Special

articles
Adivasis,Naxalites and Indian Democracy
This essay argues that adivasis as a whole have gained least and lost n1ostfrom
six decades of democracy and development in India. It presents evidence that they are even
more deprived than the dalits. However, unlike the dalits, they have been unable 10
effectively articulate their grievances through the democratic and elec1oral process .
The failures of 1he s1a1eand of the formal political sysiem have provided a space
for Maoist revolurionaries 10 move in10. After analysing the reasons for 1he rise of
"Naxalire" i11jluence.1he essay concludes that there is a double tragedy ar work in 1ribal
India. Thefirst tragedy is that the state has 1rea1edits adivasi citizens with
contempt an,/ condescension. The second 1ragedy is 1hat their presumed
protectors. the Naxalites, offer 110 long-tenn solution either.
RAMACIIA,..ORAG UIIA

n Oceember 13. 1946. Jawaharlal Nehru moved 1hc indepe.ndentlndfa where there is equ~Jity of opponunity. where

O Rc,solutfon in the Constituent Assembly of

ObjC(..1ives
lndfa. Thi s procJajmed that the. soon-ro-be-free nation
no one would be neglected.1
Six1y ye.arshave. pa.ljc
sed since Jaipal took Nehru and all the
wou ld be an "Independent so ..ereig ,, Republic". Jes Constitution 01hel'$ ar their word. What has been the fate of his people. 1he
wouldguarantee ci1iiens '1usticc . social. economic and pc>litkal; adivasis. in this time? This essay will argue that. in m::inyways.
equality of s1a1us;of opportunity. and before the law; freedom the tribals of peninsular India are the unacknowledged victims
of thought,expression.belief. faith, worship, vocation, associa. of six decades of democralic development. In this period they
lion and action. subject 10 law Md public morality". have continued 10 be exploiLed and d isposse~sed by the .
The resolutionwent on to.say that "adequate safeguards shall wider economy and poUty. (At the s.ame time. the process of
be providedformino1ities.backwardand uibal areas,anddepressed dispossessionhas been punctuated by rebellion.sand disorder.)
and (){herbackwardclasses... ". In moving the resoludon, Nehru 'Oieir relative and oftemime.~absolute deprivation is the more.
invoked 1hespiri1 o f Gandhi and the ..grea1 pas1of 1ndia", as striking when compared wi1h that of other disadvantaged
well as modem preceden1ssuch as 1he French. American and groups such as dalits and Muslims. While daJi&sand Muslims
Russian Revolutions. have had some impact in shaping the national discourse on
The debate on the Objectives Res.olu6onwent on for a whole democracyand governance,the tribals remain not just marginal
week . Among the. speakers were the conservative Hindu bot invisible,,
PurushuuomdasTandon. ,he righ1 wing Hindu Shyam Prasad
Mukherjee.1heschcdulcdcasic leader BR Ambcdkar.thc liberal
lawyerM R Jayak.ar,the socialist MR Mas.ani.a leadingwoman
activist.HansaMehta, and the communistSomnathLahiri. After The.re are some 85 million Indians who are officially classified
aJJthesestalwartshad !heirsay. a formerhockey playerandfapsed as "scheduled 1ribes... Oflhese. about 16 million live in 1hestates
Christionnamed Jaipal Singh rose 10speok. "As a jungli. as an of north-eastern India. This essay. however. focuses on the
Adibasi'". soid Jaipal. roughly 70 million tribals who live in the hean of India, in a
lam notexpectedtounderstandthe legalintricacies oflheResolution. more-or~lesscon1iguoushill and f01est bell lluu extends aero~
But mycommonsense cells.me thatevery one of usshould march the stmes of Gujarat. Raja.<than. Moharashtro.Madhya Pradesh.
in tl'wt road to freedomand ftgh1together.Sir, if the.reis anygroup Chh.atti.sg::trh.
Jharkhaod. Andhra Pradesh. Orissa. Bihar and
of lndianpeoplethat has been sh.abbilytreated it is my people. West Bengal.
Theyhavebeendisgracefully treated.neglectedfor the last 6.000 The tribes of 1hcnorth.-eastdiffer from their countcr-p,nnsin
years.Thehistoryof the Indus Valleycivilisation.a childof which
other partsof India in several crucial ways. firs.I. they have. un1il
I am. showsquite clearlythaLit is the newcomers.- mostof you
herearc intrudersas far as I :amconocmcd- h is 1henewcomers the recent past, been more or less untouchedby Hindu influence.
who havedrhcn away my people from lhc Indus Valley 10 the Second. they have. in the recem past. been ex.p0sed riuher
jung.tefastness... Thc whole hist0ty of my peopleis one of 000 subs1antinlly 10 modem (and especially Eng.lish)education; as
tinuou.ljexploitationand dispossessionby the nOnabOriginals of a consequence, their literary rares. and hence their c.hance.sof
1ndi3punctuatedby rebelJionsand di.oorder. ondyeaI ui:kePandit being advantageou s ly absorbedin the modem economy,are much
fawahar LaJNehru at his word. I take you all at your word th:ll higher than 1hatof their counterparts elsewhere in India. Third.
now we are going 10 start a new cl\apre. r, a new chopter of unlike the tribals of the majnJandtJ1ey have been Jarge.ly exempt

Economic and Political Weekly August 11. 2007 3305

from t~e trJuma caused by dispossession~ till recently, their
!ocarion in a comer of tile country has inhibited dam builders
and mine owners from vemuring near them.
There are, of course. many diffe-rc.nt endogamous communities
- more 1han 500. at last count - that come under the label
..scheduled tribes''. However. despite this intern.aldifferentiation~
taken as a whole the tribes of ce.ntral and eastern India sha(e
certain auribu1es- culLUr al. sociaJ. economic and political -1hat
allow us to treat them as a single .segment,distinct not only from
nonh~eastem tribals but also from all other Indians. In everyday
language. this cominonaJi1yis c-0,weycdin rhe term "adivnsi''.
It is nor a word that can be - or is - used 10 desc.ribc. a Naga
or a Mizo. However, it comes easily to one's lips when spe~tking
of a Gond or a Korkuor a Bhil or an Oraon. For these (:ind other)
indiv'idualtribes are neve.rtheless unified, in the rndian imagi-
nation. by somecominoncharucteristics. Usually. what rhe.yshare
is denoted in cuhural or ecological terms - namely, that these
"adjvasis'' generally inhabit upland 0 1 wooded areas. that they
generally 1reat their women bener than casle Mindus.that they
have rich traditionsof music and dance, and that while they might
occasionaJlyworship some n1anifest.1tionof Visnu or Siva. ,lleir
rituals and religion centte around village gods and spirits.
The basis for these.e.\feryday unders1a1ldings of 11\e . adivasi lie
in a series of ethnographic monogn,ph.s written (lver the. ye.u-s. 2 ion has presented a more bruial face. Such is the case
From the perspcc1i,. e of Indian democracy. however. wh,n unites
the adivasis is not their c.ultural ' ecological distinctivenness,
but their economic.and social disad\famage. A$ a recen1 l>ook
by the demographer Arup Maharatna demons1ra1e..-.. when :IS
scsseclby theconventional indicatorsof development, theadivasis
arc even worse off than the dalits. For example, the literacy rate
of adivasis is, at 23.8 per cent, conside.rably lower 1han that of
the. dalits. which s1a1 ld S at 30.l per cent As many as 62.5 per
ce.nt of adiv:1sichildren who en1erschool drop0u1 before 1hey
matriculate; whereas this happens only with 49.4 percent of dalit
children. \Vhile a shocking 41.5 per cent of <la. lits live under the
official poveny line, the proponion of adivasis who do so is even
higher - 49.5 per cent.
