Adivasis’ plight is caused by the unlimited greed of the non-Adivasi people
Each year 9th of August is celebrated worldwide as International Day for the world’s Indigenous People. In India, we have 8.6% of the population who have been officially designated as Scheduled Tribe (ST). These are the people who want to be known as Adivasi or Indigenous people. However, after 74 years of independence, STs are some of the most deprived sections of people in the world.
The Human Development Index and Human Poverty Index for STs are found to be around 30 per cent lower than the corresponding all-India indices. In an international comparison, development and deprivation among the STs of India are similar to that in the poorer countries of sub-Saharan Africa.
If that is the case, what does celebrating Indigenous People’s day mean for India? Is there anything to be celebrated?