[Assam] Why did Assam tea labourers fight for ST status?

[mc mahant]

Why did they?  Well, somebody told them--
'Get ST and all Govt. jobs all over India will be yours. You can live Happily Ever after....'
And 'Hit the Assamese hard--they are looting You'
Some Leader from JharKhand should teach them Tea Economics--and who is looting whom
How we should discuss why Assam should reafforest--like Viet Nam did--removing Tea planted in '70's
And BossAdivasis --Leaders from Ranchi/Kolkata/Bhubaneswar,Chattisgarh--should take at least 1000families living below humanoid standards at Refugee camps in Kokrajhar.since '80's---- 
Instead of quietly desertifying Manas Reserve forest-they should be making Jet engines or Steel or Aluminium  in Adivasiland
 
Tody's AAji carries an Editorial page big Article"Adivais should excel through Excellent Teas" Written by some  sensible 'Goala'
Let there be cleverness all around
Never too late!
 
mm> From: barua25 at hotmail.com> To: assam at assamnet.org> Date: Mon, 3 Dec 2007 13:25:15 -0600> Subject: [Assam] Why did Assam tea labourers fight for ST status?> > >Politicians, in Assam and those visiting> >from states like Jharkhand, should not exaggerate the divisions. That may be> >wishful thinking.> > >Unfortunately Assam's votebank politics that's trying to revive and deepen> >some forgotten and some minor almost non-existent rifts between the adivasis> >and others in Assam and while all this happens the gardens wait in silence> >for better days.> > TODAY'S EDITORIAL: > > The Violence Within> 3 Dec 2007, 0201 hrs IST> Assam is on the boil. A protest called by the All Adivasi Students'> Association of Assam in Guwahati last week turned violent with the police> and the local population thrashing the protestors. A woman was stripped> naked and assaulted. Bandhs called to protest the act led to further> violence. Assam has been on this path before and the scars of that violent> past have still to heal. The crumbling tea economy threatens to push workers> in plantations, many of them descendants of indentured labour brought by> British planters to the state from Jharkhand, Orissa, Bihar and Bengal, into> penury. Their lot has not changed much since the days of colonial rule.> These people are also excluded from the mainstream of Assamese society.> Ethnic and tribal divisions run deep in Assam and the tension regularly> leads to massive social violence. Politicians, in Assam and those visiting> from states like Jharkhand, should not exaggerate the divisions. That may be> wishful thinking.> > However, do we really want an inclusive society? If yes, why do dominant> sections of the society resort to excessive violence when marginalised> people voice their concerns? Assam is representative of the Indian nation.> The Guwahati incident could have happened anywhere in this country. Even> mild attempts to press genuine social and political demands often lead to a> violent encounter with the state and the society. The people at the> receiving end could be tribals, Dalits or other minorities.> > The latent violence in us manifests itself through the coercive policies of> the state or as shows of strength on the streets.> > The structural violence in the state manifests even in the development> agenda. India's experience of development since independence is a story of> controlled violence by the state against tribal people, peasants and others.> Resistance to such a pattern of development has also, in many instances,> taken a violent path. In states like Chhattisgarh, the state government,> instead of facilitating democratic politics, has taken the initiative to> form private militias. The Salwa Judum, promoted as a people's movement to> counter Maoists, has spawned a civil war.> > Our search for a modern nationhood has fomented immense violence, within us> and outside us. It manifests itself in various forms as varied as> wife-beating and road rage. The victim could be a tribal seeking better> living conditions or a peasant fighting off land sharks. The response from> the social mainstream to such demands is most often a violent reprisal. Six> decades after independence, we have failed to imbibe an essential character> of democracy: the primacy of dialogue over other forms of engagement.> > timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-2590389,prtpage-1.cms> > > > > > ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------> > > > Why did Assam tea labourers fight for ST status?> > *Guwahati:* Assam's oldest immigrant group-the tea labourers, came to the> state as early as 1860 from Jharkhand, Bihar, Orissa and West Bengal.> > Almost 150 years later with the tea industry going through one of its worst> phases, the labourers are yet to find their feet.> > Many of them feel their exclusion is entrenched because their names are> missing from the Scheduled Tribe List so they lose out on benefits.> > "My husband a sardar in a tea garden doesn't get enough money. So he has to> do extra work for money. I have to bring up four children," says a female> labourer.> > "We labourers work for six days. We get paid for three. When we protest the> owners threaten to close the garden," adds a male labourer.> > The simmering resentment fuelled this procession by adivasi labourers> demanding scheduled tribe status on last Saturday.> > It grew violent and then turned ugly with subsequent mob retaliation. Almost> a week after, the tension prevails in the gardens as their demand still> finds a deaf ear.> > "There is a provision which says the backward, economically, educationally> and there are so many criteria which is fulfilled and if that is fulfilled> they are automatically enlisted as scheduled tribe," says President, All> Assam Adivasi Student's Union (AAASU), Justin Lakra.> > It is not surprising that many people are trying to unite them under a> greater adivasi banner with the idea that it unites people with a common> destiny.> > Unfortunately Assam's votebank politics that's trying to revive and deepen> some forgotten and some minor almost non-existent rifts between the adivasis> and others in Assam and while all this happens the gardens wait in silence> for better days.> ibnlive.com/news/why-did-assam-tea-labourers-fight-for-st-status/53397-3.html> > > -- > _______________________________________________> assam mailing list> assam at assamnet.org> http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
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