Adivasis, Naxalites and Indian Democracy

Author(s): Ramachandra Guha

Source: Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 42, No. 32 (Aug. 11-17, 2007), pp. 3305-3312
Published by: Economic and Political Weekly
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 Special articles

Adivasis, Naxalites and Indian Democracy

This essay argues that adivasis as a whole have gained least and lost most from
six decades of democracy and development in India. It presents evidence that they are even
more deprived than the dalits. However, unlike the dalits, they have been unable to
effectively articulate their grievances through the democratic and electoral process.
The failures of the state and of the formal political system have provided a space
for Maoist revolutionaries to move into. After analysing the reasons for the rise of
"Naxalite" influence, the essay concludes that there is a double tragedy at work in tribal
India. Thefirst tragedy is that the state has treated its adivasi citizens with
contempt and condescension. The second tragedy is that their presumed
protectors, the Naxalites, offer no long-term solution either.

RAMACHANDRA GUHA

On December 13, 1946, Jawaharlal Nehru moved the independent India where there is equality of opportunity, where
Objectives Resolution in the Constituent Assembly of no one would be neglected.'
India. This proclaimed that the soon-to-be-free nation Sixty years have passed since Jaipal took Nehru and all the
would be an "Independent Sovereign Republic". Its Constitutionothers at their word. What has been the fate of his people. the
would guarantee citizens "justice, social, economic and political;adivasis, in this time? This essay will argue that, in many ways,
equality of status; of opportunity, and before the law; freedom the tribals of peninsular India are the unacknowledged victims
of thought, expression, belief, faith, worship, vocation, associa-
of six decades of democratic development. In this period they
tion and action, subject to law and public morality". have continued to be exploited and dispossessed by the
The resolution went on to say that "adequate safeguards shallwider economy and polity. (At the same time, the process of
be provided for minorities, backward and tri bal areas, and depressed
dispossession has been punctuated by rebellions and disorder.)
and other backward classes...". In moving the resolution, Nehru Their relative and oftentimes absolute deprivation is the more
invoked the spirit of Gandhi and the "great past of India", as striking when compared with that of other disadvantaged
well as modern precedents such as the French, American and groups such as dalits and Muslims. While dalits and Muslims
Russian Revolutions.
have had some impact in shaping the national discourse on
The debate on the Objectives Resolution went on for a democracy whole and governance, the tribals remain not just marginal
week. Among the speakers were the conservative Hindu
but invisible.
Purushuttomdas Tandon, the right wing Hindu Shyama Prasad
Mukherjee, the scheduled caste leader B R Ambedkar, the liberal
lawyer M R Jayakar, the socialist M R Masani, a leading woman
activist, Hansa Mehta, and the communist Somnath Lahiri. After There are some 85 million Indians who are officially classified
all these stalwarts had their say, a former hockey player and as
lapsed
"scheduled tribes". Of these, about 16 million live in the states
Christian named Jaipal Singh rose to speak. "As a jungli,of asnorth-eastern
an India. This essay, however, focuses on the
Adibasi", said Jaipal, roughly 70 million tribals who live in the heart of India, in a
am notexpected to understand the legal intricacies of the Resolution.
more-or-less contiguous hill and forest belt that extends across
But my common sense tells me that every one of us should march the states of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh,
in that road to freedom and fight together. Sir, if there is anyChhattisgarh,
group Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Bihar and
of Indian people that has been shabbily treated it is my people. West Bengal.
They have been disgracefully treated, neglected for the last 6,000
The tribes of the north-east differ from their counterparts in
years. The history of the Indus Valley civilisation, a child of which
other parts of India in several crucial ways. First, they have, until
I am, shows quite clearly that it is the newcomers - most of you
here are intruders as far as I am concerned - it is the newcomers the recent past, been more or less untouched by Hindu influence.
who have driven away my people from the Indus Valley to the Second, they have, in the recent past, been exposed rather
jungle fastness...The whole history of my people is one of con-substantially to modern (and especially English) education; as
tinuous exploitation and dispossession by the non-aboriginalsa ofconsequence, their literary rates, and hence their chances of
being advantageously absorbed in the modern economy, are much
India punctuated by rebellions and disorder, and yet I take Pandit
Jawahar Lal Nehru at his word. I take you all at your word thathigher than that of their counterparts elsewhere in India. Third,
now we are going to start a new chapter, a new chapterunlike of the tribals of the mainland they have been largely exempt

