Autonomy Movements: Real Issues and Uncertain Solutions

Autonomy Movements and Federal India by Bhupinder Singh

Review by: Udayon Misra
Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 39, No. 9 (Feb. 28 - Mar. 5, 2004), pp. 901-903
Published by: Economic and Political Weekly
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 reviews
AutonomyMovements
Real Issues andUncertainSolutions
Autonomy Movements and Federal
India by BhupinderSingh;
Rawat Publications, Jaipur, 2002;
pp 289, Rs 575.
UDAYON MISRA
hupinder Singh's book is rather
ambitious in the sense that it attempts
to cover several of the leading identity/
autonomy movements of post-indepen-
dence India - from the Naga and the Bodo
movements of northeastern India to the
struggle in Kashmir and the quest for a
separate Jharkhand.To try to encapsulate
all this in less than 300 pages of print is
indeed a daunting task. A bureaucrat
with a long innings and having been
actively involved in New Delhi's efforts
to work out solutions to the Naga, Bodo
and Jharkhand movements, the author
draws widely from his experience in the
field as well as from his knowledge of
official documents and papers. What
strikes the reader right in the beginning
is the author's conscious attempt to
project a more or less objective account
of the movements that are discussed,
although the solutions he offers seem at
times quite cut and dry and run-of-the
mill. It is refreshing to see that, unlike the
typical retired bureaucrat's view marked
by a mix of cynicism and condescension,
Singh's long tenure as an IAS officer
dealing primarily with tribal affairs has
not hardened his sensitivity towards the
demands of the marginalised groups. In
his preface, Singh states that his aim is
to give a comprehensive view of the dif-
ferent movements to the 'thinking
citizens' of the country and to relate these
movements to the "broadevolving feder-
alist structure in the country". As far as
the first partof his objective is concerned,
the authormarshals all his facts to present
quite a convincing picture. However, it is
while talking about federalist solutions
Economicand PoliticalWeekly February28, 2004
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leadershipof JaipalSinghled to a virtual
eclipseof theJharkhand
Jharkhand
movementtill the
MuktiMorchacameintobeing
in 1973.ItseffortsalongwiththeJharkhand
Co-ordinationCommitteeresultedin the
election of as many as 21 MLAs to the
BiharAssemblyin 1990.Singhdwells at
that Singh himself appears quite length with the socio-economicreasons
unconvinced. behindthe rise of Jharkhand identityand
While the chapters on the Naga and shows how the tribalsof the regionwere
Mizo struggles appearsomewhat cursory, increasinglypauperizedby the extractive
the author deals at length with the natureof the economy,- the Jharkhand
Jharkhandand Bodoland movements and regioncontributingabout70 per cent of
the insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir. thetotalrevenueof Biharandtheplough-
The book begins with a historical review back being just around20 per cent. Re-
of the Jharkhand region from the early ferringtolandalienationamongthetribals,
days of British control over the the authorstatesthatdespiteseveralten-
Chhotanagpur plateau and the Santhal ancylawsaimedatpreventingsuchalien-
Pargana tract, the introduction of Perma- ation,as on March1994the totalnumber
nent Settlement in 1793 and laws like the of cases of tribal land alienatieh was
Sale and Rent Law of 1869 which speeded 84,232, out of which 50,450 had been
up the process of alienation of tribal land disposed of and that the area of land
and the series of revolts against British alienated was 1,02,326 acres, out of
rule that took place from the end of the which43,324 acreswere restored.Singh
shows how large-scale land alienation
eighteenth till the closing years of the
nineteenth centuries. While discussing combined with "increasingpressureof
these revolts, the author states that these population, immigration,urbanisation,
were invariably ethnic in nature, quite mining, industrialisation and other
often having their origins in one single relatedphenomenaand processes"have
tribe and that they left a deep imprint on the Jharkhandis" and of
"proletarianised
the tribal psyche which ultimately shaped how large-scale depredationof forest
their overall attitude and worldview. He wealthhas led to the collapseof valuable
traces the beginnings of the Jharkhand life-supportsystems.
