Hindu Vivek Kendra
A RESOURCE CENTER FOR THE PROMOTION OF HINDUTVA
   
 
 
«« Back
The saga of Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram

The saga of Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram

Author: Manju Gupta

Wide Wings of Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram by Surya Narain Saxena, Suruchi
Prakashan, 320 pp, Rs 140.00

This book by a radical Hindu thinker, analyst and journalist is a  painstaking effort on the quiet but dedicated and multidimensional  work of the voluntary organisation, called the Akhil Bharatiya  Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram, for the uplift of the tribals or the Vanvasis  of the country. The book is a study of the missionary endeavour, the  odds faced on the path and how these were overcome by those who gave  their lives and years to build the body from a non-entity to its  present shape and size.

India is undoubtedly richer and more colourful because of these peace- loving tribals known as Janajatis or Vanvasis according to the  Constitution of India. They have been in the vanguard of most  national movements, including the country's national freedom  movement. Today they are an inseparable part not only of the  country's folklore, mythology and history, but also of sports and  politics.

A few decades ago, RSS Sarsanghachalak Shri Guruji had inspired a  renowned freedom fighter, Shri Ramakant (Balasaheb) Desh-pande, to  start the Kalyan Ashram for the economic development of the tribal  society. Today the small step has acquired the form of a mass  movement. The Ashram has built up its presence in almost every nook  and corner of tribal India, serving through hospitals, schools,  hostels, balwadis, adult education centres and various other  humanitarian activities.

However, the Vanvasis of India have yet to be educated on their  nation's history. Scholars say that the Vanvasis helped Shri Rama and  that Sugriva, Shabari and Hanuman, all were Vanvasis. In Arunachal  Pradesh, Rukmini is believed to be from the Idu Mishimi tribe.  Legendary heroes like Birsa Munda, Rani Gaidinliu and Thalakkal  Chandu are immortal icons of India's history.

Ironically, in the past while certain colonial `scholars' and  anthropologists kept labelling various Vanvasis as `criminal  tribes', `head-hunters', etc., aggressive proselytisers  contemptuously called them heathens and pagans, posing as the sole  emancipators and well-wishers of these `sinful' souls. The Vanvasis,  called `aborigines' by Europeans, were kept apart from the mainstream  society and were declared `animists' having no religion worth the  name. The Vanvasi areas were sealed off as `protected areas' to all  except Christian missionaries to carry out conversions to  Christianity by force, fraud and allurements and destroy their rich  culture and heritage.

The Vanvasis, comprising some 400 tribes and sub-tribes-the Bhils of  Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh being over  5,000,000 are the largest and the Great Andamanese, merely 20  persons, are the smallest-about 8 per cent of India's population.  They generally inhabit the hills, forests, deserts in the remote  interior or border regions of the country, where communications are  poor or non-existent and life difficult to sustain. Their environment  and habitat are handicapped by several factors-social, economic and  anthropological-imposing on them a life of want and suffering,  resulting in extreme poverty, backwardness, illiteracy, superstitions  and inertia.

The author says, "The picture of tribal life from Arunachal Pradesh  in the east to Gujarat in the west and from Ladakh in the north to  Kerala or Nicobar in the south, wherever they live, is more or less  the same. Their physical isolation or distance from the social or  national mainstream over the centuries has naturally instilled in  them a sense of insecurity, aloofness and separateness, which  deprived them the much needed spirit of enterprise and the will to  better their lot, the qualities that develop from close contact and  interaction between various groups, castes and classes of people." In  the absence of contact and interaction, the life of a group becomes  static and a state of no-change takes over which is generally broken  by an alien culture through exploitation.

The author's regret is that the fruits of modern age and the  democratic process have not yet reached these poor Vanvasis.  According to the author, "poverty and ignorance attract a number of  exploitative forces, which, when allowed a free hand among them,  destroy their social fabric and delink them from the socio-cultural  mainstream of the country or nation. In India, these forces have been  working under three garbs-namely, religion, politics and business."  The author says that in religion, exploitation is through Church- controlled education and health services aided by foreign money. In  politics it is through communist-led elements and agents of neo- secessionist imperialists of the West, who mastermind violent  agitations and spread hatred among various sections of the society.  In business, it is through money-lenders, traders and other  unscrupulous economic exploiters.

The author has identified the various roles the State can play in  preserving the identity of the Vanvasis:

guarantee the preservation of cultural heritage and continuity of  living traditions;  constitute various agencies for ensuring State protection;  procure, store and research in tribal culture;  popularise and develop tribal culture;  ban conversions;  protect tribal cultural heritage.

(Suruchi Prakashan, D.B. Gupta Road, Jhandewalan, New Delhi-110055.)
 


Back                          Top

«« Back
 
 
 
  Search Articles
 
  Special Annoucements