Wilh respect to heahh facilities. LOO, the adivasis &re.even more.
poorly served than the daHts. Among the tribals 28.9 per cent
have no access whatsoever to doc.torsand clinics: for dalits the
percen1ageis 15.6per cent Aonongiribal children 42.2 percen1
have been immunised; as c~mpared to S7.6 per cent of dalit
children. Agafo, 6:3.6 per ceni of dalils have access to s.afe
drinking wa1er,as against 43.2 per cent of tribals.3
On the one hand.by nm prO\'iding them with decenteducation
and healthcare. 1he government . of India has disholloured its
consti1u1ionalguarantee to provide 1headivasis equal oppon-u
nities for social and economic de\felopment. On lite. oche.r hand,
the policies of the g:_ovemme,u have rnore ac1frely dispossessed
very many adivasis of their tradi1ional mean.s of life and live~
lihood. For the tribals of the mainland live amidst India's besl
forest$,alongside many of its fastest-flowing rive.rs~al\d on t01>
of its ric.hesr mineral resources. Once. 1hiscloseness to. nature's
bounty provided them the means for subsistence and survhal.
However, as the pace of economic and industrial develop-
ment picked up af1er fodepe.ndence., 11\e . adi\fasis hnve i.r\crea s-
ingly had 10 n:ioke way for commercial fores1ry) dams. and
mines. Often. the adivasis are dis placed becau se of the
pressures and imperatives of wha1 passes as "development'';
sometimes. they are displaced because of 1he pressures a.nd
impe:raliV"CS of de\'elopmen1's equally modern Other: n;1mely,
3306
"conservation". Thus. apan from large dams and indu,strial
townships. tribals have also been rendered homeless by national
s and sanc1uaries.4
pa.rk.
How many adivasis bave. lost 1heirhomes and lands as a resull
of conscious suite policy? The estimates vary - they nmge from
a few million to as many as 20 million. Even if we cannot come
up with a precise, reliable number. to 11\eque.stion "How many
tribals ha.ve. been involuntarily displaced by the policies of the
government of India", 1hc answer must be: "Too many". The
sociologist Walter F.eroandeses.timates that abou1 40 per ce.n1
of all those displace()by governonentprojc.:1snre of iribal origin.
Since adivasisconsti1t1te roughly 8 per cent of lndia's population.
this means 1hata tribal is five times as likely as a non-tribaJ to
be forced 10 sacrifice his home and hearth by the claJms and
demands of deve.Jopmem and/or conservation.5
Adi"asis were displaced from their land.~a.nd villages when
the state occupied the commanding heights of the economy. And
they continue.,o be displaced under the auspices of liberalisation
nnd globalisation. The opening of rhe Lndiun economy has hod
benign outcome...:; in parts of the country where the availability
of an educated workforce allows for the expon of high-end
products such as software. On the 01}\ er hand, where it ha1.;led
10 iln increasing exploitation of unprocessed raw rnaterials,
sloba.liso1t
with the tribal districts of Orissa. where the largely non~tribal
leadership of the state has signed a series of leases with mining
com1>anie s. both Indian and foreign. These. leases permi1.in fact
encourage. these companies to dispossess tribals of the land
they own or cultivate, but under which lie rich veins of iron ore
or bauxite.
II
The sufferings of the adiva.sisas a consequence of deliberace
state policy have been underlined in a series of official reJX>ns
down the decades. A decade aftet Independence. tl\e home
minisiry cons1iru1eda comoniuee headed by 1hcan1hropologis1
Verrier Elwin to enquire inco the funccioningof government
schemes in tribal areas. It found that the officials in charge of
these schemes "were lacking in any intimate knowledge. of
1heir people (and] had very lillle idea of general policies for
tribal development"'. Worse, 1hcrewas '' a tendency for officials
to regard thell\selves as superior. os heaven-bo.rnmissionaries
of a higher cul111re.They boss 1hcpeople aboui; 1heir chaprasis
abuse them: in order to get things done' lhcy do not hesitate
tO threaten and bully. Any failure is invariably placed at the
tribal door~... the Block officials blamirlg every1hing on 1he
laziness.the improvidence, the suspiciousness. the superstitions
of <he people".
After studying 20 blocks spread ac.ross the country. the com~
mittee concluded thac "of the many cribal probJernsthe gre:.1tes1
of aUis poverty". Much of the p0verty and dcgmdation they saw.
said the committee, was
1hcfaultof u:-.1he "'civilised" people-.Wehnvcdriven !the1riba1s )
imo the hills because we wanted their land nod now we btnme
them for cultiv;.1tingit in the only way we left to ,hem. We have
robbedthem of their ;.arts by sending 1hcm the ch~p :indmwdry
productsof a commercial economy. We have even taken away
1heir foodby stopping 1heir hunting or by introducing new taboos
which depri,..ethem of the \'illunbk: prote in clementsin meatand
ftslt. We sell them spirits which are for 1001-e injurious titan the.
&onomic and Politico! Weekly Augusi 11, 2007
 homemadcbee.rsand wines which arc nouri.shin,g and familiar
to 1hem: and use Lhc proceeds LOuplift Lhem with ideals. We look
downon them androb them of lheir self~confidence,and takeaway
their freedom'by laws which they do n~ undersumd.6
Not long.afterwards, the senior congressman (and former
Congress presidem} U N DheOOrwas asked to chair a hig_h~
poweredcom,ninee ro look i,uo rhe. situatfon in tribal areas. Its
members included six members of Parlia,nen1 (among them
'Jaipal Singh). and some senior social workers. The comminee
identified land aJienatioo_, the denial of forest rights, and the
displaceme-m by de.\'elopme.nt projects as among cJ,e major
problemsfacing the adivasis.7 Sorneti1nes.S13te.policy had failed
to come 10 the rescue of the tribals: at other 1imes. it had only
workedco impoverish chem funher. The state machineryhad been
unablt: to preven1 the. loss of land 10 outsiders, or ro check the
exploiLltive ac1ivities of moneylenders. Meanwhile, the mnjor
power projects and steel plants set in motion by the Five~Ycar
Plans ltad "<esuhed in a substantial displacement of the tribal
rx:opJc". The commiue,e. was Concerned t.h::i1this form of
industrial development would sweep [the 1ribals) o ff their
feet. .. We have to see that the' foundations of tribal life arc not
shaken and the house does not cra...; h'' . Because of the dams and
mills already buill,
Tlle ttibals weredislodgedfrom their traditional sources of Jiveli~
h()(x!and places of habitation. Not conversant with the de.tails of
acquisition proceedings they accepted whatever cash compen-
sat.ion wasgiven to them and became emigrants. With cash in hand
and many attractions in che neatby industrialtowns. their funds
were rapidly depleted and in c-0urseof time they were without
moni:y uswell as without land. They joil'lcd the ranks of ta.ndJe ss
labourersbu1without any trnining. equipment or aptitude. for :my
skilled or semi-skilled job.
The OhebarCommittee's roost e-loque.nL passage s concemcd
the suppression of tribal rights in the fores1.As :;aconseque-nce
of the forest laws introduced by the Briti sh, and continued by
the governments of independent India, 1he tribaJ who formerly
regardedhi.rose.If as tlle lord of lhe fores~ was through a deliberate
process turned into a subject and placed under 1heforest depart-
ment". The officials and their urban conservationist supporters
claimc<lthat in order to protec1 1he forests the adivasis had to
be kept out. The Dhebar Comml1tcc commenced:
There is constantpropagandalhacthe tribaJpeople are descroying
lhc forcs-1. We put this compl11 in110 some. unsophisticated Lribals.
They countered Lhc complaint by aski ng how the}' could destroy
the fores.I.Theyowned no trucks; they hardlyhad even a bullock-
can. The utmost th.11they ~ould carry away was soo,c wood to
keep them warm in the winier monlhs, 10 rcconstru.:1or repsir
their huts and cany on their little conagc industries. Their fuel-
needsfor cooking, they sajd, were not much, because 1hey h.ad
nol rnuch 10 cool:..Having explained lheit own position they
invariablyturnedto the amount of destruction 1ha1was t.:.l.-ingplace
allatoundthem.They reiteratedhowthe ex-zamindars. in violation
of1heir agreements.~ndLhe fore.,;.t rules and laws, de\astated vast
areas or fOrc!itland right in rron1 of officials. 11,e.y also related
how the cootmctorsstrJyout.side 1hc contrac1cdcoupes, cu.rryloads
in excess of their authorised capacityand otherwise exploit boch
the fotests and the. tribaJs.
