People And Their Problems
New Delhi, 9 June 2007
The Forest Tribals
WHO CARES FOR VAN
GUJJARS?
By Radhakrishna Rao
The violent protest by the Gujjar community in Rajasthan and
adjoining States seeking Scheduled Tribes
status has once again focussed
attention on the sectarian and communal divide that our politicians cutting
across the party lines and
ideological barriers have been fostering with a view to create “caste vote
banks”. In fact, with the agitation by socially and politically influential Gujjars hogging the limelight, neither the
ruling elite nor the media has spared a
thought for the fate for hapless,
socially deprived and economically marginalized Van Gujjar community inhabiting
the rapidly degrading forest stretches
in the Himalayan foothills.
The forest dwelling, peace loving Van Gujjar community whose
members are believed to be converts to Islam from many of the Rajput clans of
north-west India, are politically powerless
and socially disadvantaged, no one seems to care for them. In fact, in recent
years, with the forest authorities in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand putting
hurdles in their migratory routes, the life for the community has become
miserable and difficult. In fact, they are being coerced by the forest
bureaucracy to evict their forest homes and move to the resettlement colonies
.But for Van Gujjars life outside the forest could be a difficult preposition
since they know only forest based animal husbandry with hardy, mountain
buffaloes remaining the bedrock of their socio-economic life.
In view of their backwardness
and unique lifestyle, for many years Van Gujjars have been seeking ST status
for themselves. In fact, way back in 1994, the Uttar Pradesh Government had
recommended conferring ST status on the community. Long before this, Avadesh
Kaushal, Chairperson of the Dehra Dun-based voluntary organization Rural
Litigation and Entitlement Kendra (RLEK), which runs a series of welfare
schemes for the benefit of the community, had made a forceful plea to include
Van Gujjars under the ST category.
However, the power that-be was not just interested in the
community that hardly exercises its franchise. The argument of Kaushal was that
Van Gujjars living in Uttarnachal and Uttar Pradesh should be given the ST
status since the community has been accorded such status in Jammu and Kashmir, as well as Himachal
Pradesh. “This community possess all the essential
attributes of the STs like primitive traits, distinct cultural identity,
geographical isolation, social backwardness
and nomadic lifestyle”, observes Kaushal.
Kaushal also laments the fact that because of their
residence in the depths of the forests and their migratory lifestyle, the
community has been deprived of the benefits of the Government sponsored welfare
schemes and developmental programmes. He is of the view that the community
would be able to move with the time if the ST status is accorded to them
immediately. Kaushal has also expressed
his concern over the move of the Uttaranchal Government to evict this forest
dwelling, vegetarian community and settle them in rehabilitation colonies with
a view to put an end to their migratory lifestyle. But Van Gujjars are clear in
their perception a settled mode of life in permanent colonies would mean a
certain cultural death of the community.
Indeed, the uncertainty facing the nomadic pastoral Van
Gujjars, is a veritable microcosm of the problems haunting the indigenous
forest dwelling communities spread across
the country. The Rajaji National Park (RNP), covering an area of 825 sq.km across Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand is one of the most
important winter homes of the Van Gujjar tribe who consider the forest eco
system to be their veritable lifeline.
In summers, they move to the upper reaches of the Himalayas along with their herds of mountain buffaloes in
search of fresh fodder. As the winter sets in, the community moves back to the
forest stretches of RNP along with heir livestock herds. This well-planned and
finely tuned transhumance not only helps to regenerate vegetation but also goes
to provide nutritionally fortified grass
in the upper Himalayan stretches.
On an average, a Van Gujjar family owns upto 25 heads of
buffaloes which the family’s pride and treated with utmost care and affection. By
all means buffaloes constitute the very bedrock of the livelihood of the
community. Essentially, Van Gujjars
practice a forest-based form of animal husbandry and produce good quality of
milk and dairy products without any pesticide residues. As such the milk
produced by the community fetches a good price in the urban centres of
Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh.
The Van Gujjar settlements in RNP are distinguished by the
buffalo herds roaming freely with a complete indifference to the world around. The
most conspicuous feature of the social life of Van Gujjars is the intense,
emotional attachment they have to the buffalo herds. Interestingly, the
children suckle milk straight from the udders of the animals. As it is, the
community plays a very crucial role in supplying milk and dairy products to
travellers and pilgrims in the upper Himalayan reaches during the lean summer
months.
One significant feature of the animal husbandry perfected by
the community is the sustainable use of forest resources to meet the fodder
needs the animals, thus leaving the agricultural land free for producing food
crops. Moreover, this also provides their milk with a special flavour and
enhanced quality.
In Kaushal’s view, the largely illiterate nomadic Van
Gujjars have managed to retain a high genetic quality of their buffaloes
without inbreeding. Kaushal points out that their method of feeding the
buffaloes mainly on green fodder with a minimum amount of concentrate feed, can
be great value to the development of animal husbandry in India. In
recent years, Van Gujjars have been under intense pressure
from RNP authorities to move out of their forest dwellings. For long, the RNP
authorities have been blaming the buffalo herds of the community for the
damages sustained by the park eco system.
However, Van Gujjars have refuted this allegation. In fact,
a study of the Van Gujjar settlements in
the park area carried out in the second half of the 1990s by a team of students
from London’s Wye College has shown that
lopping vegetation to obtain fodder for
the animals is highly scientific and totally sustainable. In the same vein,
Swedish social anthropologist Pernelle Gooch, who was instrumental in
persuading Avadesh Kaushal to fight for the cause of Van Gujjar says, “In
winter the Van Gujjars feed their buffaloes with the leaves lopped from a certain
species of trees. As they use the same tree year after year, it is of vital
interest for them that the forest is regenerated”.
The total dependence of the community on forests and
buffaloes for their survival is reflected in the statement of Dil Mohammed, a
Van Gujjar chieftain, “neither we nor our buffalos are equipped to survive
outside the forest environment”.
Sociologists working with the community point out that any
change or experiment with a new profession,
demands a complete change in lifestyle. Sain Bibi, a young Van Gujjar woman,
laments the fact that they are poor
because their livelihood is based on
animals and these can easily die,
compared to ordinary farmers who still have their land if their crops fail.---INFA
(Copyright, India News and Feature
Alliance)
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