‘Amrit’ to Scheduled Tribes should be delivered in the Birth Centenary year of Shri Kartik Oraon

The birth centenary year of Shri Kartik Oraon will begin on 29th October 2023. A remarkable personality who sparkled in different fields of life with brilliance of mind and ingenuity. He was an engineer by learning, a politician by choice, a social reformer by committed pursuit for justice. His contributions should be acknowledged and honored decorously and his vision for the judicious development of janajati people of the country should be fulfilled in the birth centenary year. The act of recognizing the truth of the janajati people that Shri Kartik Oraon prominently emphasized will be the brilliant reward for the people and a tribute to the great personality.

Shri Kartik Oraon entered into political life in 1962 and contested Loksabha election for the first time in his life from Lohardaga constituency which was reserved for the scheduled tribe category.

Though he lost his first election but launched a very critical theme or opened a very crucial debate on how an identity of Scheduled Tribe should be defined and who should avail the Constitutional benefits reserved for them so that preservation, protection and opportunities for reaffirmation of ancient traditional age old social, cultural, environmental and religious ethos could be affirmed by the janajatis of the country.

After losing the election he filed an Election Petition in Ranchi in Election Tribunal in March 1962 with a prayer that the candidate who won the election should be disqualified as he no longer belonged to scheduled tribe category as he had embraced Christianity. The Election Tribunal presided over by Shri Syed Bahaud-din Ahmad, Judicial Commissioner of Chotanagpur, Ranchi, dismissed his petition.

Shri Kartik Oraon then filed a petition in Patna High Court praying for a declaration that he was the duly elected candidate from Lohardaga Lok Sabha seat which was reserved for Scheduled Tribes. It was also prayed that, if that be not possible, the entire election be declared as void.

The particular point that was pressed in his petition was that the candidate who won the election was Indian Christian as his ancestors embraced Christianity and, as such, ceased to be a person belonging to a tribe and was not entitled to contest the Parliamentary seat concerned as candidate for a seat particularly meant for the Scheduled Tribes.

The petition argued that the candidate who has won has nothing to do with the faith and tribal way of life, nor does he follow the manners and customs of the tribes and have no affinity nor any common interest, or aspirations with or for the tribal people and, as such was not entitled to contest the Parliamentary seat concerned as candidates on a seat purely meant for the Scheduled Tribes.

Shri Kartik Oraon argued in his petition that in order to be classed as a scheduled tribe, a person must have social affinity with the tribes, with problems of common interest, with aspirations and defence and must profess the tribal religion and follow the tribal way of life.

The point that Shri Kartik Oraon emphasized magnifies the visionary characters of his personality as it went beyond criteria enshrined in the Constitution. To envision the identity of janajati in such a manner in 1962 was a radical progressive innovation over a much clichéd and trite definitions for identifying a community as a tribe.

In his petition Shri Kartik Oraon had drawn attention to The Government of India (Provincial Legislative Assemblies) Order, 1936, dated the 30th of April, 1936, by which a separate territorial constituency for Indian Christians was established.

In Part VII of that Order, paragraphs 4, 5 and 6 dealt with that matter. Paragraph 4 stated that the Indian Christian seat shall be filled by an election by an electoral college consisting of forty persons nominated for the purposes of the election by the Chota Nagpur Catholic Sabha and forty persons nominated for the purposes of the election by the Bihar and Orissa Christian Council.

Paragraph 5 said that a person shall not be qualified to be chosen to fill the Indian Christian seat unless he is an Indian Christian entitled to vote in the choice of a member to fill that seat or some seat in a territorial constituency.

Paragraph 6 declared that a person shall not be qualified to be chosen to fill a seat reserved for a representative of backward tribes unless he is a member of a backward tribe who is entitled to vote in the choice of a member to fill that seat or some general seat.

Shri Kartik Oraon argued on the basis of the above order that a distinction was made between Indian Christians and tribes for the purposes of representation in the Provincial Legislative Assembly and it must, therefore, be held that the Indian Christians ceased to be a tribe for such representation.

On this point Patna High Court noted that those were the days when serious attempts were made by different missionaries to convert people, especially the tribes, to Christianity and, in order to give temptation to them to accept that faith, all sorts of facilities were given. Honorable High Court further noted that in his opinion, that separate territorial constituency for Indian Christian was one of those facilities which were given to them for their representation in the Legislative Assembly.

However, the Election Petition of Shri Kartik Oraon was dismissed by the Patna High Court.

The Court observed among other instances the Report of the Commissioner for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes for the year 1961-62, which stated that in the case of Scheduled Tribes religion is immaterial, and a member of a scheduled Tribe continues to be one even though he may change his religion.

Shri Kartik Oraon was very much dismayed by this gross injustice to the tribes of the country who adhere to age old customs and traditions and sincerely follow their ancient faith and rituals. He observed that the benefits of Constitutional protection and reservation policies have been availed mostly by those who have left the tribal faith and spirituality reaping maximum benefits. Under the prevailing situation tribal population that followed truly their ancient traditional faith and rituals, culture have been deprived from the Constitutional benefits.