There is a foe-ling amongst the tribols.that all the arguments in
favour of pccser"ution and developmen1of fo1es1s are intended
to refusethem their demands.They argue ah.atwhen it is a ques1ion
or industry. township. development work or projects of rchabil.i-
talion. all these plausible arguments are forgouen and vast tracts
Economic and Poli1ical Week\y Augus1 11, 2007
are placed at the dispo.salof outside.n, who mercilessly destroy
the. forcs1 wcahh wilh or witOOu 1 ncccesi1y.
Already, by the 1960s. repons commissioned by 1he govern-
ment of India were dcmon.strnting the uucr failure of the state
in providing a life o f dignity and honour to i1s tribal citizens.
N1.)twas1his a ge11er-.:&lised critique: 1a1he.r.1he specific. problems
faced by the adivasis were ide-ntified ~ namely. callous and
corrupt officials. the loss of land, indebtedness. rcstricrion.s on
the use of the forest, and large-sen.le displacemen1. The evidence
offered in these (and othc1reports}should have called for a course.
correction. for dte forma1ion and implemen1111 ion of p0licies tha1
ensured tha1 India's industrial and economic development \\as
not to be at the cost of its adivasi c itizens.
Thai rhese rep011sand 1heir recommendations would be met
with a deafening silcm::ehad not been unanticipated. A s the Elwin
Committee noted. past reports on tribal problems had been
ignot'ed in praclice''. It is exrraordino.rt . it commen1ed,..how
often ...a recofnmendation sinks into 1hesouUess obscurity of an
official file and is heard of no more".~Or a1 lcas1 11 01for nno1her
20or 30 years. For in the J980s another s.cries of offic'ial rtJ>Ons
commented strongl)' o n the.:.~ontinuing deprivation of the adi\asis.
The..s.e were.wriuen by the then commissioner for scheduled castes
and scheduled rribes, 8 D Shanna, a civi l se,vant with wide
experience of working with and alongside 1ribals. Asdocu,e-l'ltod
by Sharma, the major problems faced by tribals were still land
a1ienation, restrictions on 1heiruse of fores-ts, and displacement
by <l.lmsand 01her large projec1s. He p0in1edout 1h01 "1he ttib.11
people are at a critical point in their history...". They were "los.ing
command ove.r resources at a very fast rate but are also facing
soc-inl disorg11nisa1ion which is unprecede,ue<lin theil' hisu)ry''.
And yet 1he. 1alcs of woes from cribnJ are::asare hardly heard
outside. And when they come they arc not 1akcn seriously.. :.
Whac was worse... the State itself sometimes tends to adopt
a parcis.an ro le ~nd become a privy e\1 en fo r actions not
quite legal simply because che. matter concerns voicele.ss smaJI
communities".9
This time. the government's response to these well documented
and sc,be.dy worded indic1men1swas 10refuse ro table the repon...;
in PnrHamen1.
Ill
Tilose are.some fac.ts about che. neglect .ind exploirntio,1 of the
adivasis in inde.pe-ndent India. Let o,e. turn now 10 1he hisro1y
of rebellion and dison:11:
r. ln the colonial period there.were. m::i
j or
rebellions in u ibal areas. as for e,;ample the Kol and Bhumj
revolts of the early 19th cen1ury.the San1hal 'hool' of 1855,the
Birsa Munda-led 'u lugulan' in the 1890s. 1he uprising in Bas1ar
in 191 l. 1hc protests in Gudcm-Ra.mpain the 1920s,and the Warli
rcvoh of 1945-46. Mos! of1cn, these proteslShad 10do with lhe
aliena1ioo of land or 1he expro1>r iation of forescs. They were
quelled only wi1h1he use of force,, often very subs1an1ialforce.10
The firMtwo decades after Independence were, compurntiveJY
speaking, a time of peace in triba1 India. PerhJps, like Jajpal
Singh, most adivasis t0ok the g,0Ver nn1en1 a1 it.s word 1hal wilh
freedom a new c-hap1er would begin. where '1here is equ:1li1y
of opportunity, where no one would be neglected". However.
as the evideqce mounted that the bene fits of development were
unevenly dis1ribu1ed, and 1ha1 the cos1.swere borne disp1opor-
tiona1elyby tribal con1muni1ies. disconlCnt began to grow. Thus.
for example, there was a major uprising of adivasis in Bas.tar
3307
in l966,.led by their recently deposed maharaja. Pravir Chandra
Bhanj Deo. Then_, in the 1970s, a militant movement lOOkshape
in the trib:ildis1ric.tsof Bihar, dcmandin,g an end to exploitation
by moneylendersand the forest department, and asking aJso for
the creation of a separate s.1a1eto be named "Jhark.hand". Lothe.
same decade, uibals in Mahar.1Sh1ro were orgnnised in defence
of their land and forest fights by groups such as the Bhoomi Sena
and the Kashtakari Sanghatana. Also in the 1970s, there were
the protes1s against tl)e Koel-Karo projects in Bihar. Then,
beginning in rhe l980s. and coming down to the present day.
the plight of tribalsousted by development projects (and by large
dams in panicular) has been highlighted by the Narmada Bachao
Andolan. Most recently. adivas.isthreatened by mining projects
in Orissa have. org;a11iseda serie.s of processions :lnd boycons
coreassert their rights 0\ 1er land handed over by the state govern-
men1 lO lllining com,xmies.11
Above and beyond lhcse various protests. M,loist revolution-
aries have been active in 1ribal are.ts. The.\illage Naxalbari. which
gave the "N11xali1e s'"1heir na,ne, i1se.lflies i11a p;mof Wes1 Bcng:il
which has a subsrnntial tribal population. Another major centre
of Naxali1eactivity in the lalc 1960s was the tribal districts of
Andhra Pradesh. In the I970s. the Maois.tssprl!'.adlheir influence
in 1wo main areas - the casie-riddeo dis1,ic:1sof central Bihar,
and the 1tibal dis1ric1sof the southem parts o f the state. In recent
decades, as the Maoist insurgency ha.~ spread, its. major gains
have been in tribal districts - in Mahamshua. ill Orissa, in
Jharkhand, hut above all in Chhauisgarh.12
Over the past four decades. the adivasis of central (ndia have
often expressed their public and collective discomem with the.
policies and programmes of the sune. Thei1 pn:nests have some-
times (as in Bas1arin 1966 or in Jharkhand in 1hclale 1970s)
taken recourse 10 mldi1ion::almeans .:indrrudi1ionalleaders. Al
O(hertimes (ns in M,,hnrnsh1ra in the. 1970s. or in 1hcNannada
Andoh'm).adivasishave.been mobilisedby social acti,,,is1sfrom an
urban. middle class. background. More reoen1ly,however. tribal
disafffection has be.enlarge.ly exp1es..~edunde-r the leadership of
armed Maoist revoluiionaries. 1J
IV
Section I briefly compared lhc economic and social situation
of 1hedali1s IOthat orudi\'USis. \Vhen 1he comparison is extended
to 1he domain of politics., one finds that adivasis. appear to
be even more disadvantaged. The weaknes....; and vul netab ility of
adivasis is made even more manifes, when one funher ex1ends
thecomparison10 include a lhil'dmarginalisedminori1y- namely,
the Musliins..
Consider.foreltampte.theConstitutionof various.unioncabinets
from 1947 to 2007. In this time. chere have of1en been dnlits
and Muslims who ha.ve held important portfolios. Dalits and/
or Muslims have served. sometimes for long period.\, as home
minis.ter. defence minister. agriculture minister nnd e.x temal
affair s minis1er in lhe government of India. On the other hand.
no major por1fo1io in 1hc union cabine1 has ever been a....signed
10 :m adivas.ipolitician.
