Saga of survival

Published : Jul 14, 2006 00:00 IST

IMAGES FROM `Ab Aur Waqt Nahin'. The film portrays the growing selfconfidence among Adivasis and theirindomitable spirit to fight exploitation at all levels. -

IMAGES FROM `Ab Aur Waqt Nahin'. The film portrays the growing selfconfidence among Adivasis and theirindomitable spirit to fight exploitation at all levels. -

'Ab Aur Waqt Nahin' is a sensitive documentary on the struggle by the Adivasis of Jharkhand against exploitation.

UNTIL the 1990s, when the movement for a separate state gathered momentum, Jharkhand was not in the public mind. Carved out of southern Bihar, it came into being in November 2000. However, the region has a distinct geopolitical and cultural identity that goes back centuries. It is essentially a tribal territory with mainly four communities - Mundas, Hojans, Santhals and Oraons - but as many as 30 distinct tribes engage in self-reliant and equitable agricultural occupation. Over time, "outsiders", or dikus as they are called, have exploited the people and their forest resources. The process began during Akbar's reign, heightened during the British rule and continues to this day in Independent India.

The large-scale industrialisation of the region aimed at exploiting its rich mineral resources. The setting up of coal mines and steel plants, and various development projects has led to extensive environmental degradation, widespread industrial pollution and depletion of forest and water resources. Furthermore, it has unleashed corrupt commerce and politics, unbridled exploitation of the tribal communities and haphazard urbanisation. Thousands have been forced to give up their habitat with paltry compensation for displacement. Between 1970 and 2000 as many as 10 lakh Adivasis have been displaced and 40 lakh non-Adivasis have migrated into Jharkhand, thus transforming the demographics of the region. The destruction of the agricultural and ecological niche that sustained these subsistence communities has resulted in deprivation of their lives and livelihood.

With dried-up water resources and ill-implemented irrigation projects, they have only one harvest a year and eagerly await a good monsoon. During the rest of the year, the Adivasis, including women and children, are forced into daily wage labour in mines, quarries and civil works where conditions of work are hazardous and there are grave violations of human rights, sexual and otherwise.

Seasonal migration in search of occupation has become rampant. The situation becomes particularly acute during drought. As a result, the indigenous people are alienated from their own land and their unique identity stands eroded. Today, tribes constitute only 27 per cent of Jharkhand's population. Of the 18 districts, tribes are a majority only in three.

Ostensibly, the new State was created for the welfare of the indigenous population. But this political process has been hijacked by vested interests. Political parties that were opposed to the creation of Jharkhand are now ruling the State. Contravening the constitutional provision under Schedule V, the State government has entered into several MoUs for mining operations (for four steel plants and six coal mines) without the real stakeholders, the Adivasis, having a say in the matter. There are land and forest rights granted to them under various Acts and laws, many of them enacted during the colonial period. They are unaware of these provisions, or do not have a full understanding. There are also contradictions among the various laws. They are often the victims of prolonged land disputes and litigation, and are forced to spend hard-earned money on fighting these cases to protect their rights. To preserve the unique cultural identity of the region and restore to the Adivasis their rights the time to act is now.

Ab Aur Waqt Nahin (Running Out of Time), a sensitive documentary about the Adivasis by Abhijay Karlekar, is aptly titled. The 109-minute film, produced by SHAPE, Kolkata, suggests that Jharkhand is in its last phase of environmental degradation and the local population that is dependent on agriculture is on the verge of extinction. With the formation of the new State, political manoeuvring and manipulation at the cost of tribal welfare seems only to have deepened.

"Sarkar badalne se kya hota hai? Hamari bhasha to woh samajhte hi nahin hain," (change of government does not mean anything. They do not understand our language) says a tribal person on camera, perhaps summing up their dilemma. "Chhote kisan ko ashakt bana diya hai," (the small farmer has been rendered powerless) comments the narrator in another portion of the film. As the film depicts effectively, today there are two Jharkhands - one of the marginalised Adivasis, and the other, the migrants who call the shots, spreading the neoculture of urbanisation, commerce, industry and trade. "It is a form of internal colonialism," points out an activist working for the tribal people's cause. At the Lal Chowk in Ranchi, the once prosperous locals are today left pleading with the contractors merely to eke out a living. Outside the steel plant in Jamshedpur, Adivasi men wait to be picked up for odd-jobs on a daily wage. These images are symbolic of this ever-deepening division that is dispossessing the indigenous people.

Portrayal of marginalised people without getting caught in the arguments of partisan politics and ideological posturing is not easy. The film could even be criticised for not saying anything about the naxalite movement. It is their deprivation and marginalisation that is drawing the tribal people to extremism.

But Abhijay Karlekar manages to tread that narrow path effectively and allows the visuals and people speaking on camera to tell their story. He is assisted by excellent camera work by Ranajit Roy and a very good commentary scripted by Vinay Bhusan, Rashmi Katyayan and Karlekar himself.

The film is a sensitive document on the tribal people's indomitable spirit to fight against exploitation at all levels - government machinery, coal mafias and greedy contractors - and live a life of dignity seeking restoration of their subsistence farming, while aspiring for education and economic prosperity for their children and future generations.

The film took three years of research and this is reflected in the effective depiction of the condition of the Adivasis. The tribal population in Jharkhand finds itself at the crossroads of history and in it one sees Jharkhand as a microcosm of several regions of the country, where tribal people are exploited, their rights denied and their habitat plundered.

One could argue against the film's positing that the nationalisation of coal mines in 1972 as well as the major development projects such as the Damodar Valley project have been the main causes for the state of affairs in Jharkhand and the problems faced by Adivasis. It is a fact that the envisaged benefits of nationalisation, in terms of employment and prosperity, have completely eluded the Adivasi population. The image in the film of groups of tribal people, including children, hauling sacks of coal peddled by the mafia across steep slopes to sell them in the city captures the plight of the Adivasis. They have not even been adequately compensated for the acquired lands.

But letting the scores of private mine operators to carry on with highly fragmented and unscientific mining operations may have led to more extreme forms of exploitation of the local people, more severe environmental degradation and a national-level economic and energy crisis.

The film is not without hope. It shows evidence of growing self-confidence among the Adivasis. They are far from despondent. They would like to be left to run their affairs without state intervention and partisan politics. They have demonstrated skill in self-governance, have evolved means to manage collectively their resources and even guard forests through Van Raksha Samitis. They have won their constitutional right to run markets for their produce, and are ready, if required, to agitate against mindless development projects such as the Koel Karo project or the army firing range that would displace thousands without any benefits to them. Karlekar argues that the only effective means of restoring the dignity of the tribal people and preventing the disaster that is waiting to happen is through local movements. However, "it is not a path sufficiently taken", says Karlekar. The government refuses to wake up or lend an ear to these voices in anguish.

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