The battle for tribal rights is still going on. It all started long ago during British rule era. Over 100 million tribal residing in India 30 states and union territories. The battle may take more time because they are the front runners in protecting the environment. Their agendas of the battle are Jal (Water), Jungle (Forest) and Zameen (Land). This battle is not going to end in the near future because the climate issues are becoming more important. Many leaders came for the advocacy of tribal rights.
The leaders are:
Birsa Munda
He was a very prominent leader of Tribal. He is known as Bhagwan Birasa Munda. He led the movement which was of tribal beliefs. He also revolted against British rule. He made his community aware about the independence war. He is the only tribal leader whose portrait hangs in the Indian Parliament Museum. In his honour, the Jharkhand government named their institution and other places such as universities, airport, and stadium. His biography Aranyer Adhikar was written by Mahasweta Devi.
Shibu Soren
He is active since his teenage. At 18, he formed the group named it “The Santhal Navyuvak Sangh”. He became the voice of tribal in free India. He led a movement against the money lender and landlords. He used to held his court to do justice. In year 1972, he formed his political party Jharkhand Mukti Morcha with his aides.
After that he ran a campaign to drew out the non tribal from the Santhal pragana now days Jharkhand. He fought for the Jharkhand State. On 15th November 2000, Jharkhand became an Independent State. He became chief minister of the state for three times. He also became cabinet minister in the UPA regime. Currently, he is fighting for Upper House membership.
Ram Dayal Munda
He is popularly known as RD Munda. He was a scholar. He went abroad for studies and returned back to India. He contributed a lot in tribal literature. He wrote many books on tribals.
He became the Vice-Chancellor of Ranchi University. Under his patronage, the All Jharkhand Students Union was formed. It was a group of a intellectual tribals. The organisation was formed for the movement to establish Jharkhand an independent state. He was awarded Sangeet Natak Akademi in 2007 and Padma Shri in 2010 by the Government of India.
Abhay Xaxa
He was one of the active voices of tribals in 21st century. He earned his doctorate from Jawaharlal University, Delhi. He used to advocate for the tribal rights. He worked as the Co-Convenor of the Tribal International collective and the National Coalition for Adivasi Justice. These two organisations help make policies for the tribal community. He also used to translate the manifesto in local languages such as Santhali and hoo. This helps to communicate to people of tribe and make them aware.
Hemant Soren
He is the present Chief Minister of Jharkhand. He won by a huge majority. He was sworn as the Chief Minister for the second time. He has been seen raising the local issues. Many awful laws were made by the previous government. After he became Chief Minister, he abolished all those acts. The most controversial acts were the CNT and SPT acts which diluted the land acquisition of tribal people. Many people registered for sedition charges for the revolt which they did during the time of Introduction of bill. Hemant Soren removed all those cases.
Many a times, the government has ignored this community. It is now the government’s responsibility to educate and engage them in policymaking.