Tribal insurgency in the north-east, along with the upheaval in the Bastar area of Madhya Pradesh, made it quite clear that we should think over seriously the situation of tribals as a whole. It appeared that there was something wrong in our understanding of the tribals.
It is a fact that the non-tribals and especially the caste Hindus suffer from prejudices against the tribals. There has been serious discrimination of tribals by the non-tribals. For long, the non-tribals have been cherishing the notion that the tribals are a savage lot and there is little scope for development among these people.
The need to concentrate on tribals became all the more serious when in 1950 we took to Community Development Programmes. The Constitution of India brought out a new set of values.
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It emphasized the need for the integration of tribals into the national mainstream. It became clear to all that in independent India if nation- building has to be done in right earnest, there cannot be two futures for one nation.
It was not possible to keep the tribals tethered to an inhuman situation and the high caste Hindus raised to a progressive level. The tribals had to be compensated in terms of development via constitutional safeguards and guarantees.
Yet another aspect we must understand is that tribal society is altogether different from non-tribal society.
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There have been rumblings of discontent and unrest among the tribals resulting from their relations with the non-tribals. The root of the Jharkhand movement is the exploitative relations between the tribals and the diku (non-tribals).
The insurgency in Nagaland is largely due to the hostile relationship between the Naga society and the state.
The Bodos stress their demands in violent action because they find that the non-tribal society of Assam has not historically been friendly with them. Many of our tribal movements stem from the discriminatory relations between the tribal society and the non-tribal society.
It is for the security of the country and also for the development of tribals that social anthropology has to study tribal problems, tribal policy and tribal social change seriously.
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We should also try to find out the cultural patterns which emerged from the outcome of social change among the tribals. It is largely a matter of structural or value and ideology change.