quest for identity to the coming of Chris- Singhthengoes on to discussthe vari-
ous stepstakenby the governmentsat the
tianity and the formation of the
ChhotanagpurUnnati Samaj in the 1880s. centreandthestateto remedythesituation
It took almost another 50 years for the arisingoutof 'closetcolonialism'andhow
formationof the Adivasi Mahasabhain the the recommendations of the SRC(1955)
1930s and which may be said to have been andthe settingup of the SanthalPargana
the first broad-based body of both tribals DevelopmentAuthorityprovedquite in-
andnon-tribals.The authorpointsout how, effective.Also, the formationof the GOI
when no concrete steps were taken to meet CommitteeonJharkhand Matters(COJM)
the political and psychological demands of whichtheauthorwas a member,wasn't
of the people as recommended by the of muchhelpbecausethe memberscould
Excluded and Partially Excluded Areas not agree on any particularmodel of
(OtherthanAssam) Sub-Committee of the autonomyfor the region.Finally,as the
Constituent Assembly (1946) , the stage movementgainedground,the Jharkhand
was set for the formation of the Jharkhand AreasAutonomousCouncilwas formed
in 1993 but this too remainedlargely
Party which swept the polls in 1952,
securing as many as 33 Assembly and unoperational.The rest, of course, is
three Lok Sabha seats in Bihar. This party, recent history. Singh refers to the
which drew its membership from tribals Jharkhand movementas uniquebecause
and non-tribals alike, improved its posi- of the consistentsupportit has been get-
tion in the 1957 elections. But the merger ting fromthe massesandbecauseit suc-
of the Jharkhand Party with the Indian ceeded in coming out of the ethnicwarp
National Congress in 1962 under the andtakeon a broaderregionalcharacter.
901
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He thinks it is quite unique that the In his accountandanalysisof the Naga that underneathsuch a structureoften lies
movementgrew out of its initial mono- and Mizo movements, Singh recounts the tyranny of custom and that the voice
ethnicnatureandbecamein the courseof known positions and not have anything of the elders or headmen is usually taken
time both pan-tribaland regional.More- radicallynew to say. But it is refreshing as the voice of the community. It needs
over, the fact thatover a periodof 'two to see that the authortries to appreciate to be noted that what is often referred to
centuries', the quest for autonomy of theNagaviewpointvis-a-vistheirassocia- as the "traditionaltribal democratic struc-
the Jharkhandis did not get extinguished, tion with India. While calling for a ture" usually does not provide for space
goes to prove that it is a 'living vibrant honourablesettlementof the Naga issue, for women. All this, however, does not
movement'.While all this seems quitein Singhnaturallygives weightto the roleof deflect from the fact that these indigenous
line, what,however,is difficultto accept the traditionalinstitutionslike the Naga institutions have been serving tribal
is the author'sunquestionedfaithin what Hoho in furtheringthe peace process. needs for generations and have been the
he calls "thetraditionalcooperativeself- Traditionalpower structuresplay a very main agencies of self-government. How-
managementsystem (that) has kept the importantrolein Nagasocietyandthishas ever, it is one thing to emphasise the
tribalsgoing in the midstof exploitation beenrecognisedbytheIndianConstitution relevance of such bodies in the struggle
andoppression."It is one thingto say that whileguaranteeing thecustomaryrightsof to protectthe triballand, economy and way
"thepeople's own socio-politicalinstitu- the Naga people. Different agreements of life from the depredations of the large
tions have been the bastions,throughthe reachedor sought to be reachedby the national and multi-national corporate
ages, of tribalsociety, culture,economy governmentof Indiawith Naga organis- sector. But it is quite another thing to
and polity even when the political ations,rightfromthe HydariAgreement, suggest that, in the tribal context, com-
leadershipfailed them", and it is quite also adequatelyreflectthis. The authoris munity living, community rights and con-
somethingelsetosuggestthattheJharkhand of the view thatthe jettisoningof bodies sensual functioning are always superior
people need to be "recompensedwith a like theNagaTribalCouncilandtheplac- to individual rights, individual space and
wholesome, direct and untrammelled ing of the village, range and regional representative governance.
