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Evidence from India with Special Reference to the Hos of Jharkhand

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Evidence from India with Special Reference to the Hos of Jharkhand Ghent University Faculty of Political and Social Sciences Department of Conflict and Development Studies Academic Year 2013-2014 Colonialism and Racism Uninterrupted: Evidence from India with Special Reference to the Hos of Jharkhand Antony Puthumattathil A dissertation presented in fulfilment of the requirement for a Ph.D. degree in political and social sciences, option Political Science Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Koen Vlassenroot Co-Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Anne Walraet 2 Contents Acknowledgements …………………………………………………………………….5 List of tables, figures, pictures and maps 7 List of Abbreviations 8 Maps 10 Prologue 15 Kolhan, the land of Hos, the nation-state and Adivasi resistance ……………….15 1. General Introduction 25 Chapters and themes 32 Jean-Paul Sartre: colonialism as a system, and its relevance ……………………36 Racism 38 Structural, cultural and symbolic violence: oppressive exploitation, discrimination and their often unintelligible reproductive logic ………………………………...40 Adivasis being enmeshed within (‘mainstream’) colonial civic order 45 ‘Indian elitism’ thrives on the popular Indian fatalism 47 Methodology 49 Fieldwork, sources and methods of data collection …………………………..53 Geographical area …………………………………………………………….53 Profiles of selected study villages …………………………………………….54 Fieldwork, and methods of data collection 59 2. Adivasis as State fleeing and challenging People: A Genealogy of Ideas and Practices underpinning the Politics and State in India 64 Introduction ……………………………………………………………………...65 Mainstream versus margins ……………………………………………………..71 State formation theories and the origins of the ancient Indian state …………….72 Pre-British colonial Statecraft: colonialism and racism as praxis and process …75 Adivasi social formations as those who escaped ancient Indian statecraft ……..78 The shape of the beast 82 Alternative imaginations: special reference to Kolarian (Munda) Adivasi groups 85 History of State formation in Chotanagpur ……………………………………...87 The beast among the Hos, in Hodisum, the Ho ‘country’ 93 Conclusion ………………………………………………………………………95 3. State formation and Poverty: entrenched Elitism reproduces Poverty 97 Introduction ……………………………………………………………………...98 Poverty-knowledge, concepts and analytical framework ……………………….99 The present Adivasi predicaments in a ‘booming’ India, a bird's eye view 103 Development discourses and ‘development,’ linked to ‘will to improve’ 105 Household data (indicative of socioeconomic conditions) 107 Villagers' usual occupations and ability/ inability to diversify sources of income 113 Accessibility of poverty alleviation/ ‘development’ schemes 117 The most deprived villagers 119 3 The most endowed village ‘uppers’ 121 Accumulation and differentiation: the role of the ‘state’ 122 Poverty alleviation schemes (PAS): bio-politics and depoliticization 126 Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………..128 4. The State and Adivasi Middlemen: Perpetuating Ambivalence of Violence 130 Introduction …………………………………………………………………….131 The theme of 'middlemen' or 'political fixers' 135 Studies on mediation in (Jharkhand) Adivasi contexts 138 Historical contexts of mediation, adverse incorporation, and social change ..139 Adivasi middlemen, mediated empowerment, and symbolic violence ……..142 Symbolic violence and perpetuation of structural and cultural violence ……143 Adivasi mediators, ambivalence of violence and AISE …………………….146 A ‘public audit’ of Schemes under MNREGA 2005 148 Adverse incorporation of Adivasi leadership and social exclusion 152 Ambivalence of violence and middlemen 154 Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………..156 5. Adivasis and Powers of Exclusion: People being marginalized in their Ethno-regional Territories 158 Introduction …………………………………………………………………….159 Political, economic, ecological marginality of Adivasi land ………………...163 Powers of exclusion and Adivasis …………………………………………..169 Powers of exclusion, incidents of land grab oppostion in Kolhan ………….173 Strategic media coverage and discrimination of Adivasis ………………….177 'Intimate' exclusion ………………………………………………………….180 Intimate exclusion in Huringhatu……………………………………………………………….181 ‘Intimate’ exclusion, colonial desire, and consequences…………………………….182 The cost of encountering state Institutions …………………………………………………184 Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………..185 6. The will to Educate and ‘Civilize’: Indian State's Efforts to educate its Adivasis 187 Introduction …………………………………………………………………….188 How education perpetuates distorted praxis and process? ………………….194 A short history of education in India 194 Education in Adivasi dominant regions of India ……………………………197 Pre-British colonial education in Chotanagpur and