“We are fighting for our constitutional rights,” says KM Metry, a member of the recently formed ‘adivasi (tribal) parliament’ in India’s southern state of Karnataka.

The ‘parliament’ or forum, which brings together different tribes, is the first such initiative in Karnataka and hopes to bring positive change to the community.

Metry is a professor at the Kannada University in Hampi and belongs to one of the most populous tribes in India, the Gond. “As a child I grew up in difficult conditions. Literacy levels were so low in my tribe,” he says. 

Metry took advantage of a compulsory government education scheme and made it to university, but he points out that those living in the remote areas of the state can’t access these facilities. Over the past 60 years, since India gained independence, he believes that not much has changed for most of his fellow tribals and basic rights such as education and healthcare are still nowhere near adequate.

Ignored
There are currently around 400,000 tribal forest dwellers spread across nine districts in Karnataka. These adivasis feel they have been largely ignored by the central and state government, robbed of their basic constitutional rights and pushed to survive on the fringes of society.

Tribal people are being pushed off their forest land because the government leases out forest areas for development projects. One of the major demands of the ‘adivasi parliament’ is access to forest land and minor forest produce, which would let them continue to live as they have for centuries. 

Need
Metry says that the unjust treatment meted out to the tribes has led to the formation of the informal adivasi parliament. “Over years there are a couple of dominant tribes that have been getting a huge share of the benefits offered by the government schemes. This has caused the rest of the tribal people to stand up and demand their share of constitutional rights,” he says.

The need to be represented publicly led to the formation of the forum in March, earlier this year. Since then, its members have been meeting regularly, holding strikes in front of government buildings and trying to raise awareness of their problems in the general public. For the adivasis in Karnataka, it’s been a long struggle with little success. The parliament, however, hopes to change the status quo.

The parliament will comprise of members of different tribes from the village administrative units. Fifty such members would form the parliament at the state level, which would then coordinate with government officials and politicians for implementing programmes. 

Dilemma
Dealing with the fast-paced, globalised world of today poses constant challenges for the adivasis “whose traditional lifestyles are primitive”, according to BG Gouda, president of the Coorg Organisation for Rural Development (CORD). CORD has long been working with tribal populations in Karnataka, offering development schemes in the health and education sector. 

“The adivasis practise their own traditions and customs. They can’t change their way of life without being sensitised. For instance, the Korma tribe slaughters pigs as part of a ritual and eats the meat only after it’s stayed for three days. Of course they don’t have refrigerators. They need to be educated about the harm such practices can cause,” Gouda says. 

Gouda views the new parliament as an instrument that can bring change with continuity. “What is missing right now is continuity in our approaches. Most NGOs work as long as they have resources. The parliament, which will work alongside politicians, activists and representatives of the community, will offer continuity to the current approaches,” Gouda believes.