Likewise, both dalits and Muslims hn\'e held high constirn-
1jooalposts. One dalil and three Muslims have held the highes1
office of all - that of president of the Republic. One dalit and
lhrce Muslims have served a....;chief j us.tice of India. No tribal
has ever been made president or vice president or chief justice-.
So far as I know. no adivasi has been appointed a j udge of the
3308
Supreme Court. And many n:ioredalits and Muslims have served
as governors of states 1han have tribals.
,:hesc facts arc manife.stationsof the much wider invisibility
of 1ribalsfrom cl1eJ>O l itical process. Muslims and dalits have been
able to constitute themseJvcs as an interest group on the national
suigc - they arc trea1cdin popular discourse as communi1ies1hat
arc pan-Indian. On the ol11e, hand. tribal claims remain confined
10 the- states and districts in which they live. Unlike the dalits
and the.Muslims.the adi,asis continue 10 be seen only in disCfete,
brokcn~up, fragments.
The dalits, in particular. have. effectively chnnnclised the.ir
grievances through coos1iunional means. They have successful
poli1ical panics. s-uch as the Bahujan Samaj Pany. which is now
in power in Uuar Pmdes.h.and which is rapidly exte.nding its
influence and appc:alin other slates. Dalits aJso have na1ionally
known ll!'aders, such asthe Un..uPradeshchief minis1er. Mayawa1i,
who is now being spoken of as a pOssiblefo1urcprime minister
of lndi3, On the other hand. the udivasis have.nei1het a successful
political party nor a well known political leader . Btick in 1he
1940s, a lharkhand Party was formed under Jaipal Singh's
leadership. While it did reason:1bly well in the first general
elections. in 1952,ii remained u region:dpany. It fought 60 years
for ~ separate stme. but its effectiveness was undermined by a
.~cries of splits. In any case, when the srnte. of Jh.nrkhand was
created in 1998. it consisted only of the tribaJ districts.of Bihar.
t,uher tlum being. as Jaipal had hoped. a much larger province
consisting of the comiguous tribal d istricts of Bengal. Orissa.
Madhya Pradesh and Andhrn Pradesh as well as Bihar. As finally
COI\SLituted. th.is "moth-eaten" Jharkhand has an overwhelming
rn.;ljorityof non-tribals.
rr.as is commonly (and j uslly) acknowledged. dalits nod trib::ils
are 1hetwo most dj sadvantage d sections of Indian society. why
have the former been more effective in making1heirch1imsheard
by the formal politic-alsystem? This c:ontras1is. I believe. largely
explained by aspects of geography and demography. The tribals
of e<:mralIndia usu;Lllylive in cribal villages. in hills and valley s
where 1hey outnumber the non-1rib:iJ s among them. However.
in no single state of 1>e-ni nsular India are they in a majority. lo
And.htaPradesh, ror e,;ample. adivasis consthute 6 per cent of
the. state's population. In Maharashtra. 1hepropottion is 9 per
cent: in Rajasthan. 12 petceo1. E;venin states professedly form~d
to protect the crib.al interest such us Jharkhand and Chhauisgarh,
roughly two-thirds or the population is nontribal.
The dalits too arc a minority in e"cry s1a1e.but unlike tribals
they live in m.i,;cdvillages. nlongside other c.asies and commu-
nities-.This means that whe.nelection 1imecomes. they cuo hove
a.decisive impac-1even in constituencies not reserved for them.
In mosc$hues of the union, and in most districts in the.~ slates.
they command between 10 per ce.nt aJld20 percent of the vote.
The.ret'ore, political par1ies have lO address the dalit interest in
a mnjorily or Lok Sabha and as.scmblyconstituenc.ies. Tribals,
on the other hand. can influence.eJectionsonly in the few. isola1ed
districts where tJ1eyate conc-entnued. In a general clccLion. for
example. the iribal vote may matter only in 50 or 60 constitu-
encies. whereas 1hcdali1vo1ematters in perh:ipsas many as 300.14
OaJi1mobilisation on a provincial 1111d national scole is also
enabled by the strucwrn.lsimilarities in the ways they cxpcric.nce
oppression. For the cas1e sys.tern operates in much the same
manner across India. In villages. in Tamil Nadu ns in Unar
Pradesh. dalits are alloted the. mosr degrading jobs, made to li\e
away from upper-caste hamlets. allowed ac.ces.s only 10 inferior
Eco11
omic and Political \Veckly August I I. 2007
water S9-Urces. and prohibited from enteriilg temples. It is there-
fore possible fot them to build links and forge solidarities
hori2on1aJJy, across villages and districis and staies. On the othe.r
hand, therearc many variations in the forr.nsin which lribals
experienceoppression. In one place, lhcir main persecutors are
forest officials; in anothe.r place, moneylenders~ in a third,
developmentprojects conducted under the aegis of the srn1e.~in
a founh. a mining project promoted by a private firm. In the
circumstances, it i.s much harder to build a broad coalition of
tribals fighting for a common goal under a single. banner.
The dalitShove. also been helped by the posthumous presence
of B R Ambcdkar. He has been for <hem bo1h example and
inspiration,a man oflowering intellectwhosucccssfuUybreached
lhe uppet-castecitadel and who, long afier he is gone, ef\Courages
his fellows to do likewise. Indeed. the figure of Ambedkar is
a rallying p0in1 for dalits across <he land.
The tribaJs, on the oc.llcrhand, have never had a leader who
cou.ld inspireadmir--Jtion, or even affec,ion. across the boundaries
of state and language. Birsu Munda, for c-.umple, is revered in
pansof Jharkhand~but he is scarcely known or remembered in
the.adivasiareasof A ndhraPrade.~or Maharashlra.One advantage
that Ambcdknr enjoys over tribal icons is ,hat he was a builder
of modem institutions as well as a socin.lactivist. Meburnt copie.s
of the ManuSmni and formed labour unions: blll Ile.also founded
sclloolsand political P3rtiesand, above all, directed the drafting
of the Indian Co1lsti1u1ion.Ambedkar has become an all-India
tigurc in pan because of the:similarities in the way his followers
experienceoppression~but also because theycan followhim both
in protesting injustice and in building a better future.
One mi,ght say 1hat 1heweak literacy rates among adivasis have
been accompanied by a weak "articulation ratio". They do no<
have national leaders: while.such men as do re.presem 1hem are
not con\'ersant enough with the languages and discootses of
modern democra1icpolitics. On the ()(her hand. in the case of
thedaJitS the.presence.of Ambedkar , in the past, andofMayawati.
in the prcsen1.hos bee.n com1> lemented by an anfoulate second
rung of activists. who know how 10build political networks and
lobby within and across parties.
As argued above. at a ,rational level another mjnorily th.athas
had an significant political impact is the Muslims. Outside the
Kashmir valley. Muslims. like dalits, live in villages and towns
alongside Indians of other creeds. As their depressed economic
si1uationshows. the Statehas 1\0t bee.n especially attentive to their
material interest. However. politicians huve neoessarily 10 be
auentive to their votes. In the last Bihar elections. one leader
promised 10 appoint a Mu,slim chief minister if his party won.
No such promise has ever been made by politicians to tribals,
even in states such as Madhya Pradesh where they fonn as much
us one-fifth of the population.
Also relevant to this discussion is Lhe history of Indian na1ion-
alism. andin particularthe historyof the IndianN::itiona.1Congress.
Even before Gandhi assumed i<s leadership, lhe Congress had
to face the charge. that ii was essentially an uppe.r caste, Hindu
pany. To combat this criticism it had to reach out to Muslims and
low castes. This imperative became even more pronounced in
the Gandh.ianera. when the Mahatma's cJajm that the Congress
representedall.o[ India was strongly challenged by M A Jinnah,
presuming to spc,ak on behulf of the Muslims, and by
BR Ambedkar, who sou'ghtto represent the lowest castes. The
rhe-toric of Congress nationaJism. before and after independence.
always had space within it fot the special interests of Muslims
Economic and Poli1icalWeekly August II, 2007
anddalits. (The operative word hero is ''rhetoric: what happened
in practice was another mauer.) On 1he01herhtu1d,the Congress
has never reaJly unde.rst0od the distinctive nuture. of 1he. tribal
predicament. Down the dee.a.des. matters concerning adivasis
h::iverarely bocn given prominence in meetings of the All,lndia
Congress Commiuee or the Congress Working Committee.