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from the trauma caused by dispossession; till recently, their "conservation". Thus, apart from large dams and industrial
location in a corer of the country has inhibited dam builders townships, tribals have also been rendered homeless by national
and mine owners from venturing near them. parks and sanctuaries.4
There are, of course, many different endogamous communities How many adivasis have lost their homes and lands as a result
- more than 500, at last count - that come under the label of conscious state policy? The estimates vary - they range from
a few million to as many as 20 million. Even if we cannot come
"scheduled tribes". However, despite this internal differentiation,
taken as a whole the tribes of central and eastern India share up with a precise, reliable number, to the question "How many
certain attributes - cultural, social, economic and political tribals
- that have been involuntarily displaced by the policies of the
government of India", the answer must be: "Too many". The
allow us to treat them as a single segment, distinct not only from
sociologist Walter Fernandes estimates that about 40 per cent
north-eastern tribals but also from all other Indians. In everyday
language, this commonality is conveyed in the term "adivasi".of all those displaced by government projects are of tribal origin.
It is not a word that can be - or is - used to describe a Naga
Since adivasis constitute roughly 8 per cent of India's population,
or a Mizo. However, it comes easily to one's lips when speaking
this means that a tribal is five times as likely as a non-tribal to
of a Gond or a Korku or a Bhil or an Oraon. For these (and other)
be forced to sacrifice his home and hearth by the claims and
individual tribes are nevertheless unified, in the Indian imagi-
demands of development and/or conservation.5
Adivasis were displaced from their lands and villages when
nation, by some common characteristics. Usually, what they share
is denoted in cultural or ecological terms - namely, that thethesestate occupied the commanding heights of the economy. And
"adivasis" generally inhabit upland or wooded areas, thatthey theycontinue to be displaced under the auspices of liberalisation
generally treat their women better than caste Hindus, thatand they globalisation. The opening of the Indian economy has had
have rich traditions of music and dance, and that while they benign
might outcomes in parts of the country where the availability
occasionally worship some manifestation of Visnu or Siva, of an educated workforce allows for the export of high-end
their
rituals and religion centre around village gods and spirits. products such as software. On the other hand, where it has led
The basis for these everyday understandings of the adivasi to lie
an increasing exploitation of unprocessed raw materials,
globalisation has presented a more brutal face. Such is the case
in a series of ethnographic monographs written over the years.2
From the perspective of Indian democracy, however, what unites
with the tribal districts of Orissa, where the largely non-tribal
the adivasis is not their cultural or ecological distinctivenness,
leadership of the state has signed a series of leases with mining
but their economic and social disadvantage. As a recent book companies, both Indian and foreign. These leases permit, in fact
by the demographer Arup Maharatna demonstrates, when encourage,
as- these companies to dispossess tribals of the land
they own or cultivate, but under which lie rich veins of iron ore
sessed by the conventional indicators of development, the adivasis
or rate
are even worse off than the dalits. For example, the literacy bauxite.
of adivasis is, at 23.8 per cent, considerably lower than that of
the dalits, which stands at 30.1 per cent. As many as 62.5 per
cent of adivasi children who enter school dropout before they
matriculate; whereas this happens only with 49.4 per cent of dalit The sufferings of the adivasis as a consequence of deliberate
children. While a shocking 41.5 per cent of dalits live under state
thepolicy have been underlined in a series of official reports
official poverty line, the proportion of adivasis who do so isdown even the decades. A decade after Independence, the home
higher - 49.5 per cent. ministry constituted a committee headed by the anthropologist
Verrier Elwin to enquire into the functioning of government
With respect to health facilities, too, the adivasis are even more
poorly served than the dalits. Among the tribals 28.9 perschemes cent in tribal areas. It found that the officials in charge of
have no access whatsoever to doctors and clinics; for dalits thesethe schemes "were lacking in any intimate knowledge of
percentage is 15.6 per cent. Among tribal children 42.2 pertheir cent people [and] had very little idea of general policies for
have been immunised; as compared to 57.6 per cent of tribal dalit development". Worse, there was "a tendency for officials
children. Again, 63.6 per cent of dalits have access to safe to regard themselves as superior, as heaven-born missionaries
drinking water, as against 43.2 per cent of tribals.3 of a higher culture. They boss the people about; their chaprasis
On the one hand, by not providing them with decent education abuse them; in order to 'get things done' they do not hesitate
and healthcare, the government of India has dishonoured its to threaten and bully. Any failure is invariably placed at the
constitutional guarantee to provide the adivasis equal opportu- tribal door;... the Block officials blaming everything on the
nities for social and economic development. On the other hand, laziness, the improvidence, the suspiciousness, the superstitions
the policies of the government have more actively dispossessed of the people".
very many adivasis of their traditional means of life and live- After studying 20 blocks spread across the country, the com-
lihood. For the tribals of the mainland live amidst India's best mittee concluded that "of the many tribal problems the greatest
forests, alongside many of its fastest-flowing rivers, and on oftop
all is poverty". Much of the poverty and degradation they saw,
said the committee, was
of its richest mineral resources. Once, this closeness to nature's
bounty provided them the means for subsistence and survival.
the fault of us, the "civilised" people. We have driven [the tribals]
However, as the pace of economic and industrial develop-
into the hills because we wanted their land and now we blame
ment picked up after Independence, the adivasis have increas-
them for cultivating it in the only way we left to them. We hav
ingly had to make way for commercial forestry, dams, and robbed them of their arts by sending them the cheap and tawdry
mines. Often, the adivasis are displaced because of theproducts of a commercial economy. We have even taken away
pressures and imperatives of what passes as "development";their food by stopping their hunting or by introducing new taboos
sometimes, they are displaced because of the pressures andwhich deprive them of the valuable protein elements in meat an
imperatives of development's equally modern Other: namely,fish. We sell them spirits which are far more injurious than the

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 home-made beers and wines which are nourishing and familiar are placed at the disposal of outsiders who mercilessly destroy
to them; and use the proceeds to uplift them with ideals. We look the forest wealth with or without neccesity.
down on them and rob them of their self-confidence, and take away Already, by the 1960s, reports commissioned by the govern-
their freedom by laws which they do not understand.6 ment of India were demonstrating the utter failure of the state
Not long afterwards, the senior congressman (and former in providing a life of dignity and honour to its tribal citizens.
Congress president) U N Dhebar was asked to chair a high- Nor was this a generalised critique; rather, the specific problems
powered committee to look into the situation in tribal areas. Its faced by the adivasis were identified - namely, callous and
members included six members of Parliament (among them corrupt officials, the loss of land, indebtedness, restrictions on
Jaipal Singh), and some senior social workers. The committee the use of the forest, and large-scale displacement. The evidence
identified land alienation, the denial of forest rights, and the offered in these (and other reports) should have called for a course
displacement by development projects as among the major correction, for the formation and implementation of policies that
problems facing the adivasis.7 Sometimes, state policy had failed ensured that India's industrial and economic development was
not to be at the cost of its adivasi citizens.
to come to the rescue of the tribals; at other times, it had only
worked to impoverish them further. The state machinery had been That these reports and their recommendations would be met
unable to prevent the loss of land to outsiders, or to check the with a deafening silence had not been unanticipated. As the Elwin
exploitative activities of moneylenders. Meanwhile, the major Committee noted, past reports on tribal problems had been
power projects and steel plants set in motion by the Five-Year "ignored in practice". It "is extraordinary", it commented, "how
Plans had "resulted in a substantial displacement of the tribal often...a recommendation sinks into the soulless obscurity of an
official file and is heard of no more".8 Or at least not for another
people". The committee was concerned that this form of
industrial development would "sweep [the tribals] off their 20 or 30 years. For in the 1980s another series of official reports
feet...We have to see that the' foundations of tribal life are not commented strongly on the continuing deprivation of the adivasis.
shaken and the house does not crash". Because of the dams and These were written by the then commissioner for scheduled castes
and scheduled tribes, B D Sharma, a civil servant with wide
mills already built,
experience of working with and alongside tribals. As documented
The tribals were dislodged from their traditional sources of liveli-
by Sharma, the major problems faced by tribals were still land
hood and places of habitation. Not conversant with the details of
alienation, restrictions on their use of forests, and displacement
acquisition proceedings they accepted whatever cash compen-
by dams and other large projects. He pointed out that "the tribal
sation was given to them and became emigrants. With cash in hand
people are at a critical point in their history...". They were "losing
and many attractions in the nearby industrial towns, their funds
command over resources at a very fast rate but are also facing
were rapidly depleted and in course of time they were without
social disorganisation which is unprecedented in their history".
money as well as without land. They joined the ranks of landless
And
labourers but without any training, equipment or aptitude for anyyet the "tales of woes from tribal areas are hardly heard
skilled or semi-skilled job. outside. And when they come they are not taken seriously...".
The Dhebar Committee's most eloquent passages concerned What was worse, "the State itself sometimes tends to adopt
a partisan role and become a privy even for actions not
the suppression of tribal rights in the forest. As a consequence
of the forest laws introduced by the British, and continuedquite
by legal simply because the matter concerns voiceless small
communities".9
the governments of independent India, "the tribal who formerly
This time, the government's response to these well documented
regarded himself as the lord of the forest, was through a deliberate
and
process turned into a subject and placed under the forest depart- soberly worded indictments was to refuse to table the reports
in Parliament.
ment". The officials and their urban conservationist supporters
claimed that in order to protect the forests the adivasis had to
be kept out. The Dhebar Committee commented: IllI

