Tribal Issue: The Jhingalala Dilemma

Well I was kind of in a dilemma too regarding the title of the post and ended up jazzing it a little.Scheduled Tribes of India a.k.a STs have been here for a while now and by a while I mean way before our ancestors i.e. the Aryans invaded Indian territories.But sadly their seclusion from the mainstream has not diluted till date.They have been isolated from all the progress and development we and our communities have witnessed.They still live in the dense flora of India surviving on subsistence pre-agriculture economy with bows,arrows and stones.

According to the Article 342 of our constitution, our President has the power to declare a community as ST.Though there is no constitutional definition or criteria, general conventions have developed mainly after the 1931 census.Indications of primitive traits, distinctive culture,geographical isolation, shyness of contact and backwardness being some of the general identifiers.The 2001 census puts the overall population of STs as 8.2% of the total population.Interestingly this is spread over 15% of our geographical area and ergo thinly populated.And maximum tribal population in my own state M.P.Although never came across anyone as I haven't been into the wild.

Although they are way behind the mainstream in all indicators, but they have a better sex ratio and child sex ratio as compared to the rest.Probably because they haven't reached the female foeticide stage.Ignorance can be a bliss !

Post independence a lot has been done for the STs. At least as far as amending the constitution is concerned.But then few tribal activists feel that we should not interfere into the lives of tribal people and they should be allowed to develop on the lines of their own genius.A brain teaser for the human rights activist.To help or to isolate.Some feel that if they are removed and brought to mainstream they will loose the long kept culture and would not cope up with the outside world.On the other hand the government has obligation for the promotion of their educational and economic interests as tribes are the weaker sections of the society.As stated in the Directive Principles of State Policy.

Lately we have seem many cases when the tribes opposed the development projects by the government in their lands.They apparently are happy with what they have and do not want interference.Rather than forcing developments on these people we should pass the dais for taking a call to them making them aware of the current scenario and the developments made by the world.They should be allowed to make an informed decision.Even though to us they are just Jhingalalas, but they are also humans.They are also the citizens of India.And they also enjoy Fundamental Rights.

The A.I.C-I Superbug

Jantar Manter on that day was overwhelmed with the public response in support of Anna.He finally got the government nod for the Jan Lokpal Bill against the rampant corruption in the veins of the bureaucracy and governance.People are hopeful and jubilant.Hope is a good thing but that this won't suffice.

Looking at the past, we have had several bills and legislations over numerous other social issues and even after they became acts, nothing has changed significantly.For example, the bills formulated on dowry, child labour, sex determinations etc.They all exist in the constitution now and have the punishments listed in the Indian Penal code but can we say that these evils do not exist now? In fact laws on these issues apparently have changed nothing.When ever we come across someone taking dowry or whenever we see a child working in a shop, do we do anything about it? Do we use the existing laws? What people need to understand that having a law won't suffice, the people should feel for that law.

Often we criticize oligarchs of corruption and for ruining the fate of the nation but more often we ourselves indulge in unlawful acts.How many of us can put a honest claim that they have never faulted or paid a bribe, directly or indirectly.When we have some work in some governmental organization, we often use money power to speed up the process.We hardly follow traffic rules in India.And when stopped by the traffic police for not wearing a helmet or not having a pollution card, we never get a challan done.Who the hell wants to go to the magistrate for this meager amount.Why not give that traffic policeman half the amount and live in peace.It's a kind of service tax you see.But we never stop criticizing the politicians for their violations as they are colossal.But there is nothing called small corruption.The typical Indian mindset "Itna to chalta hai yaar!".Think, if someone harasses a girl a little, it will still be harassment.

As far as the government officials at the lowest levels are concerned, they with their not so handsome pay-scale don't mind a little extra to cope up with inflationary living standards imposed on the middle class.As long as there is unequal distribution of resources, this will persist.So it's a all win situation when it comes to our personal work.Otherwise it's a crime.And this principle has injected this All-India-Corruption-I Superbug in us.All of us. And the Lancet hyped NDM-I superbug is no competition at all.

Blasts from the past

Who said History is boring? I mean yes, the numerous teeny-tiny kingdoms of medieval India do overwhelm us sometimes but other than that part, it's actually pretty interesting, educative and fun too.Yes, I said fun. And as our historians say, to understand the present you first need to understand the history.But this post strictly is about the fun part, rather the funny part.

The medieval Indian History and also the ancient Indian History to some extent was all about Turkish rulers, fights among dynasties and wars of succession within dynasties.And the throne of the Delhi sultanate was the dream of all the rulers.The first name that strikes me is Muhammad-bin-Tughlaq.He was a great visionary and way ahead of his time but sadly none of his ambitious projects materialized.Introduction of a token currency(which we use today),shifting of the capital and his agrarian reforms all failed miserably.And this was not it.When his father was returning after the triumph of province of Bengal, he decided to create a large wooden platform for the grand reception of his father not knowing the fact that his father was returning with a fleet of elephants as war booty.When they reached the platform, it collapsed and his father died in this accident.

Next, the founder of Sur dynasty, Sher Shah.While on one of his expeditions of annexation, he died because of a gunpowder explosion of his own weapon.Had he lived for another decade or so, probably the Indian throne would have never witnessed the Mughals.Also, he started the construction of his own tomb at Sasaram,Bihar.Huh, we all know that we are mortal but who the hell digs his grave in advance. Next is Humayun,son of Babar.When he came back to the throne in 1555, little did he know that he was not going to last long.In 1556 only, he fell from the stairs of his own library 'Sher-Mandal' and died.A ruler who had dreams of taking big strides faulted in his small steps.

Lets go back a little in the 13th century where we witnessed the Slave dynasty.The founder, Qutub-uddin-Aibak died when he fell off his horse while playing a game of Polo and succumbed to injuries.Another ruler of slave dynasty,Gyas-uddin-Balban who with the help of the nobles of the then court was throned to power,after accession decided to abolish the nobles so that they had no power against him to propose another candidate.Smart move Gyas.This was not it, he also introduced court etiquette's like Sijda(to bow in front of the king) and Paibos(to lick king's feet).Burnnnn !

And many more are there to explore.So again, who said History is boring? :D