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Unit 2: Major Segments of Indian Society

forest wealth (Onlooker, 7 April, 1984:29). The chairman of the Reception Committee was arrested Notes
on the charge of theft of forest wealth. He was released by a magistrate but promptly rearrested on
a different charge. Among others arrested included musicians who were to perform at the
convention, and representatives of student organisations from Bombay, Hyderabad, and Madras.
Thus, what could have passed off as innocuous conference with a few fiery speeches was
transformed into a major episode giving the venue a battlefield look.
All this shows that when the law does not help tribals, and the government remains callous, and
the police fail to protect them, even harasses them, they take up arms against their exploiters. The
above-mentioned movements indicate that the tribals adopted two paths of achieving goals: (a)
non-violent path of bargaining and negotiating with the government and using a variety of pressure
tactics without resorting to violence/revolts, and (b) militant path of revolts or mass struggles
based on developing the fighting power of the exploited/oppressed tribal strata. The consequences
of both these paths are different. One indicates struggle oriented to reforms, while the other
indicates structural transformation of the community. To conclude, since tribals continue to face
problems and also continue to feel discontented and deprived, this fact shows that both the above
paths have not helped them to achieve their goals.
Tribal Leadership
Following L.P. Vidyarthi’s appraisal of tribal leadership in initiating and promoting movements,
we may point out several characteristics of tribal leadership:
1. The tribal leaders are characterised with the concept of sub-nationalism.
2. The leaders are generally those who are exposed to modern forces.
3. The Christian-oriented and western-educated model which was the exclusive model of leadership
for several decades in several tribal areas is now breaking its exclusiveness. For example, the
Jharkhand party which had the dominance of Christian adivasis and which was essentially
started for the consolidation of Christian converts fast expanded its scope, and the Hindu
tribals as well as non-tribal elements got associated with it and it started emphasising the
needs and problems of the region. With secularised objectives, political pressures and persuasion,
and political convenience, there is a marked turning point in the functioning of the leaders.
5. While the tribal leadership at the regional and state-level seems to be keeping pace with the
modern democratic interests, the village leadership in the interior tribal areas continues to be
mostly institutional (say Mukhiya), formal (say Sarpanch), and hereditary.
6. Tribal leaders sometimes join hands with political leaders of other political parties in achieving
their political goals.
7. The issues taken up by the leaders are generally those which find expression in tribalism,
regionalism, localism and sometimes in religious extremism.
8. The leaders are rural-based as well as urbanised, tradition-oriented as well as modern in
outlook, and are Hindus as well as Christians.
9. The leaders are not much educated but are those who believe in certain broad ideologies-
religious, political, economic and social.
Tribal Women
The term ‘status’ of women refers to (i) the position women occupy as householders, workers, and
citizens; (ii) power and prestige attached to these positions; and (iii) rights and duties they are
expected to exercise. Mason (1984) points out that the status of women has three dimensions:
prestige, power and autonomy (freedom to take decision about education, marriage, employment,
health care, etc.).
The status of women is not the same in all tribes; it differs from tribe to tribe. However, by and
large, the status of tribal women is very low in the sense that they have no access to knowledge,
to economic resources, and to power, and they have the lowest degree of personal autonomy.
Though the extent of tribal female labour-force participation is very low, yet most of the tribal
women work irrespective of their economic position. They share more or less equal responsibility

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