Adivasis in Colonial India by Biswamoy Pati

The first Prime Minister of India, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, who recognized the value of multiculturalism in a newly independent nation, had some definite guidelines to develop the Adivasis. For example, industries that were to provide employment to the general population, and accelerate GDP growth, have often acted at the expense of the well-being of the Adivasis. The subaltern almost always constitutes a minority of the general population and their plight has remained the same in colonial and post-colonial times. Secondly, the “we are the 99%” movement fails to find space in the debate. Development programmes for the welfare of the Adivasis are often tailored and implemented by the administrators from the metropolis, leaving little space for a democratic engagement with them. The conventional notion of development is contentious as it rests on the subordination of tribal indigeneity to an urban bias. Firstly, the debate about growth and development is problematic in this context. When it comes to the issues faced by the Adivasis, two things stand out in stark contrast to the narrative presented in mainstream academic debates. Roy’s comment cuts to the bone of the issue of Adivasi (subaltern) development in India. There are only the deliberately silenced, or the preferably unheard.” This quote aptly captures the persecution and repression faced by people marginalized by society’s relentless pursuit of “progress”. When accepting the 2004 City of Sydney Peace Prize, Arundhati Roy remarked, “there’s really no such thing as the ‘voiceless’. Existential questions faced by the subaltern

Adivasis in Colonial India by Biswamoy Pati