Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao will become the first incumbent to conduct the all important girijana darbar at the Nagoba jatara at Keslapur village in Indervelli mandal of Adilabad district on January 22.
Relevance of darbar
His impending visit has also brought into sharp focus the history and relevance of the darbar instituted in 1946 by none other than the legendary anthropologist Christopher von Furer-Haimendorf.
The aim of instituting a darbar was for the government to find instant solutions to the grievances of Adivasis.
The darbar was in tune with the Gond Adivasi practice of getting grievances redressed by the concerned Mokashi or Raja during religious events like jataras. He will be the
Professor Haimendorf, who as Advisor to the Nizam’s government on Backward Classes and Tribal affairs, is known to have recommended to the Nizam in 1945 to start the darbar at Keslapur as he found the Nagoba jatara a conducive event for Gond tribals of all denominations to congregate. After Nizam’s Hyderabad was merged with Indian Union, the new entity ran the annual darbar under the aegis of Revenue department until the advent of Integrated Tribal Development Agency in 1976.
In ruins
The old darbar hall, now in ruins, was built in 1953 about 500 meters away from the Nagoba temple. It came into disuse after a new darbar hall was constructed closer to the temple in 1986. Adivasis air their grievance at the darbar which is usually held on the third day of the jatara, mostly by way of submitting petitions. These petitions used to be read out during the proceedings and officials concerned were made to reply and come up with solutions.
In due course, the event has become a forum for disgruntled leaders to voice their protests on a host of issues but mainly on Adivasis being ignored.
Also lost in the process was the practice of the Tribal Welfare Minister conducting the darbar.
The Mesram clan of Gonds is expecting a lot from the visit of the Chief Minister in this instance. “As he is the chief executive of the State, we are expecting our grievances to be redressed immediately,” hopes Mesram Tukaram, the chairman of the Nagoba temple committee.