The contras, be-tween:l i:e-lo1ive.dali1and Muslim visibili1yon
the one h:1nd,::andtribal invisibility on the other. can afso be illus-
1ratedwith reference to the mainstream media. Both newsp.apers
ilnd tete.vision give a fair amoum of coverage IOthe c.ominuing
vic1iinisa1ionof dali1s and lhe continuing rnai:ginalisationof the
Muslims. 11 is some.iime.'iargued thm the coverage of dalit ;ind
Muslim issues in the media is not nCarly as nuanced. nor as
substantial, as i1should be. Thcsecriticismsare 001without merit.
Howeve,. in comparison with their adivasi compatriotsdalits a11d
Muslims are ac1Uallyquite well served by the media. In real life,,
the tribals arc.unquestionably as victimised and as marginal: yet
they rarely have their concerns discussed or highlighted in talk
shows. edirorials. re.pons, or feature articles.
V
The increasing presence of Naxalitcs in areas dominated by
odivasis has a geographical reason - namely, that the hills and
forests of centr--.tl
Indin are well sui1edto 1hemethods of roarning
guerilla warfare. But iL also has a his1orical reason - namely.
that the adivusis have gained lerist and lost most from 60 years
of p0litical independence.IS
Jn fac.t,the two are connected. For the. stales neglect of 1he
adivasis is in rnany respects a product of 1he. terrain in which
they live. In these rcmoce upland arc'8s. public officials arc
unwillingto work hard. andoften unwillingto work at all. Doctors
do not auend tlte clinics assigned to them; scllooheachers s.tay
away from school; magistrates spe.11d1heir 1jrne lobbying for a
transfer back 10 the. plains. On the Other hand. the Maoists are
prep::u-cdto walk miles to hold a village meeting, and lis.ten
sympathetically to tri~al grievances. As a senior forest official
was recently constrained to admit: "In the absence.of a11ygovel'n-
mc-ntsupport and 1heapathetic auitud.of the forest management
depanmcnts towards the livelihood of forest-dependentcommu
nities. the Nax.aliteshave found fertile ground to prolife.rate.. .". 16
Th.atthe-Maois,s .Jiveamong. and in che.s:lme s tale of penury
as. the tribals, is unquestionable. Th:1tsome of their actions have
sometimes helped the adivasis can also be conceded. This is
especially the c.ase with rates for the collec1ion of 001Himber
forest produce. such us 1endu pauo. which hn"e gone up by as
much as 200 per cem in areas where 1he Naxufites :.ue active
a.ndthe contractors fearful of their wrath. However. the principaJ
aim of the Maois1s is not the social or economic advoncemem
of theadivasis, bu1the capture of powe.r i.n Delhi through a process
of armed Struggle. ln this larger endeavour the tribals ure a
stepping stone - or, as some would say, merely cannon fodder.
From its origins, the Naxalite movement was riven by imetnal
discord, by .shrupand often bloody rivalries be1weendiffe-ren1
fo:c1ions,each claimin.gii.self 10be 1heonly true Indian inteprcter
of MaoZedong's 1hough1.However. by lheend of 1helas<cen1ury
1hePeoples War Group (PWO) and the Maois<Communis<Centre
(MCC) had e.mergedas the two groups whic.h s1ill had a func.-
tioningorganisnlion anda devotedcadre.of rcvolut.ionnry workers.
Thc.PWOwas very active in AndhraPradesh, whereastheMCC's
base was principally in Bihar.
3309
 The Naxalitc movementga1hercdforce after the merger in2004
of the PWG and the MCC. The new party called itself the
CominunistPartyoflndia (Maoist).That it.sabbreviation(CPl(M))
mimicked that of a party that had fought and won elections under
1he Indian Constitution was surely no1 accidental. We are the
real inheri1ors of rhe legacy of revolutionary Marxism. the new
pany was saying. whereas the power-holders in Kcralaand Wes1
Bengal are merely a bunch of bourgeois reformists.
Tile new, unified party has been a mere three years if!existence.
but in 1hm1ime iLhas rapidly expanded ils inOuence.The.e.rstwhile
MCC cadres have moved southwards into Jharkhand and cast
into West Bengal. Those who were once with the PWG have
travelled into Orissa and Chhattisgarh. This las1state. is where
the Maoists have made the mos, dramatic gains. Large parts of
the district of Dantewada. in panicular. are under their sway. On
one side of the river lndravati. the fodian state exercises an
uncertaio control by day and no control at nigh1.On 1he other
side. in what is known as Abujmarh. 1he state hus no presence
by day or by night.
Oantewada forms pan of a forest be lt which spills over from
Chhanisgarh i,no Andllra Pl"".tdesh and Maharashtra. The regioo
was known in mythical times as o andakaranyn. a nome 1he
Maoists have now adopted as their own. Under the Special Zonal
Comminec for Dandakar.myaoperate severJI division;:ilcommit~
ltts. These in tum have Range committees reponiog to them.
The lowest level of organisation is at the village, where a com-
miuee of commined worke.rs is known as a sa ngam'.
According to a senior functionary of the pany, the Sangams
in Dantewad.aseek to protect people's rights in 'jal, j angal.
zumeen' (woter, forest 'and land). At the same time. the Maoists
make. targeted attacks on state officials., especially the police.
Raids on police stations are intended to stop them harassing
ordinary folk. They arc also necessary to augment the weaponry
of the guerrilla army. Through popular mobilisation and the
intimidation of state officials. the Maoist~hope to expand their
authority ove.r Dandakaranya. Once the region is madea "lib-
erated zone". it is intended to be used as a launching pad for
the capture of state power in India as a whole.17
How many Maoists are there. in Lndia'!The esrirnate.s are
imprecise. and widely varying. There are perhaps between
10,000 ond 20,000 full-time guerrillas, many of them armed with
an AK-47. These re.\olu1ionaries are also conversant with the
use of grenades. land mines. nnd rocket-launchers. They maintain
I.inks with guerrilla movements in other parts of south Asia.
ex.changinginformationand technology with the LiberationTigers
of Tamil Eclam and, at least before their recent conversion to
mult.ipartydemocracy, with the Nepali Maoists.
What we know of the. leaders and cadres suggeststhal most
Maoists come from :1 lower middle class background. They
usually have asma~teringof education, and were oftenradicalised
in college. Like 011\ercommunist movements. the leadership of
lhis one 100is overwhelmingly male. No tribals arc represented
in the upper levels or the. party hierarchy.
The general secretary of the now unified party, the Communist
Partyoflndia (Maoist).calls himself oanapalhi". He is believed
10be from Andhra Pradesh. ohhough the name he uses is almost
ccnainly a pseudonym. Suncmc::nts carrying his name occasion-
aUy circulate on the internet - one. issued in February 2007,
reported the successful completion.. of a patty Congress ''held
dee.p in the forests of Ot\eof 1he several Guerrilla Zon~ in the
coumry... . The p.u1y Congress "rc:s.ffi rmcd 1hc general line
3310
oftlle new democratic revolution wit h agrarian revolution as
ics axis and pr01raccedpeople.'s war ns the pa1h of the lndian
revolution .. ,". The meeting was completed amongst great
euphoria with a call to the world peop,le.
: Rise. up a:sn tide to
.rmash .lm()eriolism mul ;,s ,wming dogs ! Admnce the Revo/u ,
rionary wa,. throughout the world!"
In pursuit of this protracted people's war", the Maois1s have.
conduc1edduring au.acks on artefacts and symbols of the state.
