K.S. Singh examines the movements committed for political autonomy in a historical perspective. He says that at the beginning of the Second World War the Gonds and Bhils demanded the formation of a separate state.
The movement was lost in oblivion for the tribals neither specified nor sustained it by any organization. The Kurma Bhimu in Adilabad (Hyderabad) demanded a Gond Raj in 1941.
“Then, in a memorandum submitted before the States Reorganization Commission in the 1950s, the Gond leaders demanded the formation of a separate state for the tribals to be carved out of the tribal areas of Chattisgarh and contiguous districts of Rewa region and Vidharbh.
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A movement consisting of the Gonds of the lower strata led by Hira Singh developed in the late 1950s and reached its peak in 1962-63 before dying down.”
I.P. Desai has described the tribal autonomy (Adivasi Sway at Raj) movement in Dangs area of south Gujarat in the 1960s. The movement was initiated by the CPI. It could not gather strength for any long time. Districts of south Gujarat, namely, Dangs, Bharuch, Surat and Bulsar were covered by this movement.
Tribes which participated in the movement included Vasva, Bhil, Chaudhry, Ghodia and Kunbi. The tribal groups of Gujarat did not form a political party like Jhark- hand Mukti Morcha. Only, the Communist Party of India (Marxists) supported this movement.
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It was argued that the tribals had become agriculturists and their rights as such should have been protected. It is through this movement that the tribals of Gujarat developed class consciousness. Their demand was that the Gujarat government exploited the forests and deprived the tribals from their livelihood and it should be stopped.
Desai has critically examined the demand for an autonomous State in south Gujarat. According to him, the main objective of this movement has been political only and the masses of tribals are not really interested in autonomy.
Whatever may be the benefits of an autonomous tribal state, Desai argues, the tribals just have a desire to integrate themselves into the wider national mainstream.
In the contiguous area of south Rajasthan, western Madhya Pradesh and northern Gujarat, the Bhils have raised their voice for an autonomous state comprising the districts of Dungarpur and Ban- swara (Rajasthan), Dhar and Jhabua (Madhya Pradesh) and Panch Mahals and Sabarkantha (Gujarat).
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The whole tribal belt is rich in minerals and it is argued that it should not be consumed by a non- tribal state. Quite like the demand for autonomy in south Rajasthan, the demand of the Bhils of western India, as a whole, also seems to be political.
However, the Jharkhand movement in Bihar was a major movement for the demand for political autonomy.
It was a result of the interplay between historical, cultural, economic and political forces which culminated in the emergence of Jharkhand Party in the Cho- tanagpur division and the Santhal Parganas of Bihar in the late 1940s. Three factors were crucial in the Jharkhand movement:
(1) The administrative unity of the region.
(2) Exploitation of the people and material resources of the region by dikus, that is, aliens and outsiders, mainly the non-Biharis.
(3) The ethnic differences between the people of Chotanagpur and Santhal Parganas and the people of north Bihar.
If we look at the history of the movement, we find that before 1940s the Santhal people did not have any political consciousness. It was only at a later stage that they realized that they were being exploited by the dikus. The tribal autonomy in the Jharkhand movement comprises the whole of the Chotanagpur plains, some districts of Orissa, Bengal and Madhya Pradesh.
The literal meaning of the word ‘Jharkhand’ is a tract of forest. Chotanagpur, Santhal parganas, and other adjacent districts belonging to the States of Bengal, Orissa and Madhya Pradesh are considered as parts of Jharkhand, by the protagonists of the movement. The formation of the Jharkhand party in 1950 gave a new direction to political and other welfare activities in the Jharkhand region in Bihar.
The history of the Jharkhand movement has passed through at least four phases since independence: (i) 1947 to 1954; (ii) 1955 to 1963; (iii) 1964 to 1969; and (iv) 1970 onwards. During the first phase, the movement was at its climax when Jaipal Singh emerged as the unquestionable leader of the adivasis.
The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha was formally formed during this period. It contested the 1952 general elections, and emerged as the main opposition in the Bihar Legislative Assembly. The second phase started with the States Reorganization Commission’s rejection of the demand for a separate Jharkhand state and ended with the merger of the Jharkhand party with the Congress Party.
During the third phase, there emerged factions and cleavages among the Jharkhand cadre. This weakened the movement. After 1970, the movement flourished and recently ended with the formation of a new, independent Jharkhand state.