HUGE POPULATION OF INDIA YET TO COME UNDER NATIONAL MAINSTREAM: SUCCESSIVE GOVERNMENTS ENGAGE IN SHOWCASING THEM!

Over 15 crore population of India is yet to be brought under national mainstream-they live life of vagabonds, moving from one place to another; many of the tribes are yet to know that they have a homeland or nation of country- that is called"-INDIA, A SOVEREIGN, SOCIALIST , SECULAR  DEMOCRATIC  REPUBLIC.............."
Before I deliberate on this  topic about sad plight of huge number of population, I exactly remember two quotable quotes of the first Prime Minister Pundit Jawahar Lal Nehru and Editor of the well-researched Literary monthly  magazines-Dowab, published from New Delhi and retired professor of English and former member of Council of States Prof Jabir Husain.........

Pundit Nehru had said on the night of 14\15 August, 1947 after India had achieved independence from British Rule, " Long years ago we made a tryst with destiny and now the time has come when we will redeem our pledge, not wholly or in full measures, but very substantially. At the stroke of the midnight hour , when the world sleeps, INDIA will awake to life and freedom........A moment of comes which but comes rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends and when the soul of a nation long suppressed finds utterances. We end today a period of all fortune and India discovers herself again......."

Prof Husain has written in a purview of his article in "Khanabadosh (nomads)" in Dowab...."Jaab mein aaya tha meri koyi jaat nahi thi; Aur jaab mein ja raha hun tab bhi meri koi jaat nahi hai; Aakash ko aisa hin khula rahne do; Dharati ko bhi mat bandhi; Tumne jo bich bich mein diwaren khara ki li hai; Unhen gira do kyonki wah tumhin ne banai hai; Aapne purkhon ke  kewal gaurav ko lo; Unki gati ka samman karo; Undino ki yaad karo jab pahiye nahi the; Par purbaj chalana Chahte the.......(When I had come then I had my no caste; And when I am going then also I have no caste; Allow the sky to open like this; Do not bind even earth; You have raised walls in between; Demolish them because you have raised them, Let take your ancestors pride; Allow normalising their speed; Let remember those days when there were no wheels; Even than ancestors wanted to walk.....")

Is India running of its own or some body is pulling the nation? India as a nation achieved independence exactly over 62 years! We have adopted a well defined  Constitution, enunciating Justice, social ,economic and political; Liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship; Equality of status and of opportunity; and to promote among them all; Fraternity assuring the dignity of the individual and the [ unity and integrity of the Nation].. Then why discrimination galore prevailing everywhere in the country?

To begin with, one must take  into account, the burning question of deprivation of over 15 crore population of nomads in the country. They are yet to identified in the social and national  set-up. Prof Husain has taken a lead to highlight the plight of nomads in the country. Apart from that, huge number of Adivasis  and primitive population, living in the deep forest areas of Jharkhand, Chhatishgarh, Madhya Pradesh,Orrissa, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal,, Karnataka , Tamil Nadu , Maharshatra  many eastern states as well as remote islands of south India nearing Sea shore are yet to see the light of independent India. Sadly primitive and ancient tribes in Andmand and Nicobar islands, Puducherry,,Lakhshdweep, Dadar -Nagar Havelis as well as many deep forest areas of adivasi-populated Jharkhand, Orrissa,Chhatishgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal etc have not been identified so far-they live in island forest and tribal forest, unknown nobody knows their living-Some random survey have found that they move naked and their population are dwindling because of diseases and natural calamities. In this way , our successive union governments had been showcasing these rare population of the country and made them  exhibition subject matter ,ridiculous of being their ancient and primitive living away from the civilisation and culture of India as a whole!

