Metro
Plus
Chennai Hyderabad
 
Espousing tribal
rights
| Ravi Rebbapragada has been mobilising tribals to fight for
their rights through Samata, a voluntary organisation. This
small grass roots movement, started 15 years ago, has today
emerged as a state and national level lobby and advocacy
institution. |
IN THE FOREFRONT: Ravi
Rebbapragada
MY CHILDHOOD was spent in the hills of Andhra
Pradesh. As the son of a forest officer, I had the privilege of
living in the forests amidst wildlife and tribal people. I started
my schooling in Anakapalli (Visakhapatnam district) and moved to
Hyderabad a few years later. Subsequently I did my B. Com. From
Bhadruka College, Hyderabad. Armed with a PG Diploma in Rural
development from Madras Christian College, I ventured into the
forests many years later to refresh my childhood memories of the
hills. The barren hill slopes and the endless battles of the tribals
with the Government, outside world and nature, shocked me and I
realised how inadequate and ill-equipped my degree was.
The first few days of walking up the hills, through
the forests and living with the people gave an entirely new
dimension to human suffering and endurance. It started in a modest
way of trying to assist the tribals in facing small obstacles - the
forest guard would not let them collect firewood, the MRO would not
issue ration cards, the way the trader tilted his weighing scales, a
police case for brewing rice beer - problems which needed writing
out a petition, some follow-up with the MRO, a visit to the police
station (not what one would look forward to), some hard talk with
the trader - raised a storm in these remote and forgotten hills.
FOR A CAUSE: Ravi motivates
through speeches too.
The tribals had and still have serious problems
like land alienation, extremism and unrest, non-tribal exploitation
and an erratic government machinery. The government and external
societies have created innumerable prejudices around the tribal
people, on their superstitions, `backwardness' and their illiteracy
to cover up for our corruption, inefficiency and lack of respect for
these people who still understand how to live harmoniously with
their natural resources. Otherwise how do we rationalise the way we
have displaced them over the years, grabbed their lands, cut down
their forests for our urban needs, denied them any basic human
facilities of housing, education, electricity, irrigation, drinking
water, medical services and a right to live with dignity in their
own lands?
I learnt to understand these contradictions from
the time I learnt to make a petition to the MDO to request for a
primary school. I had to learn the law, revenue matters and to
approach the courts. It was like starting afresh in school as the
primers consisted of understanding to survey land and reading land
records, filing an FIR and obtaining bails, learning the
fundamentals of agriculture and forestry. There are no universities
which teach us what one should do when there is a police encounter
in village or how can one fight for a law when the law-maker breaks
it, for we found that, often, it is the government which violates.
Helping tribals had to start with mobilising the
community, building up their awareness of their constitutional
rights and the need for collective assertion. I realised the
limitations of working as an individual and built up a team of youth
and an organisation called `Samata'. It required long years of
persistence to fight for restoration of people's land, legal
entitlements, pursuing with government for land development and
credit, for basic infrastructure facilities and to fight against
state oppression. Small land disputes led to larger political and
economic issues of displacement due to industries and commercial
projects. We needed to build up our strength as a people's movement
and also gain support from external forces - advocates, media,
technical and academic experts. It also required building up a
network with other struggles fighting similar battles for tribal
rights. From local courts our cases moved up to the High Court and
Supreme Court. The Samata Judgment in the Supreme Court, which we as
a small social action group doggedly fought to protect the rights of
tribals against private illegal mining, became the final
interpretation of the Constitution for tribal land rights.
Samata is a group of rural youth, school dropouts
who had no future. What started as a small grass roots movement has
today emerged as a state and national level lobby and advocacy
institution capable of effectively campaigning for people's right
and in participating at the policy level. I realise I could not have
asked for a more challenging way of life. I strongly feel that this
is one field where any discipline could be relevant and offer a
meaningful change. There is so much more urgency in today's India
where socio-economic disparities are widening glaringly. So more and
more youth should work for this cause.
(The writer is Executive Director, Samata, a
voluntary organisation.)
RAVI REBBAPRAGADA
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