There is constant propaganda that the tribal people are destroying

Those are some facts about the neglect and exploitation of the
the forest. We put this complaint to some unsophisticated tribals.
They countered the complaint by asking how they could destroy in independent India. Let me turn now to the history
adivasis
of rebellion and disorder. In the colonial period there were major
the forest. They owned no trucks; they hardly had even a bullock-
cart. The utmost that they could carry away was some wood rebellions
to in tribal areas, as for example the Kol and Bhumj
keep them warm in the winter months, to reconstruct or repair revolts of the early 19th century, the Santhal 'hool' of 1855, the
their huts and carry on their little cottage industries. TheirBirsa Munda-led 'ulugulan' in the 1890s, the uprising in Bastar
fuel-
needs for cooking, they said, were not much, because they hadthe protests in Gudem-Rampa in the 1920s, and the Warli
in 1911,
not much to cook. Having explained their own positionrevolt they of 1945-46. Most often, these protests had to do with the
invariably turned to the amount of destruction that was takingalienation
place of land or the expropriation of forests. They were
all around them. They reiterated how the ex-zamindars, in violation
quelled only with the use of force, often very substantial force.1?
of their agreements, and the forest rules and laws, devastated vast
The first two decades after Independence were, comparatively
areas of forest land right in front of officials. They also related
speaking, a time of peace in tribal India. Perhaps, like Jaipal
how the contractors stray outside the contracted coupes, carry loads
Singh, most adivasis took the government at its word that with
in excess of their authorised capacity and otherwise exploit both
the forests and the tribals. freedom a new chapter would begin, where "there is equality
There is a feeling amongst the tribals that all the arguments inof opportunity, where no one would be neglected". However,
favour of preservation and development of forests are intendedas the evidence mounted that the benefits of development were
unevenly distributed, and that the costs were borne dispropor-
to refuse them their demands. They argue that when it is a question
of industry, township, development work or projects of rehabili- tionately by tribal communities, discontent began to grow. Thus,
for example, there was a major uprising of adivasis in Bastar
tation, all these plausible arguments are forgotten and vast tracts