In Novcm\>e .r 2005. they stormed the district town or Jehanabad
in Bihar. firebombing offices an~ freeing se,;eral hundred pris-
oners from jail. In March 2007. they anac.ked a police c:ampin
Chhauisgarh, killing ~5 policeme,l and ,nak.ing off with a huge
cache of weapons. At other times. they ha\'e bombed and se.1
fire to railway stations and transmission towers.
However.1he violence promoted by the revolu1ionaries is oot
always aimed a1the state. A landmine. they set off in Gadchiroli
in May 2006 killed many members of a wedding pany. The
Maoists hnve also maimed aod murdered those they suspect of
be.inginfot'mers".
VI
Howc.ana democratic.sta1e.fight 1he rise.of Maoist extrernism
in tile tribal areas? h migh1 so. on 1heone hand. by bringing
che.fruilSof development to the adivasi, and on the other hand by
promptand effectivepolice action.However.thepolic.ies cun-emly
being followed by the government of India are the antithesis of
whar one would prescribe. lnste.ad of making tribats partners in
economic dc,elopment, they marginalise them fur1he1. State
governments, themselves run and domin.a1edby non-1ribals.are
signing away tribal land fo.rminin,g, manufacturing. and energy
gener:i.tionpro jects. And insteadof efficientpoliceactfon we have
the out.sourcingof lawand order~as in the SalwaJudum campaign
in Chhauisgarh. where the state governmentha..c. set up a vigila.n1e
army that runs a parallel administration in the regiol'I.
In the mos1peaceful of times the s.uue has often failed 10 uphold
chelaw in tribal areas. Schedules V and VI of the Constitution
provide for a substantial degree of se.lf-governancein districlS
whereadivasisare in a roajority.Yet1heirclause.sprotoctingtribal
rights in lilndand fore.sts.curbing 1heactivities of moneylenders,
and mandatingthe formation of viiIage a1ld districtcounci Is Ilave
been honoured only in the bre.ach. These schedules provide for
local counc.i ls 10share in the royalt.iesfrom minc-rals found on
tribal land: what happens in practice is that the adivasis do not
ge.1 to sc::eor spend a paisa from mining. whose proceeds are
shared between the contractors and the state.-level (and usually
non-tribal) politjcians. Meanwhile, 1hecriminaJj ustice sys1cm
ts in a state of near collapse; as witness the murder of Shankar
Guh:I Niyogi. that sclOcss striver for the rights and dignity of
adivasi workersin Chhauisgarh. lt was widely believedthat Ouha
Niyogi was killed by assassins hired by capitalistS~ye.tthose who
planned and execmed the murder have gone scotfree.
Even with this kind of record, Salwa Judum marks a new low.
In the past, the state failed 10 sinc.e,-e-ly uphold the. law of the
land in tribal areas; but now it has gone so far as to uctjvely
promote disorder and lawlessness. The impact of Salwa Judum
in lhe Dan1c.wadadistrict of Chhattisgarh has been studied by
several fact-finding committees c.omposed of activists. acacle-
mics, journalists. and teiired civil servnn1s. Their reports have
demonsu:ined that the campaign hM led to an escalation of
violence. On tile one side. SalwaJudum cadreshave burnt viiIages
Economic and Political Weekly August 11. 2007
and abused women; on the other. Naxalites have auacked and
killed lhoSe they se.eas working in the service of the state. An
atmosphereof fear and insecurity pervades the district. Families
and villagcsarcdi\ided,some living with or in rear of the Mnois1s.
others in fear of or in roadside camps controlled by the Salwa
Judum. As many as 50,000 people have been displaced from their
homes. These 1ribalrefugees live i.n a pi1iablecondilion. in 1en1s
exposed to the clements. and with no access to healthcare or
gainful employment Thousands of others have fled across the
border into Andhra Pradesh.18
Inthe dis1rictof Dan1ewudaa civil conflic1is under way. which
threatensto tum into a civil war. With a veil of secrecy surround
ing the operations of the state and the re\olutjonaries, ::indwith
the adivasis too scared to file First information Re1>0rcs.dh!re
arcno reliable es1imntes or the. casualties in this wor. Perhaps
between 500 and 1.000 people have died of unnatural deaths
i n Damewada in the pas1 year alone. Among those killed or
murdered, some are. secufity personnel and others are NaxaJi1es.
However. the vust majorily nre tribaJs caught in the c.rossfire.
Ironically, by arming civilians. the srate has merely repi:oduced
the methods of the Olherside. For tribal boys in their tocns have
joined Salw3J.udum for much the same rcao;onas other boys had
previou sly joined the NaxaJi1e ,c;.Educatedjust enough 10harbour
a certain disenchantment for labouring in field and fore$t, but
noenough to be absorbed with honour in the modem economy,
these boys we.re entioed by the state in10 a job which paid them
salary (albeit a me,agre one - Rs 1.500a month), and gave them
a certain status in society. Gun in hand., they now strut around
1he countryside. forcing those without weapons to fall in line.
In this manner. the machismo of revolution is being answered
by the machismo of counlcr-revolution. Call 1hem Sangam
Organiser or Special Police Officer, the young men of Danda-
karanya have been seduced by their new-found - and essentially
unearned - authority. fn the Dantewada district alone. there arc
now several thQusand young males punch -drunk with the power
which, as Mao said. flows from lhe. barrel of a gun.
There is thus a double tragedy at work in tribal India. The first
tragedy is that the scate has treated its adivasi citizens with con
temptand condescension.The second tragedyislhactheir presumed
protectors, the Naxalites. offer no long -term solu1ion either.
Can the Communist Party of India (Maoist) come to power
in New Delhi through armed struggle? I think the answer 101his
question must be in the negative. Corrupt and corroded though
it is. the lndian state , c 2007. cannot be compared co the Chinese
state. c 1940s.ft is highly unl.ikely 1hat a revolution based on
Maoist principles will succeed in India. In fact I would soy it
is impossible. ln dense jungle. the Maoisl~ can easily elude a
police force that is poorly trai1led,poorly equipped, and running
scared to boot. Il is not inconceivable that they will, at some
stage, manage to establish a '"liberated zone" in some part of
Dandakaronya. But once they seek to expand their revolution
in10more ope-n counlry, chey will be mowed down by the
Indian army.
Of the commitment of the Maoists to their cause there should
be no doubt. These are young men (and occasionally women)
who have lived for years on end in the most difficult eircum-
s1ances.in pursuil of their dre,am of a successful revolution. I
believethat, in military terms.this dream isa faniasy.The Maoists
will never be able to plant the Red Flag on the Red Fort. The
tragedy is th.atit might take them years to come to this conclusion.
While the Maoists will find it difficult to expand outside their
Economic and Political Weekly August 11. 2007
current areus of operation, the. lndinn srnte will not be able to
cJsily restore order and legitimacy in the tfibaJ areas that have
passedout of its grasp. A war of attrition lies ahe.ad of us, which
will take a heavy 1.011of human life - lives of policemen, of
Maoists. and of unaffiliated ci\'ilians.
Such is the pro.c:.pec1 in the short te.rm. From rhe longu-cerm
per~ec1ive of the historian, however. 1he Maois1dream might
be seen nO(ns f1mtasy but as nightmare. For the signal lesson
of the 20th century is that regimes based on one -pany rule grossly
violate human dignicy aod humat\ welfare. By common co11 se-nt..
ihe. most evil nm.n of 1he. modem age was Adolf Hirlcr. The
holocaust he unleashed and the wars he provoked cost some
30 million li\'eS. But in the mass murder stake.~. Stalin and Mao
are no1 far behind. In fa.ct.some estimates sugges1 1ha1 re.\folu-
1ionarycommunism has claimed even more human lives 1han
fascism and 1heextremis, ideologi~ of the right. !9
That multiparty democracy is. if not the best. certainly the.least
harmful political system devised by humans is appreciated by
someadivas is themse.l ves. On a visit to Dan1c.\\lada in 1hesummer
of 2006. I had :t long conversation with a Muri;i tribal. He was
a first genera1ionliterate. who had been sent to study in an ashram
school across the river. After graduation he returned to his native
village, to teach in che school there. Al the.same time he obtai1led
a BA degree through correspondence. A teacher. if he does his
job well, is a.mon,g1he most rc.,;pecrcdmen in rural fndia. This
Muria teacher was that, but when the Maoists came to his village
he expel'iencedan abrupt fall in status and authority. For in their
eyes he was an official of the Indian srnte, and thus subj ect to
harassment and extonion.
