The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Tribal raja lashes out at new-age politicos

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Apr 19, 2004

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Others

Tribal raja lashes out at new-age politicos

By S. Harpal Singh

ADILABAD, APRIL 18. The 74-year-old tribal king, Seetagondi Atram Bheem Rao, of Pangdi village in Jainoor mandal has a pet grouse. He blames the new political system for the degradation of values among tribal youth. The Gond Raja lost his kingdom of 70 villages in the erstwhile Utnoor

taluka of Adilabad long ago. All he was left with was 100 acres of cultivable land in and around his village.

This raja who speaks Deccani Urdu and Marathi, does not have many good words to say about election. He laments that his children took to politics instead of tilling the 100 acres. "Elections have sown seeds of division among the peace-loving Gonds. Children from the same household work for different parties now. Instead of working in the fields or observing our rituals, our children just loiter around politicians," thus goes the Raja's complaints. Soon, the septuagenarian king strolled down the memory lane. He remembered the first elections in this tribal heartland. "Only the Congress was there, formed on the basis of ideals of Gandhi and Nehru. There were no roads in our villages. We used to ride on horsebacks to the polling station in Pamulwada . Our relatives too came, even from as far as 25 km," he said. Mr. Bheem Rao's father Jangu Bapu and his brother at Utnoor Jalpat Rao were called the Seetagondi Atram Rajas or the Sirpur Rajas and later Lakkaram Rajas. Jangu Bapu lorded over his kingdom from Pangdi village. The Atram Rajas used to resolve disputes on all issues and their word was final.

Bheem Rao feels that with the old system the old values too have been thrown out. "Honesty and religiosity are not there anymore," he said.

The Raja feels that the new politicians promise everything but delivers nothing. For him, this is dishonesty. "Woh bharose ka zamana tha. Ab bharosa kahan (Those were days of trust. Where is the trust now)", he lamented. Bheem Rao's cousin, S. A. Dev Shah, of Lakkaram near Utnoor, was a Congress MLA from Boath in 1967 and 1972. When asked about his party loyalties, the Raja said his family was always with the Congress. "I will not change parties now because it is dishonest to do so," he reasoned.

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