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in 1966, led by their recently deposed maharaja, Pravir Chandra Supreme Court. And many more dalits and Muslims have served
Bhanj Deo. Then, in the 1970s, a militant movement took shape as governors of states than have tribals.
in the tribal districts of Bihar, demanding an end to exploitation These facts are manifestations of the much wider invisibility
by moneylenders and the forest department, and asking also for of tribals from the political process. Muslims and dalits have been
the creation of a separate state to be named "Jharkhand". In the able to constitute themselves as an interest group on the national
same decade, tribals in Maharashtra were organised in defence stage - they are treated in popular discourse as communities that
of their land and forest rights by groups such as the Bhoomi Sena are pan-Indian. On the other hand, tribal claims remain confined
and the Kashtakari Sanghatana. Also in the 1970s, there were to the states and districts in which they live. Unlike the dalits
the protests against the Koel-Karo projects in Bihar. Then, and the Muslims, the adivasis continue to be seen only in discrete,
beginning in the 1980s, and coming down to the present day, broken-up, fragments.
the plight of tribals ousted by development projects (and by large The dalits, in particular, have effectively channelised their
dams in particular) has been highlighted by the Narmada Bachao grievances through constitutional means. They have successful
Andolan. Most recently, adivasis threatened by mining projects political parties, such as the Bahujan Samaj Party, which is now
in Orissa have organised a series of processions and boycotts in power in Uttar Pradesh, and which is rapidly extending its
to reassert their rights over land handed over by the state govern- influence and appeal in other states. Dalits also have nationally
ment to mining companies.1 known leaders, such as the Uttar Pradesh chief minister, Mayawati,
Above and beyond these various protests, Maoist revolution- who is now being spoken of as a possible future prime minister
aries have been active in tribal areas. The village Naxalbari, which of India. On the other hand, the adivasis have neither a successful
gave the "Naxalites" their name, itself lies in a part of West Bengal political party nor a well known political leader. Back in the
which has a substantial tribal population. Another major centre 1940s, a Jharkhand Party was formed under Jaipal Singh's
of Naxalite activity in the late 1960s was the tribal districts of leadership. While it did reasonably well in the first general
Andhra Pradesh. In the 1970s, the Maoists spread their influence elections, in 1952, it remained a regional party. It fought 60 years
in two main areas - the caste-ridden districts of central Bihar, for a separate state, but its effectiveness was undermined by a
series of splits. In any case, when the state of Jharkhand was
and the tribal districts of the southern parts of the state. In recent
decades, as the Maoist insurgency has spread, its major gains created in 1998, it consisted only of the tribal districts of Bihar,
have been in tribal districts - in Maharashtra, in Orissa, in rather than being, as Jaipal had hoped, a much larger province
Jharkhand, but above all in Chhattisgarh.12 consisting of the contiguous tribal districts of Bengal, Orissa,
Over the past four decades, the adivasis of central India have Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh as well as Bihar. As finally
often expressed their public and collective discontent with the constituted, this "moth-eaten" Jharkhand has an overwhelming
policies and programmes of the state. Their protests have some- majority of non-tribals.
times (as in Bastar in 1966 or in Jharkhand in the late 1970s) If, as is commonly (and justly) acknowledged, dalits and tribals
taken recourse to traditional means and traditional leaders. At are the two most disadvantaged sections of Indian society, why
other times (as in Maharashtra in the 1970s, or in the Narmada have the former been more effective in making their claims heard
Andolan), adivasis have been mobilised by social activists fromby
anthe formal political system? This contrast is, I believe, largely
urban, middle class, background. More recently, however, tribalexplained by aspects of geography and demography. The tribals
disafffection has been largely expressed under the leadershipofofcentral India usually live in tribal villages, in hills and valleys
armed Maoist revolutionaries.13 where they outnumber the non-tribals among them. However,
in no single state of peninsular India are they in a majority. In
IV Andhra Pradesh, for example, adivasis constitute 6 per cent of
the state's population. In Maharashtra, the proportion is 9 per
Section I briefly compared the economic and social situation cent; in Rajasthan, 12 percent. Even in states professedly formed
of the dalits to that of adivasis. When the comparison is extended to protect the tribal interest, such as Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh,
to the domain of politics, one finds that adivasis appear to roughly two-thirds of the population is non-tribal.
be even more disadvantaged. The weakness and vulnerability of The dalits too are a minority in every state, but unlike tribals
adivasis is made even more manifest when one further extends they live in mixed villages, alongside other castes and commu-
the comparison to include a third marginalised minority - namely, nities. This means that when election time comes, they can have
the Muslims. a decisive impact even in constituencies not reserved for them.
Consider, for example, the Constitution of various union cabinets
In most states of the union, and in most districts in these states,
from 1947 to 2007. In this time, there have often been dalits they command between 10 per cent and 20 per cent of the vote.
and Muslims who have held important portfolios. Dalits and/ Therefore, political parties have to address the dalit interest in
or Muslims have served, sometimes for long periods, as home a majority of Lok Sabha and assembly constituencies. Tribals,
minister, defence minister, agriculture minister and external on the other hand, can influence elections only in the few, isolated
affairs minister in the government of India. On the other hand,districts where they are concentrated. In a general election, for
no major portfolio in the union cabinet has ever been assigned example, the tribal vote may matter only in 50 or 60 constitu-
to an adivasi politician. encies, whereas the dalit vote matters in perhaps as many as 300.14
Likewise, both dalits and Muslims have held high constitu- Dalit mobilisation on a provincial and national scale is also
tional posts. One dalit and three Muslims have held the highestenabled by the structural similarities in the ways they experience
office of all - that of president of the Republic. One dalit and
oppression. For the caste system operates in much the same
three Muslims have served as chief justice of India. No tribal manner across India. In villages in Tamil Nadu as in Uttar
has ever been made president or vice president or chief justice.Pradesh, dalits are alloted the most degrading jobs, made to live
So far as I know, no adivasi has been appointed a judge of the away from upper-caste hamlets, allowed access only to inferior

