Tribals’ fight to hold Ground-Telangana Today

As Jainoor,the tribal heartland of North Telangana,burns, a deep dive into the history of ethnic tribes reveals a trail of unhindered exploitation

By S Harpal Singh

By evening on that unusual but quite eventful day in Jainoor, the firefighters were silently praying for the weakened monsoon to resume its activity vigorously. The locals and the fire brigade were finding it difficult to douse the scorching fires that came as a result of vandalism and arson all through the day.

The undesirable, a deep divide in the local communities coexisting in the tribal heartland of North Telangana had happened. The centre of the violence was the commercially bustling mandal headquarters in KumramBheemAsifabad district but the anger had also spread among aboriginal people living in Adilabad and Mancherial districts, all three a part of erstwhile Adilabad district (the fourth one being Nirmal).

• The first time Adilabadtribals were noticed by the outside world was in 1940 during the rule of the Nizam of Hyderabad

An incident of attempted rape as well as savage physical assault of a tribal woman was the cause of their rage towards one of the local non-tribal communities to which the accused belonged. In the larger context, however, the tribals were agitated over the manner in which the laws that constitutionally are meant to protect them from vulnerabilities are perpetually being flouted to their detriment.

The tribals, predominantly an agrarian community, have demanded an audience with Telangana Chief Minister ARevanth Reddy to air their grievances. They have demanded strict implementation of laws that govern the Scheduled Areas, alternately known as Agency areas, thereby insulating them from malafide intentions and actions against their culture, traditions and well-being.

Aboriginal Communities
A deep dive into the history of the ethnic tribes in North Telangana will only reveal a trail of unhindered exploitation and bullying over the last century and a half, and perhaps more importantly the abject failure of rulers in protecting them against economic and cultural assaults. No doubt, Jainoor was waiting to happen.

Adilabad has six aboriginal communities that are part of the Raj Gond ecosystem because of their cultural association, the Raj Gonds being the flagship tribe. Besides, there is the Lambada plains tribe. Of the total tribal population of 4.95 lakh (2011 census), about 3.7 lakh are Indigenous tribes scattered roughly between the Penganga riverine border on the north and Godavari river on the south. The PranahitaRiver makes up the eastern border while Adilabad’s border with Maharashtra’s Kinwat taluk in Nanded district forms the western border.

• Raj Gond leader KumramBheemand 14 of his band of rebels were killed by Nizam’s police force on September 1,1940, in Jodeghat

The tribes, Raj Gond, Pardhan, Kolam, Thotti, Naikpod and Andh, had lived in peaceful isolation in the hills and forests for centuries with much of their population concentrated in the Agency mandals of Utnoor, Indervelli, Sirikonda, Narnoor and Gadiguda in Adilabad district, and Jainoor, Sirpur (U) and Lingapur in KumramBheemAsifabad district, all falling under Fifth Schedule of the Constitution. Utnoor is the nerve centre of all tribal activity in the North of Telangana and the headquarters of the Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA), Utnoor.

As the North Telangana tribes are among the few pockets in the country which have retained their pristineness, it is all the more important to shield them from any outside attack. But, the threat of the ethnic tribes being overwhelmed in all aspects is real.

The process of outside influence on the culture and customs of the Adivasis has speeded up in the last three decades going by the influx of outsiders in the Agency villages, especially in mandal headquarters where there is even now some tribal presence. The influx is ‘illegal’ as per special protection laws of tribals and has gone unchecked due to the utter disregard towards the rule of law shown by authorities.

• Adilabad has six aboriginal communities that are part of the Raj Gond ecosystem, the Raj Gonds being the flagship tribe. Besides, there is the Lambada plains tribe

Mandal headquarters like Jainoor, Utnoor, Narnoor, Indervelli and Ichoda have become bustling business centres. It is quite evident that there is a change in demography and this change has adversely influenced the prospects of the local Adivasis.

Jodeghat Incident
The first time the Adilabadtribals were noticed by the outside world was in 1940 during the rule of the Nizam of Hyderabad. The legendary KumramBheem, a Raj Gond leader, and 14 of his band of rebels were killed by the Nizam’s police force on September 1 that year in Jodeghat.

The issue involved was a grant of tilling rights on forest lands which were denied to the forest-dwelling Adivasis following the implementation of new forest conservation laws in the early last century. The Jodeghat incident brought the Austrian-born anthropologist Christoph von Furer-Haimendorf to Adilabad district, mandated as he was by the Nizam’s government to conduct a thorough study of the situation of the aboriginal people.

• Utnoor is the nerve centre of all tribal activity in North of Telangana and the headquarters of the Integrated Tribal Development Agency, Utnoor

Having taken cognizance of the irritant, Prof Haimendorf influenced the Nizam to distribute pattas on 1.6 lakh acres of land to 30,000 aboriginal families in the area. In his 1943 ‘Note on Position of Aboriginals in Asifabad, Rajura and Utnoortaluqs of Adilabad district’, Prof Haimendorf discussed the conditions prevailing in Hyderabad and how the ethnic Raj Gonds and other tribes were being dispossessed of their lands.

Unwelcome Intruders
The anthropologist’s study in these parts also for the first time revealed the quantum of the influx of outsiders and its impact on the lives of the local tribal people. On page 67 of the Note he said, “The policy of opening up the district and raising revenue had the government encouraging influx of new settlers by granting them pattas free of charge so that they can make lands arable.”

