1945-1947 revolt of the adivasis of the Thana Dist., Maharashtra, against the landlords; experiences of a member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist)

Adivasi movements played a very important, if not determining, role in the India’s freedom struggle. Gandhi’s idea of mass mobilization couldn’t have been successful without the active participation of all sections of the Indian society. Adivasi movements were swelled by Gandhian ideology only during the Non-Cooperation movement. Though Gandhi’s interest in the tribal problems crystallized at a later stage of his life, his influence on tribal movements was revealing. His association with Thakkar Bapa and Verrier Elwin also enriched his knowledge about tribal state of affairs. Adivasis started looking at Gandhi as saviour or a saint, who could deliver them justice and peace. But, Gandhi always supported Adivasi movements in order to give a mass character to his movements. There were some particular demands of the Adivasis that were not supported by Gandhi. Their armed struggle was also against his non-violent principles. During the latter half of the twentieth century, movements like Tana Bhagat and Hari Baba were purely influenced by the Gandhian ideology, but failed to achieve their goals. Later on, the Jharkhand movement adopted the character of a non-violent struggle; here also the fruits disappeared. The present work focuses on the first three movements of the Chota Nagpur Plateau of eastern India during Gandhi’s lifetime and the current movements against forceful displacement by POSCO, Vedanta and others, in order to comprehend his ideological impact on Adivasi movements of today. The book has critically analysed and evaluated Gandhi’s impact on the Adivasi situation in colonial and post-colonial India. Please note: Taylor & Francis does not sell or distribute print edition in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

The Adivasis are indigenous peoples and are believed to be the first inhabitants of India. Adivasis have distinct languages, religions and forms of self-government, together with a deep bond to their land and respect for nature. However, India has ignored their demands to be recognized as indigenous and – as this Report demonstrates – taken steps which threaten the Adivasis’ very survival. Adivasis’ traditional homelands have been taken for industrialization; for coal, forest and mineral exploitation; for tourism developments; and for nature and wildlife parks. This ‘internal colonization’ has combined with the forces of globalization to forcibly displace Adivasis from their territories, and to ensure that while 85 per cent of Adivasis live in poverty, they receive little or none of the wealth extracted from their land. While discussing these India-wide issues, The Adivasis of India also explores the situation in three specific regions: Jharkhand, the Blue Mountains region and the North-East region. Here the Adivasis’ increasingly effective methods of campaigning and organizing to demand their rights are discussed, alongside the Indian state’s often violent and brutal responses to these movements. The Adivasis of India, written by activists on Adivasi issues, provides a full, yet accessible, historical and legal context to the Adivasis’ claims and to the Indian state’s policy developments towards Adivasis. Both are analysed and their practical implementation discussed. The Report is illustrated with several maps and tables. The Adivasis of India concludes with a call for an end to state violence and discrimination, and for a recognition and granting of the Adivasis’ rights. This is backed by a set of recommendations which could help protect Adivasis’ human rights and promote peaceful coexistence, meaningful development and equality for all. Please note that the terminology in the fields of minority rights and indigenous peoples’ rights has changed over time. MRG strives to reflect these changes as well as respect the right to self-identification on the part of minorities and indigenous peoples. At the same time, after over 50 years’ work, we know that our archive is of considerable interest to activists and researchers. Therefore, we make available as much of our back catalogue as possible, while being aware that the language used may not reflect current thinking on these issues.

This work deciphers how subalternity is both constituted and contested through state-society relations in India's Bhil heartland. At the core of the book lies a concern with understanding the dialectics of power and resistance that give form and direction to the political economy of democracy and development in contemporary India.

Study on the educational work of the Talasari Mission in Talasari Taluka, Maharashtra.

Gandhi was the creator of a radical style of politics that has proved effective in fighting insidious social divisions within India and elsewhere in the world. How did this new form of politics come about? David Hardiman shows that it was based on a larger vision of an alternative society, one that emphasized mutual respect, resistance to exploitation, nonviolence, and ecological harmony.

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Born in the cradle of upper-middle-class privilege in a Mumbai Parsi household and educated at one of India’s finest schools, KOBAD GHANDY’S life and career could have scaled heights in the bustling world of corporate finance. Only it did not. Instead, he chose to become an activist working for the oppressed of the country. Shocked by the racism he witnessed in the UK as a student and learning of the horrors of colonial rule in India, he determined to serve those struck the harshest by the cruel inequalities of his country. Fractured Freedom takes you through the journey of an honest man and his partner, Anuradha’s, to a difficult destiny. Here is the story of two people who dedicated their lives in the service of the marginalized, and who believed that true revolution required direct action for a more human and just society. Part memoir, part prison diary, Ghandy bares it all looking back at their lives, love, loss and politics, so intrinsically tied together. Having languished in Indian prisons for over a decade, he tells of his long incarceration, of his fellow prisoners, and of the Kafkaesque experiences with the Indian legal system. This is the candid and unfiltered account of how an unjust system breaks the brave and bold-hearted. A story of life in extremes – the height of privilege and the depth of despair, a story of our times, of a path many would shy away from.