Imagine, being driven out of your own home to wilderness as a result of coercion and abuse

of power and there too you are being subjected to brutality and inhumanity. Sounds
unjust….? To summarise this can be considered as a shorthand version of the history of
Adivasis in India. “Adivasis were the aboriginal inhabitants of India, driven over centuries,
further and further away from alluvial plains and fertile river basins into "refuge zones" -
hills, forests and drylands - in successive waves, by communities armed with superior
military technology.” They have always been deprived of their rights, facing exploitation and
atrocities from the hands of the powerful. But the most disheartening truth concerning them is
that their conditions have only worsened post-independence when compared to the colonial
times. “The relentless juggernaut of rapacious production and consumption of today’s world
has destroyed forests, polluted rivers and virulent the air we breathe. This has also adversely
affected well-being of communities who were weak and without a voice, as they get trampled
over in the process.” It will not be wrong to say that, it is this characteristic of the modern
Capitalist society which can be held responsible for paving the path of the barbarity that the
Adivasis faces.

In today’s time Adivasis have been pervasive to both socio-economic and cultural injustice or
what Nancy Fraser refers to as Maldistribution & Misrecognition. Institutionalised
corruption and deforestation have destroyed the forest and all the beneficiary schemes and
has forced the Adivasis to move out and perform labour work where they are paid even below
the minimal wages. They are also subjugated to extraction of labour during sowing and
harvesting time where they are being made to work in pathetic, inhumane conditions and are
paid way less than the labour value they produce. The tribal communities of India also face
Misrecognition and they are subjected to both Cultural domination and Nonrecognition as
they are considered different from the mainstream and are often side lined when taking about
humanity and society in general.

A detailed analysis of the paper “Five Faces of Oppression” by Iris Marion Young also
draws out shocking results where the Adivasis of India can be stated to face four out of the
five faces of oppression which are namely – Exploitation, Powerlessness, Cultural
Imperialism and Violence.

1. Exploitation: The Adivasis have always been subjected to Exploitation as their

labour is appropriated all the times, earlier by the colonial rulers and now by the
officials of the forest department. The scenario of the Baiga tribe completely justifies
 this as special areas named “Baiga Chak were designated so that they could work as
cheap labours for the Forest Department”. On the name of development, they are
being forcefully pushed out of those ambiences which defines their way of lives,
leaving them no option than to work as labourers and workers or enter into agriculture
where again they are victim to exploitation by the hands of “non-Adivasi who
dominates the land, lease, labour, credit and input markets. Which often results in
them losing control over their land since they cannot repay their debts.”

2. Powerlessness: The Adivasis of today are deprived of the practices that states their
way of living like hunting etc. and thus have been required to seek alternate
livelihoods to make their ends meet. Bringing only unskilled labour on the table they
are often faced with powerlessness as they have no authority to question the decisions
of the authorities under whom they work. They are made to work in brutal conditions,
work overtime, paid less still they are not in any position to argue or disobey. The
situation in the Baiga tribe again perfectly picturises this where the income which was
supposed to be around rupees 1500-2000 was only seen to be 900 and less when
checked. Beneficiary schemes formulated for the betterment of these deprived classes
of the society only comes in execution after paying bribes to the higher officials again
showcases the powerlessness of these Adivasis.

3. Cultural Imperialism: It involves the universalization of a dominant group's

experience and culture and is often projected as representative of humanity. And
Adivasis have always been the victim of this generalisation because of the stereotypes
existent about them like being lazy, stupid and barbaric and equivalent to pre historic
civilizations. On the same hand many tribal communities like the Jhodia’s of Odisha
are not even considered a tribe and are rendered invisible under the tribal
representation and are deprived of any sort of benefits that they are eligible to, even if
only on paper.

4. Violence: Adivasis constitutes majority of the “illegal and forced labour.” The
scenario is so devastating that for majority of tribal governance is synonymous with
coercion and brute force. “Governance for the tribal people continues to be a
manifestation of the 'Terror Raj' created by the British, where might is right.”
The conditions of women in these Adivasi communities is far more worrisome. They
perfectly fit the dress of Double Discrimination and Intersectionality. Facing the brutalities
of being a woman and a member of the Adivasi community at the same time. The idea of
tribal women enjoying a far more degree of freedom and equality to their mainstream
counterparts is filled with clouds of ambiguity. Though they are allowed to work outside and
enjoy certain rights but “their working conditions and the norms of the society ensures that
they are nothing more than disempowered breadwinners of their communities.” They are
subjected to the exploitation, violence and other forms of injustice just like the male members
of their communities and also encounters other problems like physical abuse and sexual
harassment while working in the fields of upper caste and non-tribal. In addition to all this
patriarchy plays its part in squaring up the problems of their lives. Male members are the
chief of family and the tribe and that right goes to the eldest son. Women are denied access to
any form of ownership of land and were not entitled to any property what so ever.
Differences in the selling practices are also pretty evident where the women tend to sell less
lucrative forest produce like flowers, leaves and seeds in contrast to the male members who
generally sell products like honey, silk cocoons and tan. “The decision-making power of
women were also highly defined by the patriarchal authority.” And it will be reasonable to
mock that the degree of decision making power that the women have in the tribal societies
was “equivalent to deciding what will be cooked tonight”

A five-point program to get rid of these oppressions are -:

1. Making the Adivasis secure and empowered stakeholders in the process of forest
preservation and giving each Adivasi family 2.5 acres of land. So that a stoppage
could be bring upon the exploitation.

2. Ensuring a more reinforced system for implementation of the beneficiary schemes and
a special addressal system for the Adivasis, so that their voices don’t go unheard and a
power balance could be created.

3. The ownership of land must be jointly registered on the names of husband and wife
and the girl child should have a right to its heredity to improve the conditions of
Adivasi women.
4. Recognition of numerous numbers of tribes in the tribal community by the
government, to give them a sense of representation and the masses should also be
educated by means of campaigns and drives regarding the inclusion of the less
dominant groups of the society.

5. Constitution of stringent laws for violence against the Adivasis and a special creation
of tribal police in areas of high-density tribal population so that their issues could be
given special attention.

RESOURCES USED

1. Five faces of oppression – iris marion young

2. From Redistribution to Recognition? Dilemmas of Justice in a ‘Post-Socialist’
Age – Nancy fraser
3. More marginal than the marginalised- Ashrita prasad
4. Democratic Governance in Tribal Regions A Distant Dream- vidya das

5. First you push them in then you throw them out- mihir shah