'Tribes' express their woes in Gujarat

Ahmedabad, Dec 27 (UNI) More than thousand 'tribals' in Gujarat today gathered in the city to express their grievances at a public hearing of the National Commission for denotified, nomadic and semi-nomadic tribes.

Prof G N Devy, who chairs the Technical Committee of the Commission, met representatives of about 41 nomadic and semi-nomadic communities and 12 denotified tribes, and received a first hand account of problems being, faced by these communities in the state.

Calling for a change in societal attitude towards these people, Dr Devy said the problems of these tribals dated back to the British rule. ''The British rulers had branded several communities that did not pay taxes or comprised disbanded soldiers as criminal communities and brought out a list of 191 in 1871. They did not let these people to interact and kept them in settlements. After the Independence, they are still looked down upon and regarded as criminals,'' he criticised.

He lamented that though these communities were later denotified, they still did not have citizenship rights. ''While some were placed under Schedule Caste and Schedule Tribe category, many others were not even included in any of these lists.'' Although there is no official estimation about the population of these communities, projections by experts put it at six crore. ''Of them, 30 lakh are believed to be in Gujarat. They are people of India who still do not have citizenship rights, and are in search of their identity,'' Dr Devy said.

Emphasising the need to bring changes in the legal system to provide the tribals with their rights and privileges, Dr Devy said, ''I am ashamed to admit that the much repressive Habitual Offenders Act of the British Rule is still implemented in several states.'' Harnesh Pandya, who heads the Vicharata Samuday Samarthan Manch, said the Commission, which began its operations in February this year, was under the impression that the tribals had no complaints.

''However, we requested the body to come for a hearing,'' he said.

Highlighting the problems faced by these communities, Lalabhai of the Bajaniya community, who plays 'dholak' at weddings, said, ''This is our country but we are treated as outsiders. People don't trust us. We do not have land, house, ration card. We go to the authorities, but they don't listen to us. We do not even get loans to start our own business.'' Speaking on the occasion, Ahmed Ibrahim, a Dafer tribal from Chandpura village of Mehsana, said, even after 59 years of the Independence, they did not possess a house. ''We have not been able to assimilate in the mainstream. We still have to be on the move.

Our children are not able to go to proper schools as we do not live in one place for long.'' Adding to their woes, one Sakinaben, a farm labourer, alleged that ''police randomly pick up our men for no fault of ours.'' UNI MMG OBB HS HS2016