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National

Adivasis to fight for tribal State

D. Chandra Bhaskar Rao

‘Maha dharna’ to be organised in the first week of January

Bhadrachalam will be capital of the tribal State: Adivasi Samkshema Parishad
Exploitation of minerals in agency alleged

BHADRACHALAM: Adivasi population in the State will go neither with Telangana nor Andhra.

They are gearing up in the agency pockets to resume their fight for a separate tribal State, according to Sondu Veeraiah, convener of the Girijana Rashtra Sadhana committee and State convenor of the Adivasi Samkshema Parishad here on Wednesday.

Distrust

He said the demand for a separate tribal State was the manifestation of distrust the Adivasi communities had developed towards the mainstream during the past five and half decades.

The Girijana Rashtra Sadhana committee would organise a ‘Maha dharna’ in Bhadrachalam in the first week of January before going in for relay hunger strike in the state capital.

Contested polls

The Adivasi Samkshema Parishad had contested two elections (in 2004 and 2009) with the demand for separate tribal State in its manifesto. He wanted the tribal pockets from Utnoor in Adilabad district to Sitampet in Srikakulam be part of it.

The pilgrim centre of Bhadrachalam would its capital. The agitation for separate tribal State would be intensified soon.

Exploitation

The Adivasi communities in the agencies of Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam, East Godavari, West Godavari, Khammam, Warangal, Karimnagar and Adilabad were not in favour of becoming part of the Andhra because of exploitation they were subjected to for long.

Some 30 lakh acres of Adivasi lands were under the occupation of the non-tribals in these pockets.

They cannot be part of the Telangana either because of the continued domination of the Banjara community, which was listed as a Scheduled Tribe in the State in 1976.

Deprived of jobs

The Adivasi communities were deprived of job opportunities and political reservations because of the Scheduled Tribe status extended to the Banjara community.

The scheduled area regulation 1/70 meant for safeguarding the interests of the adivasi communities could not be implemented in its true spirit for the past 39 years.

Risk of submergence

Exploitation of minerals in the agencies continued unabated.

Hundreds of tribal villages were facing the risk of submergence under the waters of the Polavaram reservoir on Godavari river.

The adivasi communities cannot hope for a fair deal being either part of Andhra or Telangana.

They would be able to safeguard their own interests while preserving their culture and traditions by forming their own state, Mr. Sondu Veeraiah added.

He said that some 850 adivasi villages, which were falling in the non-scheduled area, should also be made part of the tribal State, Mr. Sondu Veeraiah stressed.

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