Stories of cursed nomads, published in various issues of Dowab,( I think Dowab is a Persian word ant it means conjunction of two rivers) reflect the indifference of  of successive governments towards sad plight of over 15 crore such population in the country.. They have no home, no shelter etc-they move one place to another right from their ancestors to present youths, old, women and children.The British Raj, which had enacted a law in 1871, considering nomads a bunch of thieves and female population prostitutes, used to punish them under such black law. After independence Pundit Jawahar Lal Nehru could know the sad plight of nomads and after the repealing the black law of British, enacted a new law-Habitual offender Act -1952.. That law still today in vogue has proved more darocian in humiliation terms of nomads! The issue got momentum when Prof Jabir Husain raised in Parliament the plight of nomads-but sadly government remained silent over such important issue! Prof Husain has pointed out in his Article-"Delli mein Khanabadosh" in Dowab monthly,that  nomads have many sub-caste.They are Kureri ,Kureriayar, Kurori, Dhami, Dhamin etc. They move different places in live in tents on road side streets away from life of urban and rural habitats in an rural and urban areas. They are held most neglected community in Indian society. Reports of their killings pour from different places. A few years back in September 2007, nomads of Kureri sub-caste, numbering ten , were killed mercilessly on the concocted charges of thievery by villagers of Rajapakad-Delphoswan in Vaishali district of Bihar. Such incidents in different parts of the country with nomads have become order of the day.

Prof Husain has also referred about a commission, constituted by the union government, to identify nomads and suggest measures for puting them in Schedule Tribes list. The Commission under the chairmanship of Balkrishna Renke long back submitted the report to the union government-but the union government is putting them in cold-storage. Interestingly, the report has not been placed in the Parliament in the last several years., resulting into rampant rise in atrocity and violence against them .In yet another revelation of facts in another issue of Dowab, Prof Husain has put startling facts about the recommendations of the commission and the union government's indifference towards them.Balkrishna  Renke commission report ,submitted interim report and final report in 2007 and 2008 respectively  to the union social Justice ministry. But the report was not presented before Parliament! In the meantime, the report was any how reached to the much-publicised National Advisory Council l(NAC) led by the AICC president Ms Sonia Gandhi. To the  hopes and aspirations of nomads, the NAC  referred the report to the working group, comprising Ms  Aruna Roy, Mr Harsh Mander,, Mr Madhaw Gadgil, and Mr Narendra Jatav, for suggestion to uplift the plight of nomads in the wake of Renke Commission report. However working group studied the report and put them on website for public suggestions to bring them on national mainstream. Even there remained many shortcomings on the suggestions of working group-but in one aspect, the working group admitted that present law of 1952 appears more darocian and wanted its repeal.. But thanks to Ms Sonia Gandhi, she voiced many objections over working group suggestions. she lamented that the suggestions are limited to 200denotified communities and pointed out that about 1400 nomads tribes and sub-tribes have not been referred in the working group suggestions, Prof Husain said and added that even today thousands of above mentioned tribes and sub-tribes have not been provided any right so that they could be brought under national mainstream!

More over , Prof Hussa Husain has disclosed that the British Raj had declared 200 communities, mostly travellers, moving from one part to another and had put them under "criminal tribal" under 1871 Act. British thought them they are criminals and had considered travellers moving from one part to another as possible criminals.. After Nehru's intervention in 1950s a new Act was enacted-that also not at all suitable and considered nomads , indulging in thievery and other crimes. Both NAC working group and Renke commission made many suggestions but all of them are yet to draw the union government's attention to bring nomads under national mainstream!

In the meantime, an article by Malini Bhattacharya, a former member of the National Commission for Women  in the Frontline fortnightly  has  also mentioned many things about nomads in the wake of  a raid conducted by the police in a well-known brothel areas of Uttam Rampur, Ward Number-3, Forbesganj in Araria district of Bihar written . The writer has said that she was shocked  to find the name of one Md Kalam mentioned as person the person who had been arrested following the testimony given by one of the rescued girls. Md Kalam, had first met Ms Maninin  in Uttari Rampur as a member of the marginalised Nut community, which provided women for brothels of Rampur for generations.Kalam has been raised by two elder sisters , who had been themselves been inducted into the trade at an early age but had vowed to make sure that their brother never become part of the vicious network of traffickers and pimps. Both the sisters had sent Kalam for education and in time, Kalam took opportunity and became the first graduate from the Nutta community in the areas. Kalam also acquired a degree of law and returned to his birth place as a social activist fighting against the exploitation of women. Kalam succeeded in his venture and started schools for marginalised community. But he was got involved in the case on false charge when he was doing social work to bring back nomads girls from the clutches of brokers. And knowing all these things, Maninin has added in her article, " But what is more unfortunate is that the social and political forces outside Nutt his own community also seem to be inclined towards perpetuating the fate of the Nutts."

