Tribal identity

“While benefiting from affirmative action in some cases, Adivasis or indigenous people in India also feel the claustrophobic confines of their identity which has been imposed on them by others, be it the colonial administrator, the colonial anthropologist, the missionary or the neo-liberal, neo-imperialist forces that rule global economy today.” – Santali poet, scholar and translator Ivy Imogene Hansdak  in “Is tribal identity relevant in today’s world?”, Inaugural Speech, National Conference “Tribes In Transition-II: Reaffirming Indigenous Identity Through Narrative” (2017)
https://indiantribalheritage.org/?p=23032

“There are so many ‘theirs’ in the land of my birth who have nothing but the harsh landscape of surviving from day to day”: Mahasweta Devi’s inaugural speech at the Frankfurt Book Fair

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Mahasweta Devi had people in tears at this year’s Frankfurt Book Fair [2006]. Delivered with passionate heart, her inaugural speech about our freedoms still on hold stirs a kind of moral transformation At 80-plus I move forward often stepping back into the shadows. Sometimes I am bold enough to step back into the sunlight. As a … Read more

For the sake of national integrity, social solidarity, communal harmony and humanism: Promoting India’s tribal and folk artists in pursuit of excellence

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“Real history is created by ordinary people”: Mahashweta Devi (1926-2016), a writer who became a voice of marginalised communities

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Mahashweta Devi, a writer who became a voice of marginalised communities Mahashweta Devi was not just an onlooker, but a responsible representative of the downtrodden and the ignored population of India She always believed that the real history is created by ordinary people. For her, the endless source of inspiration for writing used to lie … Read more

Mahasweta Devi: A model in which activism and writing can reflect upon each other

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Mahasweta Devi was born in 1926 in the city of Dacca in East Bengal (modern day Bangladesh). As an adolescent, she and her family moved to West Bengal in India. Born into a literary family, Mahasweta Devi was also influenced by her early association with Gananatya, a group who attempted to bring social and political … Read more

“The tribal world and the tribal way is complete in itself”: Mahasweta Devi (1926-2016)

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Quoted from “Swearing by Mahasweta” by Gopalkrishna Gandhi, The Hindu, August 7, 2016 | Backup (PDF, 450 KB) >> Ms. Devi had cast off the trappings of the middle class she was born into and chose to live simply, often roaming the country with her subjects as she did research. In more than 100 novels and short … Read more