demands.

According to leaders of the tribal students based in New Delhi, the October 10 rally will start at 10 am from Jantar Mantar to Parliament Street as a mark of "extending our solidarity to the demands of All Tribal Students Union Manipur (ATSUM) and Manipur University Tribal Students Union (MUTSU) for justice and equality and in condemnation of the brutality of the Government of Manipur in dealing with the democratic aspirations of the tribals".

The New Delhi based tribal students' leaders also said that the October 10 rally is also to demand for a separate "Hill University" for the tribals in Manipur.

The tribal students based in New Delhi strongly condemned the arrest of the student leaders in Manipur on October 6.

Source: The Sangai Express / Newmai News Network

Naxals in Chhattisgarh interfering in the lives of tribals

Naxalites in Chhattisgarh are interfering in the day-to-day life of tribal forcing them to support the movement, indulge in human trafficking and enroll minors in their organisation, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has said.

The Commission said the right to life of tribal is being "practically enjoyed" only at the mercy of naxalites and anyone who tries to raise a voice against their "tyrannical" ways were "killed or maimed".

"The naxalites interfere in the day-to-day life of the tribal - in family matters, education, marriages, religious beliefs etc. They force tribal to give one boy or girl from each family to become 'sangham' member," it said.

These are among the findings of a three-member NHRC inquiry committee which investigated a complaint against Salwa Judum, an anti-naxal programme in Chhattisgarh.

It said naxals were "indulging" in human trafficking and forced labour by compelling villagers to send one young member from each family, either boy or girl, to become members of their organisational units called 'sangham' or 'dalam'.

"In addition, it is also well known that the naxals use minors in one of their oraganisations called Bal Sangham," the report said.

It said many villagers told the inquiry panel that naxalites always "discouraged" education beyond Class V and "forced" the villagers to send their children to 'Bal Sangham' besides destroying school buildings.

On the rights violation of Salwa Judum, the report said there have been instances where Salwa Judum activists, Special Police Officers and security forces have also been involved in excesses.

Source: The Times Of India

481 SC/ST candidates receive appointment orders as lecturer

Chennai: “We have been waiting for over 10 years for this moment,” said B. Vatsala, who received her appointment order as a government college lecturer from Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi here on Tuesday. “We will remember this,” she said, and folded her hands in gratitude.

As many as 481 candidates belonging to the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes received similar appointment orders from Higher Education Minister K. Ponmudy and Higher Education Secretary S. Ganesan at the University of Madras Senate Hall. Many had travelled long distances to reach in time to receive the order; and they did not seem to mind. Many parents, too, travelled to Chennai to see their children get the order.

Mr. Ponmudy explained that the backlog of vacancies of SC/ST lecturers had not been filled for over a decade. In addition to this, the earlier government banned recruitment, which led to more delays for all job seekers, especially those from the oppressed classes.

Mr. Ponmudy said that the recruitment was done in a transparent manner. Qualifications, such as a Ph. D carried weightage, which were publicised ahead, and marks were also awarded on the basis of experience.

The whole process of marking was transparent and anyone could calculate his/her marks.

After presenting appointment orders to a select few, Mr. Karunanidhi said that the government was committed to filling the backlog of vacancies of SC/STs and backward classes.

In the distant past, only about three persons from the oppressed classes from among a hundred had the benefit of education. Now, as many as 97 out of 100 had access to education.

They should utilise the opportunity available now, work hard and occupy high positions in academia and other frontier fields of knowledge.

Source: The Hindu