Kolhan ………………...197 British Colonial era 197 Post-British colonial period 199 Adivasi resistance to the will to educate and improve ……………………...201 The State's Elementary Education for Hos (JEP in Kolhan) ………………..202 Observations and insights from the field 205 Home-School Polarity 207 Ambivalence of violence arising from discrimination ……………………...208 Adivasis’ individual initiatives to overcome ambivalence of violence ……..211 4 Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………..215 7. General Conclusion 216 Important and immediate implications ………………………………………...219 Political Brahmanism or Indian elitism: chasing mirages 222 Adivasis and their sacral polity: an exercise of freedom ……………………226 Understanding Indian politics, the ambivalence of violence ………………..231 Sartrean framework for undoing ambivalence of violence 233 Violence arising out of human interrelatedness 234 Freedom defines human beings 235 Relevance for Indian situation 236 Possible strategies for solidarity and confrontation 239 After word : A short history of Adivasis’ Resistance in Kolhan and Jharkhand 243 Pre-British colonial attempts, and the Hos’ Independence 243 Post-independence district administration and KGE (munda-manki ) system 245 Colonial mode of exploitation, and the ‘civilizing’ missions 246 A historical sketch repression and Adivasis’ amazingly resilient resistance 249 Pre-British state formation and the churning among Kolarian Adivasis 249 British colonial intrusion, Subjugation, and Paternalism 251 Post-British colonial repression and Resistance 253 References 258 Appendices 297 5 Acknowledgements Kolhan in Jharkhand is my second home. As the anthropologist Felix Padel has said, the humour, cheerfulness, dances, and the beauty of the people, the landscape and streams drew him to Odisha, I too am drawn by them to Kolhan and Jharkhand. I am grateful to all my friends in Kolhan and Jharkhand for your openness, support, and acceptance that have greatly contributed to the making of this dissertation. It is my experience of your joys, struggles and aspirations that have provided me with inspiration and energy to undertake this Ph.D. research. This dissertation at the University of Gent (UGent) Belgium was made possible by a 34 months-long Erasmus Mundus (Eurindia) scholarship. I am grateful to this support. I also extent my sincere appreciation and gratitude for the support and help I have received from the coordinators of Eurindia scholarship both at UGent and at KTH Stockholm and others administering Eurindia project. Preparing this thesis would not have been possible without the support and guidance of many other people. First of all, my supervisor Koen Vlassenroot deserves special thanks. I wish to thank him for accepting me to be part of the Conflict and Research Group and for being my guide through every stage of this research. Thank you Koen for challenging, inspiring and guiding me through this journey. I also wish to thank my co-supervisor Anne Walraet for her constant support, encouragement and generous help. Special thanks to my friend and guide Bert Suykens for his critical comments, understanding support and important insights and guidance. Thank you Bert. I would like to thank the members of my PhD commission for taking the time to read through my work and to seat in my jury. My special thanks also go out to Barbara Verardo for her timely critical comments and insights. I am indebted to all my friends and respondents in the study villages in Kolhan, especially the ward members and others who helped me to carryout field surveys. Also my special thanks go to the director and staff at the Tribal 6 Research and Training Centre for providing me with accommodation, valuable library facility and arranging logistics to travel in Kolhan. Back at UGent, I wish to thank all my colleagues at the Conflict Research Group and the Department of Conflict and development Studies for their advice, feedback, critical reflections. Special thanks to KoenVanrumste, the secretary and librarian at the department, who has always been very helpful. Finally, I gratefully remember and thank my family, and Jesuit communities both in India and in Belgium for their constant support and encouragement to carry on with the work to its completion. Antony Puthumattathil Gent 2 April 2014 7 List of tables, figures, pictures and maps Table 1 – Basic information about the five study villages ......................................... 57 Table 2 – Literacy rates at (regional) state and national levels (Census 2011) ....... 108 Table 3 – Percentage share of social- groups in income categories ....................... 109 Table 4 – Land availability, food security, and population in Huringhatu (V2) ...... 164 Table 5 – Lineages wise land ownership ................................................................. 164 Table 6 – Unreported trials of land grab and resistance in Kolhan ......................... 174 Table 7 –
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