ALL INDIA TRIBAL CONVENTION

Declaration Of Tribal People Adopted

THE two day All India Tribal Convention of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) began with garlanding the statue of legendary tribal leader and martyr Birsa Munda at Birsa Chowk, Ranchi, the capital city of Jharkhand on November 18 by the CPI(M) Polit Bureau members, Biman Basu, Prakash Karat, Tripura chief minister Manik Sarkar, West Bengal minister Upen Kisku, Tripura ministers Aghore Deb Burman, and Jiten Choudhury, CPI(M) leaders, Alka Kisku, Jharkhand’s state secretary J S Majumdar, state secretariat member and Reception Committee chairman Rajendra Singh Munda and others. Birsa’s birthday celebration began on November 15. On that day two years before Jharkhand state came into existence as 28th state of India.

At the convention venue red flag was hoisted by Sukra Munda, the senior most Party member and founder of the Communist Party at Ranchi, leader of the land struggle and father of martyr Baldeo Munda in the land struggle. Floral tributes were paid to martyr’s column, depicting the glorious land struggle by the tribals in Jharkhand. The convention was attended by 322 delegates from 16 states of the country. There were seven fraternal delegates from various mass organisations.

The convention was held at martyrs Baldeo Munda, Jatru Munda and Budhu Munda Manch, who were killed in the land struggle at Daladali, 15 kms away from Ranchi on August 16, 2000, three months before Jharkhand state came into existence. In the struggle the landlord was also killed. In his welcome speech Rajendra Singh Munda, chairman of the reception committee, depicted the repeated tribal revolts in Jharkhand directed against the zamindars, moneylenders and the British rule in which the non-tribal poor also joined. Revolt under the leadership of Tikka Manjhi, Santhal revolt under the leadership of Sidhu-Kanhu, Munda revolt under the leadership of Birsa Munda, Chuar revolt, Kol revolt etc spanning over about two hundred years remain the glorious chapters in the history of peasant uprising and national independence movement.

The BJP-led central and state governments and the sangh parivar are trying to divide the tribals on religious lines and trying to impose their concept of Hindutva on them. The basic issues of eight crore tribal people of the country, the most backward and oppressed section of Indian people, are not being attended to by successive bourgeois-landlord governments.

It is in this background the All India Tribal Convention is of immense importance which has already drawn the attention of the media and created interest amongst the people, particularly the tribal population.

An eight member presidium consisting of Aghore Deb Burman (Tripura),Upen Kisku (West Bengal), Rajendra Singh Munda (Jharkhand), Purno Bora (Assam), Sanjay Parate (Chhatisgarh), Anjali Deb Burma (Tripura), Lohanu Kom (Maharashtra) and Sriram Naik (Andhra Pradesh) conducted the proceedings of the convention.

Polit Bureau member Prakash Karat placed a draft declaration for discussion containing the background and demands for the tribals of India. 33 delegates from 16 states participated, actively contributed from their experience and enriched the declaration. Prakash Karat summed up the discussion highlighting that tribal problems and demands are part of the broad democratic movement. The declaration gave a clarion call to all tribals of India to unite for their rights and demands.  It called upon all sections of the toiling people, the workers, peasants, agricultural workers, youth, students, women, cultural activists and other democratic sections to raise and fight for the demands of the tribal population of India. It also called upon them to defeat the designs of all communal, divisive and revivalist forces attempting to create divisions among the tribals and between tribals and non tribals. The declaration said that this can only be done when all round unity of economically exploited and socially oppressed sections is forged.

Biman Basu in his concluding speech traced the history and realities affecting the tribals of India and emphasised on forging broadest possible unity of toiling masses for the justice to deprived tribal population of India.

The convention also adopted three separate resolutions. A resolution demanding withdrawal of central government’s circular on forest describing tribals as encroachers of forest land was moved by Purno Bora. The central government’s circular and retrograde Forest Act of 1980 are threatening displacement of more than one crore tribal population.  Another resolution was moved by Manik Sarkar condemning the extremist insurgencies in entire North Eastern region which resulted in killing of large number of people including tribals, affecting their livelihood and development. The resolution called for unity of tribals and non-tribals. The third resolution, moved by J S Majumdar, condemned BJP-led Jharkhand government's attempts to bring divisions between tribals and non-tribals and between different section of the people by its reservation and domicile policies and called upon the people to preserve unity of all toiling sections.

The convention decided to form an all India co-ordination committee of the Party consisting of tribal party members to effectively co-ordinate the movement of tribal people in different parts of the country.

CONVENTION ENTHUSES PEOPLE

On the occasion of All India Tribal Convention, three days of cultural programmes of tribal folk arts and exhibitions were held at local Argora ground which drew thousands of people.

On conclusion of the convention, an impressive public meeting was held at Argora ground. A number of processions coming from different points of the city converged into this meeting. The colourful processions, cultural programmes and the impressive mass meeting have created wide enthusiasm amongst the people. The public meeting was presided by Rajendra Singh Munda. Amongst those who addressed the meeting include J S Majumdar, Jagmani Topno, Jiten Choudhury, Ramkripal, MLA from UP and J P Gavit, MLA and Maharashtra Party’s secretariat member. West Bengal minister Upen Kisku explained as to how in West Bengal tribal people have benefited during the Left Front rule. He drew attention to the fact that 5 lakh tribal families benefited due to land reforms of the Bengal government.

Addressing the public meeting Biman Basu explained main contents of the convention declaration, tasks before all toiling sections to carry forward the struggle on the demands of the tribals and their relevance in the country’s socio-economic and political situation today. Manik Sarkar in his speech condemned the Congress for its alliance with the extremists in Tripura in order to grab power in the coming elections. He explained the need of unity of all toiling sections and between the tribals and non-tribals. During Left Front rule in Tripura, 7000 acres of land was restored to tribals while non-tribal poor displaced from this land were rehabilitated.

The All India Tribal Convention, first of its kind called  by the CPI(M) will go a long way in pursuing the rights and demands of this most oppressed section of Indian people and the democratic movement in India.