Three days ago in Attapady of Kerala, an impoverished adivasi young man Madhu was beaten to death by a mob. His crime was that he was hungry .
He was a 27 year man who looked double his age due to extreme poverty, malnutrition and chronic hunger. He was accused of stealing half a kilo of rice and few grams spices from a shop to get solace from hunger. ' Madhu' means honey!! What an irony of a name for a man who was condemned to suffer from chronic hunger.
He mostly lived in forests. He is an adivasi. And the land of adivasi people have been alienated by the aggressive encroachers in their land. Most of them don't have land nor livelihood. Their rights are violated everyday. They are excluded from the so called Kerala 'model ' of development. Thousands of crores of budget in their name hardly reach their and despite all those promises by politicians, they are condemned to live in the backyard of 'development'. These are stories of broken promises and betrayal of the promises of freedom, justice and human rights.
H is a symptom of larger inequality within us and beyond us. He is symptom of injustice, apathy, exclusion and marginalization within the society. Unless we address the causes and consequences, such issues will recur across India. He is a victim of politics of exclusion and politics of arrogant apathy of governance and governments.
He mostly lived in forests. He is an adivasi. And the land of adivasi people have been alienated by the aggressive encroachers in their land. Most of them don't have land nor livelihood. Their rights are violated everyday. They are excluded from the so called Kerala 'model ' of development. Thousands of crores of budget in their name hardly reach their and despite all those promises by politicians, they are condemned to live in the backyard of 'development'. These are stories of broken promises and betrayal of the promises of freedom, justice and human rights.
H is a symptom of larger inequality within us and beyond us. He is symptom of injustice, apathy, exclusion and marginalization within the society. Unless we address the causes and consequences, such issues will recur across India. He is a victim of politics of exclusion and politics of arrogant apathy of governance and governments.
This is not new, though the moral indignation it evoked in social media across the Malayali speech community is relatively new. His photo, with that helpless smile, hands tied, went viral in the social media The photo was taken as a selfie by a young middle class man who looked like enjoying the spectacle of an impoverished Madhu as he was beaten to death. A case of mob lynching in an otherwise enlightened Kerala I don't have the heart to share his photo as I too feel responsible for his blood. Feel ashamed that such an injustice happened in a society where I too live
His blood is screaming for justice from the alienated lands of tribal communities in India. They form 8% of population. This means a more than 100 million people, and a significantly large number of them suffer from poverty, injustice and human rights violations.
His blood is screaming for justice from the alienated lands of tribal communities in India. They form 8% of population. This means a more than 100 million people, and a significantly large number of them suffer from poverty, injustice and human rights violations.
Here I share the introductory chapter of a book that I published twenty years ago about status of tribal communities in India" Struggles for Survival ". The situation has not changed.
Such injustice makes me angry. Because injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
Such injustice makes me angry. Because injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
No comments:
Post a Comment