Winning Freedom, Losing Freedom: Unheard Voices of Adivasi Struggles

Abstract

India attained freedom in 1947.With thousands of other countrymen Adivasis also contributed their
share in the struggle for independence. From Birsa Munda to Govind Guru, thousands of Adivasi
leaders led their people against the British in fierce battles. Their contribution remained unheard and
was sung primarily only in the oral literature passed on from one generation to another through the
world of mouth. These songs and tales are still sung and told in the hilly terrains of the Aravalis, the
abode of the Adivasi people in Rajasthan. The country attained freedom but the Adivasis lost it. In
the name of development their natural historical and ancestral rights over their land, forests and
water were snatched away and they faced massive displacement and evacuation. The freedom and
autonomy they enjoyed before the British times was lost through laws promulgated by the British
and later by the Indian legislatures.
On November 17, 1917 hundreds of Adivasis were gathered on the hills of Mangarh under the
leadership of Govind Guru for a meeting. Supported by the forces of Mewar, Dungarpur and Ratlam
British forces seized them from all sides and opened indiscriminate fire. More than fifteen hundred
Adivasis laid down their lives. This was a bigger massacre than the Jalianwala bagh. However, it
remained unheard for several years. Hari Ram Meena, a retired police officer researched into the
historical facts and came out with a novel titled Dhuni Tape Teer translated as Arrows.
The paper explores the struggles of Adivasis through this text and several other oral texts which
represent the part played by the Adivasis in the freedom struggle. There are many other texts
composed after independence which relate the struggles of Adivasis against the state for the
protection of their rights over their forests, land and other natural resources. Freedom for Adivasis is
a mirage. Despite all constitutional provisions the tale of agony of displacement, forced migration,
harassment by the police and forest department, and apathy of the people at large seems unending.
Some of these issues have been explored in the paper.