Last year, m the. age. of 25. the Muria teacher fled the village
of his forefathers and crosSed the lndnw1uiin10the sarknri side
of the dist.ric1. His qualific.ations allowed hjm 10 get a job in a
still functioning sc-hool. He lived near where he worked. ac first
in a tenl, :md then in a house built by himself on government
land. In fact. I first came across the Muria teacher while he was
painting the walls of his home. pail in one hand. brush in the Other.
A slirn, dark man with a moustache. clad in a simple lungi.
lite Muda teacher talked 10 me while his two linle children played
around him. He cold me that when the. Maois1s had first come.
10 the distric.t. they were full of idealism and good intentions.
Over time. however. they had been corrupted, turning from
defenders of the tribals to their tormentors. I answered that we
could say the same of the Salwa Judom. It may have once hee.n
a people's movement, but it l\ad sioce been taken over by
conti:actors an(l crirninals. these ,nos.tly non-tribal. We argued
the poin1, back and forth. while a Crowd or interested parties
gathered. Finally. the Muria teacher said th.at while he could
col\tes1what J was saying in public, and in front of ocher people.
among the Maoists such free exchange of viC.ws was simply
impennissible; As he put it: 'Naxalion ko hathiyar chhodne aur
janta ke samne baathcheeth k.arne,ki hi mm.atnahin hai". Indeed.
the. Indian Maoists do not ha"e the coui:age to put down their
arms and State 1heir case opc.nly before the people.
How then mighl the Maoist insurgency be ended or at least
contained? On the go,,.ernmentside, chis might take. the shape
of a sensitively conceived aod sincerely implemented plan to
make adivasis tt'ue partne.rs in the development process: by
assuring them the title over lands cultivated by them, by aJlowing
them the right to manage forests sustainably. by giving 1he.n1 a
solid stake in industrial or minin,g projects that come up where
they Jive and al the cost of their homes.
3311
 On the Mooist side. this migh1 1ake the shape of a compact
with bourgeois democracy. They c-ouldemulate the CPI and the
CPM, as well as their counterpans in Nepal, by panfoipating in
andperhapseven1vinningelections.Comrade Prachandaappearsto
recognisetha11he politic~!ideology most appropriate to the 21st
century is multipa11ydemocracy. A reconciliation of extremism
with elec:toral democracy seems even roore urgent and necessary
in a coonlry Jikc India. which is much larger and much 111 ore.
di verse than Nepal.
.l\s l.hings srn,1d. howevtr, one cannot e.asily see 1he Indian
Maoistsg:iveupou theircommiunent 10 rumedstruggJe. Nor. given
Lhcwaythe l lldianstu1cactually functions.canonesecit so radically
reform itself as to put the interes ts of a vulnerable minority -
lheadivasis- ahe~tdof those with more molleyand politic-alpower.
In 1he Jong run, pe.rhaps, 1he Maois1smight indeed make their
peace with the Republic of India. and the republic come 10 treaL
CoYind Chandra Ra1h. Editor. Tri6'1I Dcvelopmtmt in lmlfa: Tht
CQrltcm1 1t.lr(lf') Ot:IKue(S:ige Ptlbiicacions,New Delhi , 20:)6).
6 Report of 11~Commi'llt~OnSJH!d(llMultipurp()$eTribut B/Qd.,f(Mo.n.ng
of Publ.al tions, Ocfhi, 1960). pp 20. 192. etc.
1 Rt:pOrl {)j the Sch,:du/ed Art!ll.f a11dSt:l,e.J,,t~J Tribes Ct1mmiuu
(Go\lcrnmcnt Pre.ss. Ne.w Dt lhi. 1961}.
8 Rr11ort(I) ' rh,: C11mml11uhit Speda l Mufti1,ur1,1.1seTrilxll /Jfocks.
pp 19 192.
9 Cf 1he 28th and 29th rcpon s of the- commissioneJ' for scheduled
c.
:iste.sand scheduled 11ibes (Governmentol' India~'$!> . New Oellti. 1938
and 19'/0) .
10 Sec. among 01her wor1.s, J C Jha. nic Kol Jft.n1rrce1io,1(,j Chhma
Nagpur fl' hockcr. Spink. and Co. C.-,lcuua. 1964): idein, n,<!Blt.1u11ij
Rcrolt 1832-JJ (M11nshir:tmM:ioohorlal. Delhi, 1967): AR Oesai.cdilor.
Pcr1~ ,u1: s,,.,gglt:s'n l,uli" (0:itford Unh-ccsi1yPress:.Delhi. 1979): David
Arnold, Rebellious Hillmen: The-Gudem Rampa RMngs. 1839, 1924'
in R:inojit Guha, editor, Subaltel'II Su.dies I (Oxford University Press.
Ddhl. 1982): Ranajil Cuba. C.leme111<tr)' A) '/>eCI,\' t{ l't'<1
.J.t
"*' ln,,u,gc," 'Y
i1t Ccltmial /rldia (Oxford Uni,ers-i1yPn:ss. Delhi. 1983): K S Singh.

ilS adivasi citizens with dign ity and honour. Whether this Oir.saM11nrlamu! UiJ Mo~rmtm UfJ1. /9()1: A St11d y (lj o Mille1,1w i1m
M<wem.cmin CJi1 10((1 Nt1gp11r(lhird edition, S(:3gull Boob, Kolkola.
denouement will happen in my O\Vll lifetime I am not sure. In 2002): David Hardiman. The CtJmills of the D,ni: Atliw1Ji Autrtitm i11
the fOfc: St regions of central and eastern tndia..years of struggle Wes1;,,n , India (Oxford Unhc~ ity Press. Delhi. 1987): Ajay Sk.uia.
and strife lie ahead. Herc. in the j ungles and hills they once called Hybt;J HiutJrie..s: F11rt.us. Frr,ruie,:f mu/ Wild11c.tsin WeJl.crnl11tli(1
their own. the tribals will continue to be harassed on one side (Oxford Univecsil)' P'tcss. Odhi. 1999):Sundar,$14IXJflem .r1mcl Sm1,:ndg11.~ .
by the su1e and on the other by lhe insurgents. As ooe Bastar 11 r-or a gencr"I OV\'.r, iew. $Cc: A R Desai. edi1 or. A.g rarfrm S11.,ggle..<ill
lnditJ si11e .:<rl11dcp,: ,uleri('.r.(0.d(lrd Ur1ivecsit) Press. Delhi 1986). On
adivasi put i1 10 me - "Hmnme dono taraf se dabav hain. aour Bas131, sec Sundri,r, S11btJ/1erns and S1wertig1u: on Jh.un(htlml. Susan
hum beech mCpis gay6 ho.in". It sounds far tamer in English B C Devalle. DIJ,ourstsof Esfu,ld ty : C11lwre a,1d Proresrhi Jha,thmul
- ' Pressed and pierced from both sides. here we arc. squeezed (S::iae PublicUlions, New Delhi, 1992). :i.nd Nirmal Sengupta. cdi1or.
in the middle'' . m )Jl(J1kl11:md : Fmmh WfJdd Dy,1amic:s (Aulhors Guild. Delhi. 1982): on
the Nannada Andolan. Amil.aBaviskar. /111/rcDrilyof rht Ril'~r: A,ifr11Ji
Bmtle.t 111w 'D tVt!loJ>ttienrin ,11~Nanil<lda Vo/lt>y(second edi1Kln.
