TRIBALS – 2007 - Indian Social Institute

Tribals give up road blockade plan (6)BERHAMPUR: Tribals called off their planned road blockade at Mohana in Gajapati district onWednesday following written promises by the authorities concerned. Tribals of Mohana block hadgiven a call for 12-hour road blockade at Mohana on Wednesday under the banner of tribalorganisation, Lok Sangram Manch (LSM). On Tuesday night, the authorities decided to holddiscussions with the tribal leaders over their genuine demands. According to Santosh Mallik,general secretary of LSM, the administrative officials also gave in writing to take steps to fulfill thedemands of the tribals as early as possible. Satisfied with the concern shown by the authoritiesthe tribal organisation decided to call off the stir for the time being. As the tribals living in remoteareas had not received any information about the calling off of the agitation, many of themreached Mohana on Wednesday morning. Gajapati sub-collector Madhav Chandra Bariha,Mohana tehsildar Bipin Chandra Mohapatra and the local Block Development Officer helddiscussions with these tribals and their leaders at block office. (The Hindu 21/6/07)Jharkhand backwards up in arms against return of ST Bill (6)Ranchi : Backward communities in Jharkhand are up in arms against Union Govern-ment'sdecision to return the Bill to include them in Scheduled Tribes (ST) category. The social Welfareand Schedule Tribe Ministry of Central Government this month returned the Bill which hadrecommended to include six backward communities in ST category. According to sources inJharkhand Government the Ministry returned the Bill asking the State Government first to do athorough study on these castes through Tribal Research Institute (TRI) Ranchi. The Arjun MundaHovernment had sent the Bill after passage in the State Assembly in December 2004 just beforethe 2005 Assembly elections. The six castes were Kurmi, Biar, Teli, Mahto, Khatori and Ghatwar.These castes were demanding inclusion of their names in ST category for a long time and thedemand got momentum after the State was carved out from Bihar in 2000. These castes claimthat they were in the ST list in 1913 but their caste names were deleted from the ST list in 1950.The Central Government decision to return the Bill has invited sharp reaction from backwardcommunities. "The Central Government's motive is not clear. If the Government wanted to clearthe Bill then it could have passed it in the Parliament instead of sending back for research work,"said Jaleshwar Mahto, a Janata Dal(U) legislator and State party president. Echoing his viewformer Home Minister and All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) chief Sudesh Mahto said, "TheState Government should expedite the research work and send the report to the centre so thatthese castes could be included in ST category. There is proof that Kurmi and Mahto were in STlist before 1950." "Congress is playing politics over the issue. The Central Government kept theBill pending for three years and now it has sent it back. We will soon convene a meeting of Kurmileaders and decide the future course of action and how to put pressure on both the State andCentral Government to push the Bill," said. (Pioneer 23/6/07)Dantewada: Naxals abduct 13 tribals, release three (6)RAIPUR, JUNE 24 : Maoist cadres today abducted 13 civilians, including six women and threechildren, from Maraiguda village in Dantewada district. The tribals were abducted when they werereturning from a marriage ceremony at a village along the Andhra Pradesh-Chhattisgarh border.Sources in the police said while two women and a child have been released, 10 people are still inthe custody of Maoists. “Those abducted were returning from Bangagudem village of Khammamdistrict in Andhra Pradesh after attending a wedding,” IG (Bastar) R K Vij said. The abductedpersons were all living in the government-run relief camp at Maraiguda in the Naxal-infestedDantewada district. “A combing operation has been launched and police parties have beenrushed to help track down the abducted people,” said Vij. This is not the first time that Naxaliteshave targeted civilians. On June 10, Left-wing extremists had kidnapped 12 people fromDantewada and Narayanpur districts. Two of these tribals were later killed and their bodiesdumped near the roadside. According to sources in the police, Maoists have started targeting thecivilian population in a bid to gather intelligence inputs regarding Salwa Judum operations in thearea. “Over the past few weeks we have seen an increase in such incidents and believe thatNaxalites are trying to seek information regarding security deployment around Salwa Judumcamps, movement of the force and other local intelligence,” a senior police officer said.