The coincidence cannot be missed. As young talent of the State show their promise in the school arts fete in the town, it is a faint cry from the hills of Attappady.
Tribal children who lost more than 60 of their brothers and sisters last year wrote to Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and Tribal Development Minister P.K. Jayalakshmi about their pathetic condition despite many steps taken by the government to end the menace of infant deaths in Attappady.
When the theme of the arts festival is “Protect the rights of children,” the tribal children are pouring out their woes, reminding the rulers that their rights should also be protected.
The children who attended a week-long camp, “Karthumbi,” organised by the Centre of Tribal Education Development and Research (THAMPU) in Attappady last week expressed anguish about their future to the Chief Minister through their brief letters analysing the problems of infant deaths and alienation of their land.
They made pencil sketches, cartoons and drawings and sent them to the Chief Minister.
Sunitha M. of Pottikkal House in Attappady, in her letter, says the children died because of lack of food.
“You cannot bring back our lost brothers and sisters. But you can prevent the starvation that still exists in Attappady. The children did not die because they did not get nutritious food. They died because they did not get food at all,” she writes.
Mini M. writes, “You know our problems without our telling. We have many problems. But the most important problem is the alienation of our land. If we lose land, it means we lose our roots, livelihood and tradition. Once we are uprooted from our traditional habitat, we are like fish out of water. So we want our land to be returned. But despite your promises, we have not got back our land.”
The letter adds, “We are denied our land because we are tribal people. Why are you not fulfilling your promise? We also have the right to live and grow like all of you. But we children are denied our rights.”