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water sources, and prohibited from entering temples. It is there- and dalits. (The operative word here is "rhetoric": what happened
fore possible for them to build links and forge solidarities in practice was another matter.) On the other hand, the Congress
horizontally, across villages and districts and states. On the other has never really understood the distinctive nature of the tribal
hand, there are many variations in the forms in which tribals predicament. Down the decades, matters concerning adivasis
experience oppression. In one place, their main persecutors are have rarely been given prominence in meetings of the All-India
forest officials; in another place, moneylenders; in a third, Congress Committee or the Congress Working Committee.
development projects conducted under the aegis of the state; in The contrast between a relative dalit and Muslim visibility on
a fourth, a mining project promoted by a private firm. In the the one hand, and tribal invisibility on the other, can also be illus-
circumstances, it is much harder to build a broad coalition of trated with reference to the mainstream media. Both newspapers
tribals fighting for a common goal under a single banner. and television give a fair amount of coverage to the continuing
The dalits have also been helped by the posthumous presence victimisation of dalits and the continuing marginalisation of the
of B R Ambedkar. He has been for them both example and Muslims. It is sometimes argued that the coverage of dalit and
inspiration, a man of towering intellect who successfully breached Muslim issues in the media is not nearly as nuanced, nor as
the upper-caste citadel and who, long after he is gone, encourages substantial, as it should be. These criticisms are not without merit.
his fellows to do likewise. Indeed, the figure of Ambedkar is However, in comparison with their adivasi compatriots dalits and
a rallying point for dalits across the land. Muslims are actually quite well served by the media. In real life,
The tribals, on the other hand, have never had a leader who the tribals are unquestionably as victimised and as marginal; yet
could inspire admiration, or even affection, across the boundaries they rarely have their concerns discussed or highlighted in talk
of state and language. Birsa Munda, for example, is revered in shows, editorials, reports, or feature articles.
parts of Jharkhand; but he is scarcely known or remembered in
the adivasi areas ofAndhra Pradesh or Maharashtra. One advantage V
that Ambedkar enjoys over tribal icons is that he was a builder
of modern institutions as well as a social activist. He burnt copies The increasing presence of Naxalites in areas dominated by
of the Manu Smrti and formed labour unions; but he also founded adivasis has a geographical reason - namely, that the hills and
schools and political parties and, above all, directed the drafting forests of central India are well suited to the methods of roaming
of the Indian Constitution. Ambedkar has become an all-India guerilla warfare. But it also has a historical reason - namely,
that the adivasis have gained least and lost most from 60 years
figure in part because of the similarities in the way his followers
experience oppression; but also because they can follow him both of political independence.t5
in protesting injustice and in building a better future. In fact, the two are connected. For the state's neglect of the
One might say that the weak literacy rates among adivasis haveadivasis is in many respects a product of the terrain in which
been accompanied by a weak "articulation ratio". They do not they live. In these remote upland areas, public officials are
have national leaders; while such men as do represent them are unwilling to work hard, and often unwilling to work at all. Doctors
not conversant enough with the languages and discourses of do not attend the clinics assigned to them; schoolteachers stay
modern democratic politics. On the other hand, in the case away of from school; magistrates spend their time lobbying for a
the dalits the presence of Ambedkar, in the past, and of Mayawati,transfer back to the plains. On the other hand, the Maoists are
in the present, has been complemented by an articulate second prepared to walk miles to hold a village meeting, and listen
rung of activists, who know how to build political networks and sympathetically to tribal grievances. As a senior forest official
lobby within and across parties. was recently constrained to admit: "In the absence of any govern-
As argued above, at a national level another minority that has ment support and the apathetic attitude of the forest management
had an significant political impact is the Muslims. Outside the departments towards the livelihood of forest-dependent commu-
Kashmir valley, Muslims, like dalits, live in villages and townsnities, the Naxalites have found fertile ground to proliferate.. .'16
alongside Indians of other creeds. As their depressed economicThat the Maoists live among, and in the same state of penury
as, the tribals, is unquestionable. That some of their actions have
situation shows, the state has not been especially attentive to their
sometimes helped the adivasis can also be conceded. This is
material interest. However, politicians have necessarily to be
attentive to their votes. In the last Bihar elections, one leaderespecially the case with rates for the collection of non-timber
promised to appoint a Muslim chief minister if his party won. forest produce, such as tendu patta, which have gone up by as
No such promise has ever been made by politicians to tribals, much as 200 per cent in areas where the Naxalites are active
even in states such as Madhya Pradesh where they form as much and the contractors fearful of their wrath. However, the principal
as one-fifth of the population. aim of the Maoists is not the social or economic advancement
Also relevant to this discussion is the history of Indian nation-
of the adivasis, but the capture of power in Delhi through a process
of armed struggle. In this larger endeavour the tribals are a
alism, and in particularthe history of the Indian National Congress.
Even before Gandhi assumed its leadership, the Congress had stepping stone - or, as some would say, merely cannon fodder.
to face the charge that it was essentially an upper caste, Hindu From its origins, the Naxalite movement was riven by internal
discord, by sharp and often bloody rivalries between different
party. To combat this criticism it had to reach out to Muslims and
low castes. This imperative became even more pronounced in
factions, each claiming itself to be the only true Indian intepreter
the Gandhian era, when the Mahatma's claim that the Congress of Mao Zedong's thought. However, by the end of the last century
the Peoples War Group (PWG) and the Maoist Communist Centre
represented all of India was strongly challenged by M A Jinnah,
presuming to speak on behalf of the Muslims, and by (MCC) had emerged as the two groups which still had a func-
B R Ambedkar, who sought to represent the lowest castes. The tioning organisation and a devoted cadre of revolutionary workers.
The PWG was very active in Andhra Pradesh, whereas the MCC's
rhetoric of Congress nationalism, before and after independence,
base was principally in Bihar.
always had space within it for the special interests of Muslims

