Tribal Displacement
Tribal Displacement and Human Rights Violation
Introduction
After the Independence, India was engaged in a nation-building process. Nation building was equated with modernization and fast development of infrastructure and economic conditions of the people and the country as a whole. The question is that the development activities should give space for the protection of the rights of the Tribal people and the prosperity or greater good for the larger numbers? The pursuit of development has in present day situation adversely affected the marginalized sections causing deprivation, displacement and devastation, and drastically altered the relationship of the tribes with the natural environment and the resources.
This again raises some unpleasant questions. Development for whom, development for what and at what social cost (Baboo, 2001:195)? Thus, while the ‘core’ of the ‘nation’ developed, it was at the cost of the marginals. Decided on the interests of the dominant majority, they consistently excluded marginal sections of the people, signaling an exclusionary process. Nations are thus not just oppressive to others; they can be brutal to their own people. The project of nation-building is constantly shedding portions of its own people from the purview and thereby creating its outsiders (Nag, 2001: 4757). This is the background logic where the whole issue of human rights violation takes place in various parts of the country as a result of development undertakings. Thus, the tribal regions of Orissa are not exception of it.
Social Composition of Tribals
The tribals are the indigenous people living in the hilly parts of the state. According tothe 2001 Census the tribals, commonly characterized as the Scheduled Tribes (STs) by the constitution of India constitute 8.2 percent (about 84.3 million) of India’s population. They are found in 2001 in the greatest numbers in Chhattisgarh (6.6 million, or 31.8 percent of the state's population), Jharkhand (7 million, or 26.3
Introduction
After the Independence, India was engaged in a nation-building process. Nation building was equated with modernization and fast development of infrastructure and economic conditions of the people and the country as a whole. The question is that the development activities should give space for the protection of the rights of the Tribal people and the prosperity or greater good for the larger numbers? The pursuit of development has in present day situation adversely affected the marginalized sections causing deprivation, displacement and devastation, and drastically altered the relationship of the tribes with the natural environment and the resources.
This again raises some unpleasant questions. Development for whom, development for what and at what social cost (Baboo, 2001:195)? Thus, while the ‘core’ of the ‘nation’ developed, it was at the cost of the marginals. Decided on the interests of the dominant majority, they consistently excluded marginal sections of the people, signaling an exclusionary process. Nations are thus not just oppressive to others; they can be brutal to their own people. The project of nation-building is constantly shedding portions of its own people from the purview and thereby creating its outsiders (Nag, 2001: 4757). This is the background logic where the whole issue of human rights violation takes place in various parts of the country as a result of development undertakings. Thus, the tribal regions of Orissa are not exception of it.
Social Composition of Tribals
The tribals are the indigenous people living in the hilly parts of the state. According tothe 2001 Census the tribals, commonly characterized as the Scheduled Tribes (STs) by the constitution of India constitute 8.2 percent (about 84.3 million) of India’s population. They are found in 2001 in the greatest numbers in Chhattisgarh (6.6 million, or 31.8 percent of the state's population), Jharkhand (7 million, or 26.3