Ms Manini has reminded in a foot note in his article , " The Nutts are a marginalised community of tribal origin, now settled in parts of Bihar and Rajasthan. From whatever mythical memories of their past they retain, one learns that they were nomadic and possessed exceptional acrobatics skills. The half -forgotten bardic songs of "Alha-Rudal" note that Nutts had shown great bravery as contingents in the army of Rana Pratap in his battle against Mughals. They never took up agriculture. They are settled on homestead lands in some parts of Bihar and Rajasthan by their feudal overlords who used their military prowess for their own purpose. Perhaps, even in pre-colonial times these feudal lords extracted sexual services from Nutt women, which would explain the evolution of the so called custom prevalent in the community even today. It is closed and largely endogamous community. Many of them have  Muslim and Hindu name,suggesting that they have been on the margins of both the religious without being accepted by either. Poverty and underdevelopment, even after they gave up their nomadic ways, combined with the uneven power structures in society, helped perpetuate among them the so called custom of pressing their girls into prostitution and eventually some of their settlements turned into red light areas and centres of trafficking."

Here I must discuss the primitive tribes living in interior fo deep forest of Andmand Nichobar Islands.Because of dense forest and non-accessibility in the areas, rare tribesmen , belonging to Great Andamanese, Oges of Little Straight Island, Jarawas south and middle Andmand, Sentinelese of Sentinent Island, Shom pens of Great Nicobar and Great Andamanese remains neglected and joining of them in national mainstreams appears  quite impossible  and a distant dream, thanks to the lackadaisical approach of the union government. Population of many these tribes are declining. They remain quietly naked in deep forest. They feel unsecured as soon ssas they see people from the developed areas , moving on helicopter. Either they ran away in deep forest or fire  arrows and bhallas on flying helicopter. They are far away from the culture and civilisation of India. Large  number of their population have perished in the last Tsunami.. By random survey and census, the union government has determined their population! There are only 19 Grat Andmanese, who were 24 in 1971, 25 in 1901 and 10000 in 1789. Another Tribe Onge are considered most primitive tribe. They are semi-nomadic tribe-fully dependent on food provided by nature. It population have no record-but negligible in the Forest island . Jarawas tribes are only 341 inhabitants. Sentinelese are world's only tribes without any contact with any other group and community. They are said to be very hostile and never leave the island. Very little is known about these tribe.Shopens Mongoloid race and they are very shy..This tribes major group are hostile. Population of all these tribes are decreasing because of hunger and various disease. They are gradually becoming physically weak! More Over in this age of advance technology, successive union governments are   yet to rescue and rehabilitate these primitive tribes what to speak of identifying them in national main streams.
Just only not these facts, even adivasis in remote and deep forest of Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhaitshgah, Madhya Pradesh ,Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal and eastern states are already away from national mainstreams. I had been Saranda forest range in Jharkhand state about a few years ago and many deep forest areas of Orrissa and West Bengal, Chhatishgarh, Madhya Pradesh along with some of my Naxalite friends, I personally found tribal running away in deep jungles perhaps being afraid of us!

SOURCE: Issues of  DOWABA, monthlyliterary  magazine, FRONTLINE, a fortnightly magazine,, Constituent Assembly Websites, Chhatishgarh, Orrissa, Jharkhand, West Bengal government websites as well as websites of  Union Territories and eastern  states government websites, Tribal Achieves of many organisations etc..