Economic and Political Weekly August 11, 2007 3309

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 The Naxalite movement gathered force after the merger in 2004 of the new democratic revolution with agrarian revolution as
of the PWG and the MCC. The new party called itself the its axis and protracted people's war as the path of the Indian
Communist Party of India (Maoist). That its abbreviation (CPI(M)) revolution...". The meeting "was completed amongst great
mimicked that of a party that had fought and won elections under euphoria with a call to the world people: Rise up as a tide t
the Indian Constitution was surely not accidental. We are the smash Imperialism and its running dogs! Advance the Revolu
real inheritors of the legacy of revolutionary Marxism, the new tionary war throughout the world!"
party was saying, whereas the power-holders in Kerala and West In pursuit of this "protracted people's war", the Maoists have
Bengal are merely a bunch of bourgeois reformists. conducted daring attacks on artefacts and symbols of the state
The new, unified party has been a mere three years in existence, In November 2005, they stormed the district town of Jehanaba
but in that time it has rapidly expanded its influence. The erstwhile in Bihar, firebombing offices and freeing several hundred pris
MCC cadres have moved southwards into Jharkhand and east oners from jail. In March 2007, they attacked a police camp i
into West Bengal. Those who were once with the PWG have
Chhattisgarh, killing 55 policemen and making off with a huge
travelled into Orissa and Chhattisgarh. This last state iscache where of weapons. At other times, they have bombed and set
the Maoists have made the most dramatic gains. Large parts fire to ofrailway stations and transmission towers.
the district of Dantewada, in particular, are under their sway. On
However, the violence promoted by the revolutionaries is not
one side of the river Indravati, the Indian state exercises an always aimed at the state. A landmine they set off in Gadchirol
uncertain control by day and no control at night. On the other in May 2006 killed many members of a wedding party. Th
side, in what is known as Abujmarh, the state has no presenceMaoists have also maimed and murdered those they suspect o
by day or by night. being "informers".
Dantewada forms part of a forest belt which spills over from
Chhattisgarh into Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. The region VI
was known in mythical times as 'Dandakaranya', a name the
Maoists have now adopted as their own. Under the Special Zonal How can a democratic state fight the rise of Maoist extremism
Committee for Dandakaranya operate several divisional commit-in the tribal areas? It might do so, on the one hand, by bringing
tees. These in turn have Range committees reporting to them.the fruits of development to the adivasi, and on the other hand by
The lowest level of organisation is at the village, where a com-prompt and effective police action. However, the policies currently
mittee of committed workers is known as a 'Sangam'. being followed by the government of India are the antithesis of
According to a senior functionary of the party, the Sangams what one would prescribe. Instead of making tribals partners in
in Dantewada seek to protect people's rights in 'jal, jangal, economic development, they marginalise them further. State
zameen' (water, forest 'and land). At the same time, the Maoistsgovernments, themselves run and dominated by non-tribals, are
make targeted attacks on state officials, especially the police. signing away tribal land for mining, manufacturing, and energy
Raids on police stations are intended to stop them harassing generation projects. And instead of efficient police action we have
ordinary folk. They are also necessary to augment the weaponrythe outsourcing of law and order, as in the Salwa Judum campaign
of the guerrilla army. Through popular mobilisation and thein Chhattisgarh, where the state government has set up a vigilante
intimidation of state officials, the Maoists hope to expand theirarmy that runs a parallel administration in the region.
authority over Dandakaranya. Once the region is made a "lib- In the most peaceful of times the state has often failed to uphold
erated zone", it is intended to be used as a launching pad for the law in tribal areas. Schedules V and VI of the Constitution
the capture of state power in India as a whole.17 provide for a substantial degree of self-governance in districts
How many Maoists are there in India? The estimates are where adivasis are in a majority. Yet their clauses protecting tribal
imprecise, and widely varying. There are perhaps between rights in land and forests, curbing the activities of moneylenders,
10,000 and 20,000 full-time guerrillas, many of them armed withand mandating the formation of village and district councils have
an AK-47. These revolutionaries are also conversant with the
been honoured only in the breach. These schedules provide for
local councils to share in the royalties from minerals found on
use of grenades, landmines, and rocket-launchers. They maintain
links with guerrilla movements in other parts of south Asia,land; what happens in practice is that the adivasis do not
tribal
exchanging information and technology with the Liberation get to see or spend a paisa from mining, whose proceeds are
Tigers
of Tamil Eelam and, at least before their recent conversion to between the contractors and the state-level (and usually
shared
multiparty democracy, with the Nepali Maoists. non-tribal) politicians. Meanwhile, the criminal justice system
What we know of the leaders and cadres suggests thatis most
in a state of near collapse; as witness the murder of Shankar
Maoists come from a lower middle class background. They
Guha Niyogi, that selfless striver for the rights and dignity of
usually have a smattering of education, and were often radicalised
adivasi workers in Chhattisgarh. It was widely believed that Guha
in college. Like other communist movements, the leadership of was killed by assassins hired by capitalists; yet those who
Niyogi
planned and executed the murder have gone scot-free.
this one too is overwhelmingly male. No tribals are represented
in the upper levels of the party hierarchy. Even with this kind of record, Salwa Judum marks a new low.
In the past, the state failed to sincerely uphold the law of the
The general secretary of the now unified party, the Communist
land in tribal areas; but now it has gone so far as to actively
Party of India (Maoist), calls himself "Ganapathi". He is believed
to be from Andhra Pradesh, although the name he uses is promote
almost disorder and lawlessness. The impact of Salwa Judum
certainly a pseudonym. Statements carrying his name occasion-
in the Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh has been studied by
ally circulate on the internet - one, issued in Februaryseveral
2007, fact-finding committees composed of activists, acade-
reported the "successful completion" of a party Congress mics,
"heldjournalists, and retired civil servants. Their reports have
deep in the forests of one of the several Guerrilla Zones indemonstrated
the that the campaign has led to an escalation of
country...". The party Congress "reaffirmed the general line
violence. On the one side, Salwa Judum cadres have burnt villages