administrationcomprising echelons of councilsunderthe controlof the govern- About Jammu and Kashmir, Singh re-
tribalcouncils run in their interest".To ment bureaucracyhave decidedly made states known positions and the greaterpart
suggest that instead of encouragingthe thingsdifficult.In this contextit needsto of his chapter is taken up with a historical
institutionsof parliamentarydemocracy be rememberedthat the Naga National account of the Kashmir problem. How-
one shouldincreasinglydependon tradi- Council under Phizo's leadership had ever, despite certain inconsistencies in his
tionaltribalinstitutionsas theyexist today rejectedtheintroduction of electeddistrict overall argument, the author portrays a
in the Jharkhand could be a retrogressive councilsundertheSixthScheduleandthis more or less balanced account of the
step.For,traditionaltribalinstitutionsare had necessitatedthe settingup of village Kashmir issue. Tracing the origins of the
not necessarilyas egalitarian,democratic developmentboards.While it is truethat All Jammu and Kashmir National Con-
andsecularas they are often madeout to civil society in the form of traditional ference in people's resistance to the
be. Forinstance,in most of these institu- institutionshasbeenplayinga verymajor Maharaja's feudal rule, Singh largely
tions, consensusis not always arrivedat role in stateslike Nagaland,Mizoramand blames the Congress for most of the ills
in a democratic manner and there is Meghalayaand in the two latter states of J and K - the unfair elections, the
seldomany place for individualdissent, these institutionshave been workingat subversion of the 1951 Nehru-Sheikh
not to speak of the position of women. tandem with the Autonomous District Abdullah Agreement, the subsequent in-
Moreover,it is doubtfulwhetherit would Councils, yet there are serious areas of carceration of the Sheikh and the instal-
be possibleto workout the author'ssug- difference between these two systems lation of a puppet regime, the successive
gestionthatpowerandauthorityshouldbe representing grassrootsgovernance.There- steps by New Delhi to do away with the
shared by the different levels of the fore, to suggest that ground-leveltradi- autonomous status of J and K, the rejec-
panchayat system and the traditional tionalinstitutionsmustbefurtherempow- tion of the State Autonomy Committee's
bodiesor 'people'scouncils'. In the long ered because these are the only viable Recommendations and the like. Reiterat-
run, the elected panchayat bodies are meansof 'self-governanceandeconomic ing that Article 370 of the Constitution
boundto come into conflict with the development',could,in turn,leadto major recognises the State ConstituentAssembly
traditionalpower structuresas may be difficultiesin the roadto democraticrep- which adopted the J and K Constitution
seen in severalof the tribalstates of the resentation.The experiencein Mizoram in 1957, Singh says that the acceptance of
northeastern region.At bestone couldtry showshowelectedDistrictCouncilseven- the Autonomy Committee's Recommen-
to incorporatethe best values of the tuallydid away with the arbitrarypower dations and the restorationof the pre-1953
traditionaltribalinto the workingof the of the Sailos or chiefs. In Meghalayatoo constitutional position would have gone a
electedbodiesat the grassrootslevel. To the DistrictCouncilshave been at odds long way in solving the Kashmirissue. The
idealiseandromanticisetribaltraditional with rajasandchieftainslike the Syiems, author sums up by saying that restoration
structuresandpit theseagainstthe ideaof Dolois andSirdarswho arenow demand- of human rights and an active role by civil
representative electedbodieswouldbe to ing thattheirrightsbe recognisedby the society would help bring back the " eroded
ultimatelyharmtheinterestsof thosevery Constitution.It is being alleged by the trustsliding in the nineties into insurgency".
people aboutwhomthe authoris so con- latterthatthe districtcouncilshave been However, what is a bit puzzling is that,
cerned. It is inevitable that consensual usurpingthesocialroleandfunctionof the almost in the same breath, the authorgoes
functioningmust in the long run be re- traditionalbodies. Moreover,those who on to say that the people of the valley must
placedby electedrepresentation fromthe are acquaintedwith the consensualform get reconciled with the idea that "afterhalf
micro level upwards. of "villagedemocracy"know for certain a century of shared independence and

902 Economicand PoliticalWeekly February28, 2004

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All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
togetherness, India will not give away
Kashmir, a priceless jewel in its diadem".
In brief, the author suggests that demo-
cratic rights be restored in J and K but it
should not be allowed to break away from
India, that the LOC be converted into the
internationalboundaryand the "stand-off'
with Pakistanbe resolved. Somehow, one
feels that the author's acquaintance with
the intricacies of the Kashmir issue not-
withstanding,a bureaucraticsweep tries to
give a ring of certainty to an otherwise
extremely fluid situation.
In his chapter on the Bodo Movement
(the author was the chairperson of the
Three-memberExpertCommitteeon Plains
Tribes of Assam 1992), Singh begins with
a historical review and then proceeds to
analyse the main causes leading to the
Bodo assertion of identity. Pointing out
that the plains tribes of the Brahmaputra
Valley in Assam were not covered by the
Fifth and Sixth Schedules of the Consti-
tution, Bhupinder Singh discusses the
factors which have contributed to alienat-
ing the Bodos from the broaderAssamese
society. While it is true that in post-
independence Assam the Assamese middle
class leadershipconstantly ignored the de-
velopment needs of the Bodo people, yet
no discussion of the Bodo problem would
be complete without taking up issues
relating to demographic change and the
progressive occupation of tribal land by
immigrantpeasants from East Bengal/East
Pakistan/Bangladesh.This process started
in the late 1920s and reached a peak
somewhat in the 1930s when the state was
ruled by the Muslim League dominated
ministry of Saadullah. Any look at the
proceedings of the Assam Legislative
Assembly from late thirties to the years
immediately preceding independence
shows how severe a pressurewas mounted
by the immigrant Bengali Muslim lobby
to open up the tribal belts and blocks to
the immigrant peasants. One wishes that
instead of repeating known cliches about
caste-Hinduhegemony, the authorhadtried
to look into demographic and land factors
as well. He could have also thrown some
light on the inner contradictions within
the Bodo movement as have been reflected
in the differences between the Bodoland
Liberation Tigers (BLT) and the National
Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB).
