The current situation in the Agency villages of Adilabad and Kumram Bheem Asifabad districts is a throwback to the weeks preceding the infamous Indervelli police firing of April 20, 1981, that had resulted in the death of 17 Raj Gond Adivasis in the then Adilabad district.
The anger and distrust against the Lambada tribe and the government that is conspicuous among the Adivasis now is comparable to similar emotions that had prevailed against the Lambadas and non-tribal encroachers of their land over 36 years ago.
The only difference is that the earlier movement was led by the Girijana Rythu Coolie Sangham, then a frontal organisation of the CPI (ML) People’s War Group naxalites, while the present one has emerged from within the community.
Though protests in the shape of boycott of Lambada teachers have spread over a vast area now, there is no single leadership and the command of the protest programme lies in the hands of locals in each of the tribal villages.
Inclusion in ST list
The discord between the aboriginal people — especially the Raj Gonds, Kolams and Pardhans — and the Lambada tribe, owes its origin to the lopsided development of the ethnic tribes since the plains tribe was included in the list of Scheduled Tribes in the State of Andhra Pradesh in 1976.
The Adivasis are not only accusing the migrant Lambada population of cornering all the constitutional entitlements, including government jobs, through illegal means, but also the government of aiding the usurpers.
The two groups have had differences since the last three decades, but the antagonism grew stronger due to some recent incidents. As a result, the Adivasis now have resolved to boycott Lambadas in every sphere.
“Yes, similar kind of anger had spread in our villages in the months preceding the Indervelli firing,” concurred Sidam Bheem Rao, former chairman of the Aboriginal Tribe Welfare Advisory Committee under Integrated Tribal Development Agency, Utnoor.
“The Adivasis were angry with the government for siding with the encroachers of their land and for having included the Lambadas in the list of STs,” he added.
The ITDA with its office in Adilabad district headquarters town was formed for the all-round development of the tribes around the same time the Lambadas were included in the list. The office was shifted to Utnoor in 1980 to make it more accessible to the poor tribals.
“The Lambadas were extracting benefits from the ITDA right from the time when they were declared STs. At that time, we were engrossed in our land-related problems,” Mr. Bheem Rao said.