3310 Economic and Political Weekly August 11, 2007

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and abused women; on the other, Naxalites have attacked and current areas of operation, the Indian state will not be able to
killed those they see as working in the service of the state. An easily restore order and legitimacy in the tribal areas that have
atmosphere of fear and insecurity pervades the district. Families passed out of its grasp. A war of attrition lies ahead of us, which
and villages are divided, some living with or in fear of the Maoists, will take a heavy toll of human life - lives of policemen, of
others in fear of or in roadside camps controlled by the Salwa Maoists, and of unaffiliated civilians.
Judum. As many as 50,000 people have been displaced from their Such is the prospect in the short term. From the longer-term
homes. These tribal refugees live in a pitiable condition, in tents perspective of the historian, however, the Maoist dream might
exposed to the elements, and with no access to healthcare or be seen not as fantasy but as nightmare. For the signal lesson
gainful employment. Thousands of others have fled across the of the 20th century is that regimes based on one-party rule grossly
border into Andhra Pradesh.18 violate human dignity and human welfare. By common consent,
In the district of Dantewada a civil conflict is under way, which the most evil man of the modern age was Adolf Hitler. The
threatens to turn into a civil war. With a veil of secrecy surround- holocaust he unleashed and the wars he provoked cost some
ing the operations of the state and the revolutionaries, and with 30 million lives. But in the mass murder stakes, Stalin and Mao
the adivasis too scared to file First Information Reports, there are not far behind. In fact, some estimates suggest that revolu-
are no reliable estimates of the casualties in this war. Perhaps tionary communism has claimed even more human lives than
between 500 and 1,000 people have died of unnatural deaths fascism and the extremist ideologies of the right.19
in Dantewada in the past year alone. Among those killed or That multiparty democracy is, if not the best, certainly the least
murdered, some are security personnel and others are Naxalites. harmful political system devised by humans is appreciated by
However, the vast majority are tribals caught in the crossfire. some adivasis themselves. On a visit to Dantewada in the summer
Ironically, by arming civilians, the state has merely reproduced of 2006, I had a long conversation with a Muria tribal. He was
the methods of the other side. For tribal boys in their teens have a first generation literate, who had been sent to study in an ashram
joined Salwa Judum for much the same reason as other boys had school across the river. After graduation he returned to his native
previously joined the Naxalites. Educated just enough to harbour village, to teach in the school there. At the same time he obtained
a certain disenchantment for labouring in field and forest, but a BA degree through correspondence. A teacher, if he does his
not enough to be absorbed with honour in the modern economy, job well, is among the most respected men in rural India. This
these boys were enticed by the state into a job which paid them Muria teacher was that, but when the Maoists came to his village
a salary (albeit a meagre one - Rs 1,500 a month), and gave them he experienced an abrupt fall in status and authority. For in their
a certain status in society. Gun in hand, they now strut around eyes he was an official of the Indian state, and thus subject to
the countryside, forcing those without weapons to fall in line. harassment and extortion.
In this manner, the machismo of revolution is being answered Last year, at the age of 25, the Muria teacher fled the village
by the machismo of counter-revolution. Call them Sangam of his forefathers and crossed the Indravati into the sarkari side
Organiser or Special Police Officer, the young men of Danda- of the district. His qualifications allowed him to get a job in a
karanya have been seduced by their new-found - and essentially still functioning school. He lived near where he worked, at first
unearned - authority. In the Dantewada district alone, there are in a tent, and then in a house built by himself on government
now several thousand young males punch-drunk with the power land. In fact, I first came across the Muria teacher while he was
which, as Mao said, flows from the barrel of a gun. painting the walls of his home, pail in one hand, brush in the other.
There is thus a double tragedy at work in tribal India. The first A slim, dark man with a moustache, clad in a simple lungi,
tragedy is that the state has treated its adivasi citizens with con- the Muria teacher talked to me while his two little children played
tempt and condescension. The second tragedy is that their presumed around him. He told me that when the Maoists had first come
protectors, the Naxalites, offer no long-term solution either. to the district, they were full of idealism and good intentions.
Can the Communist Party of India (Maoist) come to power Over time, however, they had been corrupted, turning from
in New Delhi through armed struggle? I think the answer to this defenders of the tribals to their tormentors. I answered that we
question must be in the negative. Corrupt and corroded though could say the same of the Salwa Judum. It may have once been
it is, the Indian state, c 2007, cannot be compared to the Chinesea people's movement, but it had since been taken over by
state, c 1940s. It is highly unlikely that a revolution based on contractors and criminals, these mostly non-tribal. We argued
Maoist principles will succeed in India. In fact I would say it the point, back and forth, while a crowd of interested parties
is impossible. In dense jungle, the Maoists can easily elude a gathered. Finally, the Muria teacher said that while he could
police force that is poorly trained, poorly equipped, and running contest what I was saying in public, and in front of other people,
scared to boot. It is not inconceivable that they will, at some among the Maoists such free exchange of views was simply
stage, manage to establish a "liberated zone" in some part of impermissible. As he put it: 'Naxalion ko hathiyar chhodne aur
Dandakaranya. But once they seek to expand their revolution janta ke samne baath-cheeth karne ki himmat nahin hai". Indeed,
into more open country, they will be mowed down by the the Indian Maoists do not have the courage to put down their
Indian army. arms and state their case openly before the people.
Of the commitment of the Maoists to their cause there should How then might the Maoist insurgency be ended or at least
be no doubt. These are young men (and occasionally women)contained? On the government side, this might take the shape
who have lived for years on end in the most difficult circum-of a sensitively conceived and sincerely implemented plan to
stances, in pursuit of their dream of a successful revolution.make I adivasis true partners in the development process: by
believe that, in military terms, this dream is a fantasy. The Maoists
assuring them the title over lands cultivated by them, by allowing
will never be able to plant the Red Flag on the Red Fort. The
them the right to manage forests sustainably, by giving them a
solid stake in industrial or mining projects that come up where
tragedy is that it might take them years to come to this conclusion.
they live and at the cost of their homes.
While the Maoists will find it difficult to expand outside their

