Decision to present an award meant for adivasis to non-adivasi activists stirs up controversy.
It started off with the best of intentions. The London-based Gandhi Foundation decided to present an award to the adivasis of India.
They asked Dr Binayak Sen and Bulu Imam, both of whom are leading human rights activists, and have worked closely with adivasis, to accept the Gandhi Foundation International Peace Award 2011 on behalf of the adivasi community.
This did not sit well with activists from the adivasi community. They were angered by the fact that no adivasis had been considered for the award. “There are approximately 100 million advasis in India. Could they not find a single person from the adivasi community to give the award to? How can you insult 100 million people like this?” asks Glaston Dungdung, when contacted by DNA.
Adivasi organisations shot off a letter to the Gandhi Foundation expressing their disappointment, and also wrote to Sen and Imam urging them not to accept the award because, “We feel that this is a clear case of insult, humiliation and attack to the dignity of Adivasis of India by an international organisation.”
Sen wrote back saying, “We understand your sentiments and feelings. The extended public profiling has never been at our initiative and we would happily step back to a less fractured existence.” The Gandhi Foundation, too, promptly re-dedicated the award. It reworded the citation to make it specifically for Sen and Imam, and not the adivasis community as a whole. Adivasi activists, though, are still angered by this incident.
There seem to be two main issues that are driving this controversy. One is the fact that Dr Sen hasn’t yet categorically refused the award. When contacted, he said, “I am not ready to make a statement on this yet, I still mulling the matter over.” Some in the activist community have come out in support of Dr Sen.
Kamayani Bali-Mahabal, an activist and lawyer, says, “The adivasis are not a homogenous community. There are many adivasis who support Binayak Sen. Sen has worked with adivasis intensively. How can anyone say that it is not appropriate for Sen to represent them?”
Dungdung, however, says that there are many adivasi activists who don’t get the recognition they deserve. He mentions the names of Munni Hansda and Soma Gudiya. “Most of these middle class activists are scared that they will become irrelevant once adivasi activists start getting recognition.”
The other issue, is one of representation. Adivasis have always been marginalised, says Sanober Keshawar, a democratic rights activist. “The sustained resistance that the adivasis provided to the British Empire has been completely overlooked in our history books. Even today there is a lack of representation and acceptance of voices from the community.”
There is a belief that the adivasi community is incapable of self-expression. Dungdung, in an article in a news weekly writes, “When he (British campaigner Max Galstaun) asked the (Gandhi) Foundation about the anomaly, they shot back, “Does any Adivasi speak English?” This shouldn’t really be an issue, according to Anja Kovacs, who works for the Internet Democracy Project. “They can just get a translator, can’t they? This is an excuse.”
Kovacs also points to the manner in which influence is hoarded in activist circles. “Even in activism, there is an exclusive circle of influence and power. This circle is very difficult to break into for local people who don’t have the means to travel to international conferences to get their voices heard. It’s the responsibility of those who have the influence, to bring the conversation to these people.”
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}