The raging controversy over Adivasi identity in Rajasthan is indicative of a churning taking place in the state’s tribal belt. For the first time in many years an Adivasi leader from this part of the country has publicly challenged the standard practice of terming tribals as part of the Hindu society. The person who has questioned the ‘given’ notion of Adivasi faith is Raj Kumar Roat, who won the Lok Sabha seat from the ST-reserved Banswara, fighting under the I.N.D.I.A banner. The Bharat Adivasi Party (BAP), co-founded by Roat, is a partner in I.N.D.I.A.
Roat, two times MLA from Chorasi in Dungarpur district, last month crossed swords with Rajasthan’s Education Minister Madan Dilawar on the issue of Adivasi identity. Dilawar, once a Bajrang Dal activist, had asserted that Adivasis were Hindus provoking Roat to say that the tribals had their own identity and they followed a different faith than Hinduism. Insinuated, Dilawar, who has a track record of targeting minorities, hit back recommending a DNA test for Roat so that his real identity could be determined.
The suggestion for DNA test to know the parentage of Roat was serious provocation as it carried other possible meanings as well. Not letting it go, Roat, along with Congress MLAs Ramkesh Meena and Ghanshyam Mahar, last week marched to the official residence of Dilawar in Jaipur carrying blood samples for DNA test but they were stopped on the way by the police.
The Rajasthan Assembly on Thursday (July 4) witnessed uproarious scenes when BAP MLAs, along with those of the Congress, staged a protest in the well of the House seeking the removal of Dilawar as minister. They also demanded an apology from Dilawar for recommending DNA test to Adivasis for indentifying their Hindu blood (!). In the end, though cagey, Dilawar, who belongs to the Scheduled Caste community, explained that it was not his “intention to insult” tribals. However he made it a point to reiterate that, “tribals were always Hindus and will always remain so”.
“The Adivasi population in the whole region is on the edge. As such tribal consciousness has been on the rise in south Rajasthan and in the adjoining parts of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh,” observes Dr. Bhanu Kapil who teaches history in Udaipur’s Bhupal Nobles University (Deemed). The 2023 Assembly election in which BAP secured three seats in Rajasthan and one in Madhya Pradesh was an indication of the emergence of a new political force among the Adivasis, he points out.
The emergence of BAP as a strong political entity in such a short period under such a young leader (Roat is 32) should be termed a phenomenon in Rajasthan politics. The party, an offspring of an earlier formation called BTP (Bharatiya Tribal Party), which had secured two seats in the 2018 Assembly election in Rajasthan, almost eliminated its parent party, founded by the Gujarat-based politician, Chhotubhai Vasava, in the current Rajasthan election. First the BTP and then the BAP, focusing on Adivasi asmita (identity) fought both the BJP and the Congress to make space for themselves. This time again, when the negotiations on a possible tie-up with the Congress on Banswara Lok Sabha seat got delayed Roat and his men had gone ahead declaring their candidature.
The Congress, left with no choice after the popular leader of the party and former Minister Mahendrajeet Singh Malviya joining the BJP on the election eve, conceded to the demands of BAP. Banswara seat was won by Roat with a margin of 2,47054 votes against Malviya even when the latter had allegedly sponsored two more Raj Kumars in the fray who together polled 1,16388 votes.
Raj Kumar Roat and those of his ilk who talk about a “Bhil Pradesh” could be the future leadership of the Adivasis in the tri-junction of Rajasthan, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. From the time the Mangarh Bhil uprising, held against the tyranny of the kings of Banswara, Dungarpur, Sant Rampur and the British in 1913 in which 1,500 tribals were killed, Adivasis had dreamt of their own self rule in the region. And after the death of the Socialist leader Mama Baleshwar Dayal in December 1998, they had been drifting among the Congress, the Janata Dal and the BJP.
“More than the territorial aspirations—which would, anyway, figure in the future—the current fight is for the protection and preservation of the very identity, tradition and culture of the tribals of this region. As the SCs and STs voted this time against the BJP to protect the Constitution and save reservations, they are also getting ready to fight the possible introduction of Uniform Civil Code which would play havoc with their lives,” asserts Dr. Bhanu Kapil.eom
