Trigger warning: police brutality, discrimination against political prisoners from tribal communities
T N Gnanavel, in the Tamil film “Jai Bhim”, aptly captures the oppression of the tribals in the hands of the Savarna state. The film captures the life of the Irula tribe members, who have been antagonised by the brahmanical society for a long time.
The film shows how they are framed using false cases, and highlights the inhumane way in which they are treated inside prison. This film has surely brought some serious questions to the forefront.
To understand the condition of the tribals, and to be more precise, the condition of the tribal political prisoners, we first need to know the percentage of tribal population in India. According to the 2011 census, the tribal population in India is 8.6%, while they comprise 11.33% of the total prison population in India.
The statistics clearly show an overrepresentation of tribal people in prison. Examining the economic and educational condition of tribal communities, can help us rethink and question the existing patterns of our redressal and judiciary systems, which end up criminalising the tribal population.
Historical factors like the British classifying certain tribes as “criminal” also contributes to the stigma of criminality that is associated with certain tribal communities.
Economic Condition Of Bengal’s Tribes
Purulia, a part of the Jangalmahal region of West Bengal, has been predominantly inhabited by Adivasi tribes such as the Santhals. Data shows that Purulia is the poorest region in Bengal—with 50% of the people are living below the poverty line.
In his piece on The Wire, Himadri Ghosh showed how a majority of the people in Purulia lead their lives by cutting wood and selling them in the local markets. Their per day income is ₹65-70. The story of this one region gives us an insight into the economic condition of the tribal people in Bengal, at large.
Migration is also another factor that has affected the tribal economy for a long time now. Since the British period, eviction of tribals from their homes has been a serious issue. In Bengal, we can see tribal settlements in the tea gardens areas in the north, and in the Sundarbans in the south. Most of this migration takes place due to economic reasons.
The British set up tea gardens in regions like Darjeeling, Assam and Terai-Dooars. Bengal is the second largest tea-producing state in India. A minimum of six lakh workers work in the tea gardens. Among these six lakh workers, most of them have migrated from central India’s tribal belt, or from the Chhota Nagpur plateau region.
The reason for this tribal migration to the tea gardens is the demand created for cheap labour by the tea plantation owners. These tribals coming from forested lands were unaware of what a fair wage rate would be. They were exploited and hired at a very low rate.
The British took advantage of this situation and started evicting tribal folks from their lands, and somewhat forced them to migrate to these regions as cheap labour. To date, the process of migration of tribal people who are then exploited for their cheap labour, continues. Displacement and eviction has negatively affected the economic life of the tribals in Bengal and India.
Literacy Rate In Tribal Communities
Government data shows that as per the census of 2011, the literacy rate of the tribal people in India is 59%. For, West Bengal, the literacy rate among tribals is 57.92%, which is much lower than the national average.
This educational backwardness comes in part from the dominance of English and so-called supremacy of Bangla, which overshadows the use of traditional tribal languages.
Most of the tribal regions are detached from central regions of the states they are based in. The lack of schools, teachers and quality education, have always been obstacles contributing to the plight of tribal communities.
Take for instance, the teacher in Pashchim Bardhaman district of Bengal, who painted blackboards to continue teaching in Jamuria to bridge the educational gap of tribal children, during the pandemic. What Dwipnarayan Nayek, or the “rastar master” (teacher on the road), did was certainly commendable, but this incident also sheds light on the harsh reality i.e., the level of education in tribal areas.
The ongoing political conflict between Maoists and the state, adversely impacts the tribal people of that region. It deprives their children of the ability to regularly access basic amenities (such as education) and future possibilities. The dearth of tribal representation in the Bengal assembly is a glaring consequence of the same.
Attacking And Witch-Hunting Tribal People
The economic conditions and the lower rate of literacy among tribals, have impacted the way they are treated inside prisons. Lack of awareness of legal remedies, and the lack of knowledge about how cases are fabricated, makes them soft targets for the state.
Often, they are framed to suppress allegations against privileged persons from different political parties. While educated students might know their way out of legal tangles, through their connection in legal forums, tribal communities face a terrible loss while addressing custodial torture, false cases, and community as well as property rights violations.
The legal framework in India has been incomprehensible to the tribal communities for a long time now.
A political activist who was charged with sedition in 2021, spoke to me on condition of anonymity. He told me that before getting arrested, he had spent a year working closely with Adivasi activists in Bengal and surrounding regions. According to him, the lack of proper understanding of the law, and the inaccessibility of legal aid, are major hindrances for the Adivasis who continue to fight the state on a legal level.
During my conversation with him, he pointed out the casteist comments and actions that tribal people endure in prison and during judicial proceedings. For instance, he pointed to the use of handcuffs for tribal prisoners. Despite the Supreme Court of India’s directive about not using handcuffs for undertrials, the police continue to do so.
My Conversation With A Political Activist Working For Tribal Rights
According to the activist:
“Cops mostly use the handcuffs when the convicts and prisoners are from tribal communities. When I was inside prison, I had two inmates from tribal communities. They told me about the torture they faced in police custody. One of the tribal prisoners was beaten with a wooden stick and that has damaged his legs. He won’t be able to walk normally for the rest of his life. Apart from the physical abuse, he recounted instances of mental abuse which were even more severe.”
He added:
“The tribal prisoners had been there for over 10 years. During the first few days, they were not allowed to take a bath. They were forced to stay in the same clothes for more than a week. They even raised this issue in court, but that was of no help. One of the tribal prisoners faced a severe mental breakdown and stopped eating for several days. The tribal political prisoner also spent days without being allowed to sleep.”
Being a Savarna person himself, he noticed the differential treatment meted out to Adivasi prisoners, versus the way he was treated… Even though they were all in the same prison and accused of equally grave crimes.
What we need to understand is that to end the harassment of tribal political prisoners, it is crucial that we focus on the primary and basic rights of the tribal population first. We need to enable their educational and economic progress so that they can envision a just future for themselves.
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This is the second part of the three-part series on ‘the plight of political prisoners from the tribal communities of West Bengal‘ as a part of the Justicemakers’ Writer’s Training Program, run in partnership with Agami and Ashoka’s Law For All Initiative. The first and final parts can be found here and here.