On the Future of Indigenous Traditions - Munin

“…most important argument for minority rights is based on equality 143 considerations if you
really want to treat people as equals you must take into account that they are different and
want to remain different, and then arrange for this to be possible. Because circumstances give
us unequal opportunities to hold on to the cultural characteristics that make us different, real
treatment as equals implies that the state seemingly must treat its citizens unequally and give
some groups rights that are denied to others 144 .”
This is the precise reason that the Adivasis in Jharkhand, and other indigenous groups
in their home land want to have the special rights which may be unequal as compared
to the rights for the non-Adivasi or non-indigenous in Adivasi areas.
As we look at the traditional customary system of Adivasis in Jharkhand, we find the
influence of the ‘modern outlook’ to be a big challenge for its acceptance by many
Adivasis. Modernity is generally associated with westernisation which seems to be
based on the understanding and approach of individualism. Individualism understood
more in terms of materialism, for individual accumulations, ownership and security
for prosperity in day to day life. However, for Adivasis looking at their own
traditional institutions in presence of all the material need of the modern life often
chose to be a part of modern world than to give their cultural values and systems a
priority. Thus these customary systems and traditional institutions become less
significant and unpopular or association with it also is considered to be giving them a
negative image of themselves and therefore a certain reluctance to identify with these
institutions.
In collectivism, not opposed to any individual that stands out within the collective, but
the individualistic character who does not identify himself or herself with the
collective or the principals that bind them together is the issue. It is the social bond
with each other, to be identified with, to be connected and relate to, or to be a part of
is what collective would mean here. Thus, be associated with the other and feel
143 Jarle Weigård, Is There a Special Justification for Indigenous Rights (unpublished paper, University
of Tromsø,2006) citing Will Kymlicka, Multicultural Citizenship. A liberal theory of minority rights
(Oxford: Clarendon Press 1995), 108-115.
144 Jarle Weigård, Is There a Special Justification for Indigenous Rights (unpublished paper,
University of Tromsø, 2006) citing, Ronald Dworkin. Taking Rights Seriously (London: Duckworth
1977), 227.
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