The issue has been further complicated by the circularity in defining the community as a Scheduled Tribe in the Constitution. In the Miscellaneous section of the Constitution Article 366 (25) defines “Scheduled Tribes” as such tribes or tribal communities or parts of or groups within such tribes or tribal communities as are deemed under article 342.

Whereas Article 342 empowers the President through public notification to specify the tribes or tribal communities or parts of or groups within tribes or tribal communities which shall for the purposes of this Constitution be deemed to be Scheduled Tribes in relation to that State or Union territory, as the case may be. There is no criteria specifically mentioned in the constitution to identify the group as a Scheduled Tribe.

Shri Kartik Oraon pursued this vital issue fearlessly and introduced “The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Order (Amendment) Bill on 12th August, 1967. This time he was elected from the Lohardaga Loksabha constituency which he had lost in previous election. The Bill was referred to Joint Committee of Houses on 26th March, 1968. The Committee held 22 sittings and proposed amendments.

The Joint Committee recommended the amendments to the Parliament on 15th November, 1969. The Joint Committee recommended that no person, who has given up tribal faith or faiths and has embraced either Christianity or Islam, shall be deemed to be a member of any Scheduled Tribe.

This was an important recommendation to correct the historical wrong that was done to the tribal community. However the concerned minister expressed his difficulties I accepting the proposed amendment. HE said that the Joint Committee’s proposal were required to be examined very carefully in consultation with the Ministries of Law, Home Affairs, and External Affairs.

The proposed amendments were dumped without any action. Shri Kartik Oraon submitted a detailed memorandum signed by 235 members of Loksabha in support of the recommendation of the Joint Committee to Smt. Indira Gandhi, the Prime Minister on 17 June, 1970. The detailed memorandum was later published as “Bis Varsh Ki Kali Raat”.

Shri Kartik Oraon presented a survey report to Joint Committee on how those tribals who have converted has affected the rights and privileges of tribal people. The reservation benefits were usurped by converted individuals from the tribal community on a larger extent.

Shri Kartik Oraon thus began the advancement of identifying the essential aspects as well as purification of imperfections in identifying a community as a tribe. He began the essential discussion on the core aspects of being a tribe.

The tribal community in India take pride in richness of ancient, ancestral, long established culture, folklore and history. The tribal community characterizes itself with deep spirituality as an integrating force that involves the perception of transcendental beliefs and values that provide a sense of deeper meaning and unity between self, people, nature and the universe. It has also been seen as a sense of connectedness to all others, involving intimate bonds to kin, communities, nature and the universe.

Spirituality among tribal communities plays an integral role in their culture, and serves as a beacon for the way in which they live their lives. It is unimaginable for any tribal person to live outside the protective walls of community. This aspect defines its processes of relationship, differentiation, interaction, and subjectivity.

For tribal community in India, community consists of family, clan, camaraderie within same aged children, and people in the village, together with connections with the environment or whole earth, relationships with the ancestors who have gone before, and relationships with those who are to come. Hence community means the living, the unborn, the dead, and nature as a whole. These three threads are interwoven within the context of spirituality amongst tribals.

The vitality and expansive nature stems from this idea of community. This spiritual relationship is exhibited in numerous ways, which include the practice of taboos, utilizing minimal natural resources while undertaking reverential rituals for these resources, and even in shifting cultivation.

Tribal people further believe that a divine or supernatural being has bestowed nature with rich gifts, concurrently fulfilling the role of guide and teacher for their safety and prosperity. Subsequently, the engagement with omens, dreams and divination also comprises a fundamental aspect of tribal spirituality.

These spiritual and religious aspect, concept of soul, philosophy of relationship with nature and concept of Mother Earth is a fountainhead of their vitality and purposefulness of life, it keeps themselves united and creates a beautiful emotional bond amongst themselves.

Hence the core backbone to identify a community as a tribe needs elaborate attention on spiritual and religious aspect, concept of soul, philosophy of relationship with nature and concept of Mother Earth along with their social, educational and economical historical and prevalent condition.

Social, educational and economical aspects as well as shyness of contact with the outside world, criteria identified by the Lokur Committee 1965, are mutative in nature depending upon effective governance and their participation in schemes and policies for development and progress.

The inherent characteristic of a community to be identified as a tribe is that of their spirituality, belief and ancient traditional faith and rituals, culture. This is the most important aspect that emphasizes their self-esteem, self-respect and self-confidence, honor and dignity. This is the fountainhead of their vitality and spirit of life.

The enhancement in identifying the community as a tribe by Shri Kartik Oraon has been the most revolutionary contribution of his entire social and political life. The debate that he has begun should now be taken to the logical conclusion by enacting the amendment that he had proposed.

The birth centenary is the most relevant occasion to complete the unfulfilled idea of Shri Kartik Oraon. The Government of Bharat has already announced the ‘Amrut Kaal’ for next 25 years till the country celebrate 100 years of freedom from the British Colonial rule in 2047. The redefinition of Scheduled Tribes in a manner that Shri Kartik Oraon had envisioned will empower the neediest and disadvantaged population of the country’s janjaati.

Article by

Kedar Kulkarni