That would have helped one to better
understandthe causes of the Bodo conflict
and the unsuccessful attempt by the
Bodo leadership to create a homogeneous
Bodo-inhabited area by carrying out a
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stringof attackson immigrantMuslimand
Adivasi pocketsduringthe heightof the
agitation.It is a knownfactthattheBodos
do not constitutea clear majorityin the
region which are now covered by the
BodolandTerritorialCouncil(BTC).The
KochRajbanshis,who constitutea major
chunk of the populationunderthe BTC
havejoinedothernon-Bodocommunities
to form SamjuktaJangusthioSangram
Samity(SJSS).TheSJSShasnowmounted
a stiff resistancemovementagainst'Bodo
hegemony'.It has been maintainingthat
the terms of the Bodoland Territorial
Councilhavetakenawaythepoliticalrights
of the Koch Rajbanshisand otherethnic
groups of the region and have reduced
them to virtual non-citizens. Singh, of
coursesaysthatdemographically theBodos
arenot in a positionto demanda separate
state to themselves and that they must
settleforgreaterautonomywithinAssam.
How far the BTC Accordmeetsthe aspi-
rationsof the Bodos remainsto be seen.
But one thing seems clear. The Bodo
leadership now at the helm of power
appearsto have realised that given the
complex demographicpattern and the
threatof continuedinfluxandoccupation
of tribal land, a working arrangement
withother regional organisationsof the
stateis necessary.Thispartlyexplainsthe
recent entente between the All Bodo
Students Union and the All Assam
StudentsUnion.
Inhischapterentitled'non-movements',
BhupinderSinghdeals at lengthwith the
condition and psyche of several of the
'marginal'communitiesof the country
whichrangefromthe Birhorsof northern
Indiato the Chenchusof AndhraPradesh
andthe Baigaof MadhyaPradesh.While
reiteratingthat these 'primitive' tribal
communitiesbe left alone to shapetheir
"ownfuture",the authoradvocatesmean-
ingful interventionin triballife to ensure
benefits like health, educationand safe
drinkingwater.He, however,is not at all
sure as to how this could be achieved
withoutupsettingto a certainextent the
traditionalstructuresof power.Rather,he
seems to believe that these marginalised
tribalcommunitiesbe left to managetheir
own affairsaccordingto "theirown man-
agement systems mostly ruled by their
councilof elders".Forinstance,referring
to the Birhors,Singh writes:"Theyhave
their own traditionalpanchayatsystem,
the Mukhiyabeing the head, while the
Baiga(religiouspriest),thePujari(Baiga's
assistant),the Gunia (sorcerer)and the
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
Jhankar(villagemessenger)do playroles
in decision-makingusuallythroughcon-
sensusof opinionof alladultmalespresent
in a meeting"He, therefore,suggeststhat
while"discarding thesuperiorityof thebig
brotherapproachandrespectingthe letter
andspiritof the Panchayats(Extensionto
ScheduledAreas) Act of 1996,theirown
electiveor traditionalcouncils(according
to theiroption)shouldbe vestedwith the
responsibilityof governanceanddevelop-
ment".Singh'sratherisolationist approach
seemstooverlooktheplayof marketforces
in initiatingmajorchangesin triballife-
patternsas also the difficulties that are
boundto crop up wheneverattemptsare
madeto "weavethetraditional institutions
andelectivepanchayatsintothe hierarchy
of moderndemocraticinstitutionalsuper-
structureat the stateandnationallevels".
Singhends with a plea for a trulyfederal
India where pluralism and democracy
would ensure the continuance of the
communitarian ethosof triballife. Butthe
book would have gained much had the
author,instead of merely idealising the
tribalethos and way of life basedon tra-
ditional power structures,made some
seriousattemptsto addressthe problems
arisingout of the interfacebetweentradi-
tional bodies and democraticallyelected
power-structures. All this, however,does
not take away from the overall worthof
the book which is a valuableadditionto
the alreadygrowingliteratureon theauto-
nomy/identity movementsinthecountry.It
is a pity though that the book does not
haveany bibliographyor references.It is
evident that BhupinderSingh has drawn
heavilyfrombooks,journalsandgovern-
ment records to build up most of his
arguments.It would have been gracious
had he acknowledgedat least some of
his sources.WI1
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