Economic and Political Weekly August 11, 2007 3311

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 On the Maoist side, this might take the shape of a compact Govind Chandra Rath, Editor, Tribal Development in India: The
Contemporary Debate (Sage Publications, New Delhi, 2006).
with bourgeois democracy. They could emulate the CPI and the
6 Report of the Committee on Special Multipurpose Tribal Blocks (Manager
CPM, as well as their counterparts in Nepal, by participating in of Publications, Delhi, 1960), pp 20, 192, etc.
and perhaps even winning elections. Comrade Prachanda appears to 7 Report of the Scheduled Areas and Scheduled Tribes Committee
recognise that the political ideology most appropriate to the 21st (Government Press, New Delhi, 1961).
century is multiparty democracy. A reconciliation of extremism 8 Report of the Committee on Special Multipurpose Tribal Blocks,
with electoral democracy seems even more urgent and necessary pp 191-92.
9 Cf the 28th and 29th reports of the commissioner for scheduled
in a country like India, which is much larger and much more castes and scheduled tribes (Government of India Press, New Delhi, 1988
diverse than Nepal. and 1990).
As things stand, however, one cannot easily see the Indian 10 See, among other works, J C Jha, The Kol Insurrection of' Chhota
Maoists give up on their commitment to armed struggle. Nor, given Nagpur (Thacker, Spink, and Co, Calcutta, 1964); idem, The Bhumij
Revolt 1832-33 (Munshiram Manoharlal, Delhi, 1967); A R Desai, editor,
the way the Indian state actually functions, can one see it so radically
Peasant Struggles in India (Oxford University Press, Delhi, 1979); David
reform itself as to put the interests of a vulnerable minority - Arnold, 'Rebellious Hillmen: The Gudem Rampa Risings, 1839-1924'
the adivasi s - ahead of those with more money and political power. in Ranajit Guha, editor, Subaltern Studies I (Oxford University Press,
In the long run, perhaps, the Maoists might indeed make their Delhi, 1982); Ranajit Guha, Elementary Aspects of Peasant Insurgency
peace with the Republic of India, and the republic come to treat in Colonial India (Oxford University Press, Delhi, 1983); K S Singh,
Birsa Muneda and His Movement 1872-1901: A Study of a Millenarian
its adivasi citizens with dignity and honour. Whether this
Movement in Chhota Nagpur (third edition, Seagull Books, Kolkata,
denouement will happen in my own lifetime I am not sure. In 2002); David Hardiman, The Coming of the Devi: Adivasi Assertion in
the forest regions of central and eastern India, years of struggle Western India (Oxford University Press, Delhi, 1987); Ajay Skaria,
and strife lie ahead. Here, in the jungles and hills they once called Hybrid Histories: Forests, Frontiers and Wildness in Western India
their own, the tribals will continue to be harassed on one side (Oxford University Press, Delhi, 1999); Sundar, Subaltenls and Sovereigns.
11 For a general overview, see A R Desai, editor, Agrarian Struggles in
by the state and on the other by the insurgents. As one Bastar
India since Independence (Oxford University Press, Delhi, 1986). On
adivasi put it to me - "Humme dono taraf se dabav hain, aour Bastar, see Sundar, Subalterns and Sovereigns; on Jharkhand, Susan
hum beech me pis gaye hain". It sounds far tamer in English B C Devalle, Discourses of Ethnicity: Culture and Protest in Jharkhand
- "Pressed and pierced from both sides, here we are, squeezed (Sage Publications, New Delhi, 1992), and Nirmal Sengupta, editor,
in the middle". MI Jharkhand: Fourth World Dynamics (Authors Guild, Delhi. 1982); on
the Narmada Andolan, Amita Baviskar, In the Belly of the River: Adivasi
Battles over 'Development' in the Narmada Valley (second edition,
Email: ramguha@gmaiI.com
Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2004). The mining conflicts in
Orissa are the subject of a forthcoming book by Felix Padel.
Notes 12 The early phase of the Maoist movement in India is ably treated in
Sumanta Banerjee, In the Wake of Naxalbari: A History of the Naxalite
[The arguments in this essay were first presented in a series of talks across Movement in India (Subarnarekha, Calcutta, 1980). There is, as yet, no
the country in the first months of 2007 - in the 'Challenges to Democracy' comparable work on Maoism as it has evolved in the 1990s and beyond.
series organised by and at the Nehru Centre, Mumbai (January); as the13 In the remainder of this essay I use "tribal" and "adivasi" interchangeably,
seventh ISRO-Satish Dhawan lecture at the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for as also "Maoist" and "Naxalite".
Advanced Scientific Research in Bangalore (also in January); as the annual
14 These estimates are not offered on the basis of a scientific stud
lecture of the Raja Rammohun Roy Foundation in Jaipur (February); and are an educated guess. A detailed statistical analysis of indi
as the first Rajiv Kapur Memorial Lecture at the India International Centre,
constituencies would, of course, revise these figures upwardsordownw
New Delhi (March). 1 am grateful to the audience at these lectures for their
but I suspect by not very much.
questions and comments. The present text has also benefited from the 15 Notably, while they have made major gains in states such as Jhar
comments and criticisms of Rukun Advani, David Hardiman, Sujata Keshavan,and Chhattisgarh, the Naxalites have no real influence in the w
J Martinez-Alier, Mahesh Rangarajan, and Dilip Simeon. I am especiallyadivasi belt - that is, in the states of Gujarat and Rajasthan, wher
indebted to Nandini Sundar, from whose work on adivasis I have learnt a
populations are more closely integrated with caste peasant society
great deal over the years. The usual disclaimers apply.] where the terrain is much less suited to guerrilla action. Of cou
1 Constituent Assembly Debates, Volume I, pp 143-44. is not merely in tribal areas that the Naxalites are active. For inst
2 On anthropological constructions of the tribe in India, see, among otherthey have a strong presence in the Telangana region of Andhra Pr
works, Verrier Elwin, The Baiga (John Murray, London,1939), idem,and in central Bihar. In both areas they work chiefly with sharecr
The Tribal World of Verrier Elwin: An Autobiography (Oxford Universityand agricultural labourers of low caste origin, mobilising them in opp
Press, New York, 1964); G S Ghurye, The Scheduled Tribes (third edition,to the upper caste moneylenders and landlords. (Cf Bela Bhatia
Popular Prakashan, Bombay, 1959); K S Singh, editor, Tile Tribal SituationNaxalite Movement in Central Bihar', Economic and Political W
in India (Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Simla, 1972); C von Furer April 9, 2005.) However, in recent years their greatest gains app
Haimendorf, The Tribes of India: Struggle and Survival (University ofhave been in districts where adivasis are in a majority. In any case
California Press, Berkeley, 1982); K S Singh, Tribal Society in India essay's focus on the tribal predicament means that it necessarily h
(Manohar, Delhi, 1985); Andre Beteille, 'The Concept of Tribe withgive short shrift to Naxalite activity in areas where the principal
Special Reference to India' in his Society and Politics in India: Essaysof social identification are caste and class.
in a Comparative Perspective (Athlone Press, London, 1991); 16 D Mukherji, 'If You Look after Forest People, You Kill Naxalism', The
Ramachandra Guha, Savaging the Civilised: Verrier Elwin, His Tribals,Asian Age, June 28, 2005.
and India (Oxford University Press, Delhi, 1999); Nandini Sundar, 17 These paragraphs are based on an interview conducted in Bastar in the
Subalterns and Sovereigns; An Anthropological History of Bastar, 1854- summer of 2006, with a Maoist leader calling himself "Sanjeev".
2006 (second edition, Oxford University Press, Delhi, 2007). 18 See, among other works, Peoples Union for Democratic Rights, When
3 Arup Maharatna, Demographic Perspectives on India's Tribes (Oxford the State Makes War on Its Own People: A Report on the Violation
University Press, New Delhi, 2005), Chapter 2 and passim. Maharatna'sof People's Rights during the Salwa Judumn Campaign in Dantewada,
estimates are based on studies and surveys conducted in the 1990s. Chhattisgarh (PUDR, New Delhi, April 2006); Independent Citizens'
4 Cf Mahesh Rangarajan and Ghazala Shahabuddin, 'Relocation fromInitiative, War in the Heart of India: An Enquiiy into the Ground
Protected Areas: Towards a Historical and Biological Synthesis',Situation in Dantewada District, Chhattisgarh (ICI, New Delhi,July 2006).
Conservation and Society, Vol 4, No 4, 2006. 19 CfRobert Service, Comrades: A World History of Communism
5 Fernandes, 'Development-induced Displacement and Tribal Women' in(Macmillan, London, 2007).

3312 Economic and Political Weekly August 11, 2007

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