TRIBALS: Assimilation or Integration

1. Who are tribals? How they are different from others?

Tribals are the indigenous people who lived in inaccessible forest areas for many years. As they were isolated, they developed distinct characteristics from the mainstream culture. These characteristics are

• Distinct language, dialects, culture, customs and traditions.
• They are more egalitarian people, not as shrewd as Delhi people
• They have better gender equality than our societies and hence better sex ratio.
• They protect and conserve forests as they depend on them. Not like us, who just want to cut forests.
• They have a system of youth dormitories where a couple can live together before marriage. In that sense they are forward looking as in our culture live-in is still not permitted.
• There is no formal system of schooling. Skills are transferred from father to son.

2. They have a different system than ours, so let them practice that why we are creating troubles for them?

• It is good to be different. In fact, in today's World people like to be different so as to gain attention.
• Even, tribals lived peacefully in forests and nobody bothered them.
• Now, when the population is rising fast, resource constraints is there so we are moving towards forests and cutting them for our benefits.
• In this process, tribals are getting pushed deep into forests and getting cornered from all sides.
• So, it is a case of domination of a powerless culture by a powerful Indian culture.  

3. In what ways we are dominating them? 

• We are buying their lands for very cheap prices.Land alienation is happening at a faster rate.
• Non-tribals are dominating in their areas.
• Even they can't make liquor which is their tradition and have to buy it from market at high prices.
• In court cases, they don't understnd language and are cheated by the non tribals.
• Many foreign companies are doing illegal mining there and affecting their source of drinking water and environment badly.

4. What are the steps taken by government to protect them?

• Government prepared a list of scheduled tribes and provided protective discrimination. But, only urban educated tribals are getting benefited from this policy.
• Prezident and Governor have powers to declare some areas as scheduled areas.
• Special development programmes were started in tribal blocks. But, this helped rich and non-tribals more than the poor and tribals.
• Tribal sub-plan was created to benefit tribals and not the non-tribals.
• Greater political autonomy was given to them in the form of Jharkhand and Chattisgarh. But, Jharkhand is a great failure.

5. So, it is natural that diffusion of culture will happen. Non tribals will go into tribal areas. So, what is the solution? 

• Yes, thats true that mixing of culture will happen and we can't keep the tribals totally isolated.
• But, what we are doing now is assimilation of their culture in our culture.
• We should not destroy their culture by saying that our culture is superior. It is not about being superior but about being different.
• Rather we must integrate them. It means we must let them develop themselves according to their own wish and intelligence. We must help them maintain key components of their culture and if they want they can adopt some of ours. Nothing should be forced.

6. Do you think integration is possible?

• Frankly speaking, NO
• We cultured people are so adamant and proud of our culture that we won't let them practice their culture. 
• Also, we are less tolerant and more greedy. We want to take easy path of just exploiting the tribals and not helping them.
• Laws are good and they have good intentions but the implementation will be done by the dominant people. So, a loss for tribals.

7. What are the issues related to displacement induced by development? 

• For many development projects such as dams, roads, bridges and mining we need to cut forests
• The tribals living in those areas are then dispossessed of their natural setting. Suddenly their culture loses the meaning. They lose their way of life such as living with rivers, animals and trees.
• They are forced to enter into mainstream economy. As they don't have enough skills to participate in the economy, they end up being rickshaw pullers, Women end up becoming prostitutes and children end up in child labor.
• Thus, it is not at all inclusive or intelligent way of going about development. Developing others at the cost of tribals is leading to conflict and tension. NAXALISM is the live example.