Email : ramg:uha@gmail.com
Oxford Univcrsily Prc.- si;. New Delhi. 2004). The mining conm::1sin
Orissa are tile ~ubjccl of II fon?icoming book. by ftlix P:\dcl.
Notes J2 The early plwlSt of 1tle MaoiSI moverncnt in India is :ibl) treat.:d in
Sunwnui Banerjee. In ,1,~ Wake ()j'Noxalbarh A HIJwry ()j 1he N,1.a,.liu
(The lll'~uinen1s in 1his:e$Say were fits1 prese.,ued in ;1 t1erie11 of t3lks across Mow!11u111i11lndla (SuOOmar c-kh:i.Calcutw. 1980). There-is. as yet. no
th,: coun1ryin lhe fi1~1 l'll(llllhsof 2007 - in 1he 'Ch3llcn~ ~to Democracy' comparable WOC'k on Maoi:.mos it h~ e\'olved in 1hc 1990s and be)'Ofld.
s~rle1:o.-g~iii,ed by ,ind at the Nehru Centre, MumOOiQ::tnuary}: as the 13 In lhe remainderoilhis essay I u.se-t ribal" and "adivu.~i.. in1cr..-.h;:mgei1bly.
5'!\'Cmh ISROS~tish Oh.a.wanlecture- a. the JawaharlaJ Nehru Ccn1rc for as alS()"Maoisc.. and "N,u:.ilhe" .
Advanced Scknl ifk Research in Bangalore(also in January): as Lheunnual 14 These estima1estire 1101 offered on the OOsisof a sclend.lic s1udy, l'k.1 1
lecture or 1he Raja R.immohun Roy FoundMion in Jaipur (Febru.11.ty }; :ind are 3n cduc:ucd iu ess. A dttai led ,;1a1is1ic::a J analysis of individual
a.-.1hclirst Rajiv KapurMcmorial l.cc1ure .11tlw:India lnternatiOflaJ CcJure, COI\S tiniencicswould.of COUISC , revise 1hcsefiguresupwardsor downward)).
New DeJhi(Match) . I am g.r.ueru.110 !he :iud~lk.'e 3t LhC$C lecturt s for lhcir but I suspect by noc ~c-rymuch.
ques1ions <A nd commems. ~ Pf't$CJUltJCI ha$ al11<> bc.nctite<I from 1he IS Notably, w?lilc-lhc.yb:we made m:ajorgains in su.1cssuch &.\ Jbarthund
oom,nem$:andcl'i1id !i!nsof Rukun Ad\ 1:ini. David Hardiman,Sujola Kcshnvan. aod Chhauisgarh. 1he Nax.3litcs have no n:-.nJinfluence in the western
J M:mil'let,Alier. Mahesh Ran3antjan, 3nd Oilip Simeon. I am e.spoda lly adivasi bell - lhal is, in lhe st.aJei;of Gujarat and R!ljssllutn, where 1hc.
indcb<od co Nandinj Sundae. from whose work on adivasi.s I have leamt a populations ate more closely inLC-gratcdwith c~ tc-pc:.:i sant society. and
great deal o, the )'eun.. The usual disdai mers apply.} where. 1he ttt rain is much less suited 10 sucrtilla ac1ion. Of course. it
I C"'r1.t1iw&-1U b(v Debates. Volume l. pp 143-44.
A.t.fe11t is n(Mmerely in tribal :areas lh:lt the Nauliics ate active-. For instance,
2 On un1hropolog ical con.sltuctions of the tribe in India. see. among olber lhcy hnve 3 strong pl"csence in lhc Tclangana region of Andhra Prodcsh.
worts. Vcrrit:f Elwin. Tfie Boi'g" (John Mumy. London,1939). idem, 3.1\din centrnl Bihar. In boch areas lhey work ch iefly with $.han:croppet'S
Tltr Tribal \Yori</QfVrrri~r E/1<1 i11:AnAumbiog .raphy(Oxford Uni"ersi1:y 3nd 3,gricultur:il laboure,sof low ca.,;1e origin. mobilising them in oppositioa
Press.role\\'Y0tk.1964): GS Ghuryc,TheScheduledTri~1(thirdcdition , 10 the upper e--.ist
e montyk:ndcrs and la:ndlord.s. (Cf Scl:i Bhali.t. The
Pop.11:irPrak3Shan .8ombay, 1959): KS Sinah,cditor. TM Tribal Si1uatiori Naxalite Movcmc. n t in Ccntra) 8ihar' . J::
rnnomk a11dPnlitktJI Wtt'kly.
hi llwlio (Indian lnsti1ute of Advanced S1udy. Sim.la.1972): C von Furer . A pril 9. 2005.) However. in recent years lheir greatest gains appca< 10
Haimcin dorf. n,e Tribes ,,f Indio: Sm,ggle aRd s~rvil'(1/ (Univer..ity of have been in disui<:ts where adi,a.si.s 11re in a majority. In any case. this
Colifomia Pre.ss. Berkc'lc-y.1982): K S Singh. t ribal Socitty i'n l,ul}a essay' s focus on the tribal predicament means tha1it neccs.~ ily ha.-.to
(Manoh.sr. Delhi. 1935): Andre BCceille, "The Concept o( Tribe with a,_iveshoft shrir1 to Naxalite. octh'it)' in areas where 1hc. principal axes
Spec~alReference 10 India' in his Society and P,ii1ict in lndla: E.ttoy.t of soci31 identHk ation are ca.ste 3nd class.
iri a Com1xmui\1~ Ptr.tpectlve (Alhlonc Prus. London. 1991): 16 D Mukhcrji, ' (f You Look after Fore$1People. You Kill Naxali.sm', 7'11~
Ram~u.::h3ndr.iOuha, Saw1gj11gthe CMflu. d: Ve.rrie.rElwin, His Tribal.s, A.iiari Age. June 2:8.200!1 .
and l11dia (Odord Univeniiy Pl'e:$S.. Delhi. 1999): Nandini Sundar; 17 These ptngruphs arc based on an interview t."-Onducted in Bostar in the
SMbalttn1stu1dSow!relg1u:An Anthropological Hi.storyof Bastar. /854 4 summer of 2006. W1 1 Ji
3 Maoisi le.Ider caning himielf 'Saojeev...
2Q()lj(second edition. oxrord Uni\lersity Prc:si. Oclhi. 2007). 18 Sec, among other worb. Peoples Union for Dcmocratk Righi$. Whtri
3 Arup Mah::a rruna, !Hmographic Ptr.iptctives on India's Tribe.s(Oxford the St4te M4ke.r W,u On /1.t Own f>c>QJJI~ : ~ Rq,ort ,,,, ,1,~ Violation
Uni\lersity Prcu . New Delhi. 2005). Chapier 2 and p;i.s5im.Mahanatna'$ ,if P,:ople's Right1 ,luring tl1~Salwt1 1,udum Cm11pt1ignin Odnrew,"la.
es1imates arc ooscd on studic:s and suneys oonducied In the 199(.)s. ChhtJukga,h (PUDR. New Delhi, April 2006): Independent Ci1i1,ens
4 Cf Mahcsh Rang.arujan ond Cha.zula Shahabuddin. Relocation from lrli1ia1ive, War I,, 1/11 H~ar, Q/h1di,,: An m)11iryimo ,,.~ Gro1tru/
Prolcc,ed Areas ; Toward$ a HiSIOtic:t.l imd Biol03k.al Sy111he$ is'. Siwatitm 1i1 Oa1tU'k-YUln Di.tJric1. Chhu11i.tgarl1 (IC I,New Delhi, July 2006 ).
ttrvt11lo11cmd Soc:iety. Vol 4, No 4. 2006.
Ct11'l. 19 Cf Rober, Service. Ct>mraJ,.s : A Wot ld Hisior'y of CQmmw,i$m
S Ftn,and,es.'Oevelopmem-ind~-ed Displocement and T1it,QIWomen in (Macmill:m. London. 2007).

3312 Economic and Political Wee.kly Augus, I I. 2007,