The Telegraph, Calcutta, Thursday , June 21 , 2012
Ranchi, June 20: Tribal heads from across the state congregated on the premises of Raj Bhavan on Wednesday to take part in a first-of-its-kind daylong seminar on traditional self-governance that was organised at the behest of the governor. […]
More than 400 Mankis, Mundas, Parha Rajas, Sohors, Dhoklos, Manjhis and Parganaits — the tribal heads as they are called in traditional system at village councils, clusters and community levels — were present. They thanked Governor Syed Ahmed for convening the meet and presented him shawls, headgears, bow and arrows and even a mandar besides flowers. […]
The governor, during his address, said that freedom was not complete unless all sections of the society enjoyed its benefits. […]
Jharkhand was the last state to hold the mandatory panchayat elections despite enactment of Panchayat (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996, as tribal communities were opposed to it. They were happy with the self-governance system in vogue since ages and felt that the new system would clash with it. In fact, many speakers like Antu Hemrom, Pero Oraon, Ram Chandra Murmu and Jadu Gopal Singh Munda, who represented various tribal communities, spoke about how the British had accepted their traditional self-rule system and granted them “records of rights”.
The present panchayat system has clashed with their rights and it should be resolved, they complained. They also lamented that their children could not pursue education in their respective mother tongues. […]
Source: Tribal heads prefer self-rule
Address : http://www.telegraphindia.com/1120621/jsp/jharkhand/story_15637575.jsp#.UHxV6bRrhLJ
Date Visited: Mon Oct 15 2012 20:30:07 GMT+0200 (CEST)
[Bold typeface added above for emphasis]
“It’s a long road to freedom!” – Stan Swamy (the late sociologist and activist for Adivasi rights), quoted in “I am Not a Silent Spectator: Why Truth has become so bitter, Dissent so intolerable, Justice so out of reach” | Indian Social Institute, Bangalore, 2021 | Accountability >>
In pursuit of “equality for all the citizens”: National Legal Services Authority asked to provide free legal consultations to Scheduled Tribes (ST) – Supreme Court >>
“You can’t keep quiet on everything. At some point, if you disagree – it’s better to say it then rather than piling it up.” – Former IAS Officer Kannan Gopinathan (who resigned from service over ‘lack of freedom of expression’) in a special lecture on “Democracy: Institutions and Individuals” (Asian College of Journalism – ACJ, 2 September 2020)
http://acjnewsline.org/special-lecture-by-kannan-gopinathan-ex-ias-officer-and-activist-on-democracy-institutions-and-individuals/
“Populist leaders often polarise society and delegitimise the political opposition, often presenting them as enemies of the state or people. […] Electoral autocracies, according to V-Dem, are now present in 87 states that are home to 68% of the global population. Liberal democracies, the group says, are diminishing, and are home to only 14% of the people.” – Report on democracy by Sweden-based V-Dem Institute as regards India’s diminishing freedom of expression, the media, and civil society; quoted by Soutik Biswas in “‘Electoral autocracy’: The downgrading of India’s democracy” (BBC News, 16 March 2021)
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-56393944
“English newspapers are worse than Hindi on representing Dalit, Adivasi writers.” – (The Caravan, 3 August 2019) >>
Universal Declaration of Human Rights & Human Rights Day >>
The National Human Right Commission (NHRC) describes “crimes like rape, molestation, torture, fake encounter in police custody as manifestations of a systemic failure to protect human rights”;
It reports that “rights of the people were violated or negligence was shown by a public servant in the prevention of such violations”; NHRC concludes:
“Atrocities against vulnerable sections of society – women, children, disabled and the elderly – are often compounded when they belong to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes”; and therefore demands:
India must ratify the International Convention against Torture.