“With the gradual improvement of communication and influx of cultivators… the country became valuable and attractive to non-cultivators and Muslims, Brahmans and Komatis of Rajura, Adilabad, Asifabad and Nirmal began acquiring villages to be managed on a commercial basis,” the researcher noted. He provided examples of habitations and villages from where the settler communities ousted the aboriginals.

Though the latest demographic statistics are not available due to the delay in conducting the 2021 Census, a fair idea of the changes in that aspect can be had from available statistics. As per the 2001 Census, the population of tribals in the Agency mandals was 1,10,181 and that of non-tribals at 68,095.

In 2011, the population of tribals was pegged at 1,34,235 and that of non-tribals at 83,325. These statistics, however, do not portray the reality on the ground level as most of the non-tribal population is concentrated in respective mandal headquarters. According to independent estimates, for example, Jainoormandal headquarters has a population of about 8,000. The tribal population here is a dismal 600.

• The shift in population size in the tribal areas is also having an impact on the elections in the three Assembly seats, Asifabad, Khanapur and Boath that are reserved for Scheduled Tribes

The shift in population size in the tribal areas is also having an impact on the elections in the three Assembly seats—Asifabad, Khanapur and Boath that are reserved for Scheduled Tribes. For instance, the numerical strength of the non-tribal voters negates all the advantages that tribal voters can enjoy in electing a candidate of their own choice.

Observers have identified this lopsided population composition to be the root cause of ill will between the component communities. “The non-tribals tend to dominate us despite leeching on our resources,” was how an Adivasi leader terms the situation.

Prof Haimendorf’s detailed research on land and non-tribal migration in the Agency tracts in the 1940s remains a seminal work though other studies were also done simultaneously by Moazam Hussain and P Setumadhava Rao in his association. In later years, especially the the 1980s, Urmila Pingle collaborated for carrying out more studies on tribals.

The surge in the influx of non-tribals continued as successive governments turned a blind eye towards the problem. More and more gullible Adivasis were cheated as non-tribals grabbed their lands by fraudulent means. The land issue even provided a foothold for naxalites in the Agency tracts. The infamous Indervelli police firing of April 20, 1981, came as a culmination of the frustration of the ethnic people as a result of being dispossessed of their lands.

Embers of Conflict
Then came the Adivasi movement against the Lambada tribe in 2017-18. The latter has been accused of getting included in the list of Scheduled Tribes in 1976 through fraudulent means and by virtue of that grabbing all the benefits of the ST category.

And before the embers of the Adivasi-Lambada conflict died down completely, the Jainoor incident happened. This incident has united the aboriginal people across the erstwhile united Adilabad who now want the influx of non-tribals to be stopped completely and expulsion of Muslims from the mandal headquarters.

They demand that the special laws governing the tribal belt be implemented in letter and spirit. “This is the only way of stemming the rot,” says KumraVittal Rao, a Raj Gond elder who works among Adivasis at the grassroots level.

Ineffective Laws
In independent India, governments did realise the gravity and complications arising out of gullible tribals being made to part with their lands by deceitful means and made some special laws to control the phenomenon. On the ground, nonetheless, these laws were observed more in the breach.

Among the laws included the AP Scheduled Areas Land Transfer (APSALT) Regulations 1959 (with effect from Dec 1, 1963) on the transfer of immovable property from an ST person to a non-tribal. It also talks of the restoration of the land to the original tribal owner. The APSALT Rules 1969 made some fine-tuning in the existing regulations.

The APSALT Amendment Regulation 1/1970 (with effect from Feb 3, 1970) barred the transfer of any immovable property between tribals and non-tribals and non-tribals and non-tribals. It is these regulations whose potential was watered down by way of non-implementation.

The land issues will also be under check if the government follows the recommendation No. 9.41 of the Koneru Ranga Rao Committee. It says the ITDAs have to control the influx or infiltration of the non-tribal population by taking steps in light of land transfer regulation provisions in coordination with licensing departments to check the establishment of shops/enterprises, construction of houses or for any other commercial purpose.

• Outside influence on the culture and customs of Adivasis has speeded up in the last three decades going by the influx of outsiders in the Agency villages, threatening their very survival

In the absence of such protection, the tribals are a disadvantaged entity so far as entering any commercial activity is concerned. The more resourceful outsiders have already captured all the businesses in the mandal headquarters.

The other potent law that has been ignored is the Panchayat Extension to Scheduled Areas (PESA) Act, 1996, which gave way to formulate relevant rules under the AP PESA Rules, 2011, notified through GO Ms 66 on March 24, 2011. There are nine rules which concern the socio-economic and cultural aspects of Adivasis.

“The tribals will benefit greatly if the PESA rules, more so those related to marketing, are implemented in letter and spirit,” saysKovaDaulath Rao Mokashi, Telangana State president of the Adivasi Sena, who works among the tribals creating awareness on PESA. He cited the example of the tribal women’s self-help groups of Venkatapur in Dandepallimandal of Mancherial district where the grant of purchase licence resulted in improving their incomes.

Of more relevance is the PESA rule associated with empowering the gram sabha concerned to verify whether some lands are purchased in the name of tribal women and being enjoyed by non-tribals. In the aftermath of the Jainoor incident, allegations are being made that Muslims are marrying tribal women to protect illegally gained immovable property. According to the allegations made during various peace restoration meetings, the Aboriginal people have alleged that Muslims have married over 50 tribal women. The government is believed to have promised to look into this allegation.

The government seems to have initiated efforts for the restoration of order by way of the implementation of the PESA rules. Collectors of Adilabad and Kumram Bheem Asifabad have already appointed special officers in panchayats and created awareness about the rules among the officials.

(The author is an independent journalist)