Perhaps the best of world leaders could not have expressed the concern for the planet as well as the way it was expressed by the Adivasis who had come from all over the country on Saturday 14th Jan. 2017 at Dakan Kotda village, adjoining Udaipur city in south Rajasthan. The grand pavilion of more than one lakh square feet was peopled by colourful crowd of Adivasis in their traditional attire and head gears. Many of them carried their traditional weapons like bow and arrows, swords, axes and spears of sorts. But a larger number carried and played upon various musical instruments like drums, pipes, brass plates and bugles. They danced and sang, sang and danced the whole day and raised slogans too. The young participants carried playcards bearing slogans against exploitation of natural resources, suppression of the Adivasis, environmental degradation and appropriation of the lands of the tribes by the corporate. The occasion was a two - day mega conference of the Adivasis to showcase their culture and exhibit their concerns strongly. The secretary of the organizing committee Mahavir Kharadi, RAS stated that the world is facing severe environmental hazards like global warming, melting of Glaciers and unpredictable climate changes. The rat race of economic gains has brought the planet earth to a boiling pot situation. Only the Adivasis of the world with their nature centric life style can save the planet.
"No politics please " was the direction from the stage and the leaders of rival political parties followed it in word and spirit. Even when the speakers one after the other criticized the policy of land grabbing in the name of development, the leaders did not utter a single word, though many of them belonged to the ruling BJP. The speakers from various states stated that the Adivasis were ignored in all walks of life, administration and politics. They attacked the policy of development causing large scale displacement of the tribal people. Shiv bhanu Singh, president of the Adivasi Ekta Parishad unveiled a banner depicting the huge displacement of Adivasis in Gujarat by the Sardar Sarovar project. Mining was another big concern of the speakers. Huge mining wastelands are being created and the Adivasis working in the mines are not being paid even the minimum wages. The participants raised slogans of equality between man and woman. Issues of women and child abuse, child trafficking and reservation were also raised by the speakers.
Comrade Meghraj Tawar , former MLA told that the biggest issue of the tribals of the country was their forest and land rights.
Their lands were being usurped by the land mafia, corporate and the state as well. In addition , their languages, culture and livelihood sources were also in danger. Dr. Man Singh Ninama, a member of the organizing team told that Adivasis from Rajasthan , Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Mizoram and Manipur participated in the conclave. Dr. S.L. Bamania told that though there was no chief guest etc. as per the tradition leaders from all parties gathered and enjoyed forgetting their political differences. They included Chunni Lal Garasia, Prakriti Kharadi, Mahendra Jeet Singh Malviya , Devendra Katara, Phool Singh Meena, Raghuveer Meena, Nana lal Ahari, Amrit Lal Meena, Sajjan Katara, Vivek Katara, TV artist Radha Damor, Jhuma Solanki, MLA from Badwani in M.P. , Chamra Linda, MLA from Jharkhand. The conclave continued on Sunday as well in which the youth participants discussed their issues in separate sessions.
- Dr. H.S. Chandalia
