Tribal Movements in India

A letter to editor of Mathrubhumi Weekly ( Malayalam) as appeared in the magazine on December 11, 2016. This was in response to an article by K Sahadevan on the role of tribes in Indian Freedom Struggle which appeared in Mathrubhumu Weekly on November 13, 2016. The letter questions the author's omission of the revolts of tribes of Wayanad in Kerala during the  historiography of tribes in Indian freedom struggle. This is in line with the issue of subaltern studies, restricting themselves to central India- creating margins within margins. Further, the letter briefly mentions about the tribal revolts against British in  1793-1805 and in 1812.

In this paper Sinha broadly outlined the contexts of tribal socio-political movements in India.The ecological isolation, economic backwardness and feeling of frustration around the low status forced upon them were viewed by Sinha as major factors behind the movements.

from the jotedars by raiding their houses. People's courts were established and judgments passed. The upheaval in the villages continued till July. The tea garden workers struck works a number of times in support of the peasants. 2 The movement had a life span of roughly five years (1967-1972), which was spatially sporadic and limited to small areas. In this stance, the questions that concern this paper are: what is the importance of engaging with the Adivasis in the Naxalbari movement? To what extent the ethnic or Adivasi consciousness (owing to Santal Hul or Birsa Munda movement) cater to the mass mobilization in Naxalbari? The Naxalbari movement has been one of the most sought after peasant movements, carried forward by the urban elites and their likes, hence generating resistance, dissents, as well as hope for the languishing oppressed Adivasi peasantry. Amidst these varying perspectives, I am most concerned with forms of representation of the most secluded and silenced voices of Naxalbari movement, whose history goes undocumented or unheard, as compared to those whose ideas may be represented such as the rural elites and the activists who are non-Adivasis. In addition, the present study would analyse the political significance of Naxalbari movement, which otherwise is termed as 'revolutionary' in the history of peasant, radical or tribal movements. Therefore, based on my examination of primary sources such as structured and unstructured recording of narratives and engaging into discussions with the then participants of Naxalbari movement, I argue that the mass base in the Naxalbari movement comprised Adivasi communities such as Oraon, Munda and Santal tribes whose role has been seriously undermined and underrated in the popular historiography of the said movement. Naxalbari, ideologically and practically, provided such a base for a revolutionary armed struggle. The mass base of the Naxalbari movement in North Bengal comprised Adivasi settlers from the Central Indian tribal belt namely-Oraon, Munda and Santal tribes.