The paradox of indigeneity

Abstract

This article, based on a study conducted in a tea plantation of Upper Assam, documents and analyses the struggle for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status by the Adivasis in Assam, which is linked to a larger demand for indigeneity and tribal recognition in the state and in the Northeast. It examines the nature of this struggle in recent times through both its contestations of indigeneity and claims upon citizenship by drawing on personal narratives and interviews with activists and workers of Adivasi students’ organisations and tea workers’ unions who have been in the forefront of this struggle.

Educating the ‘Adivasis’: Understanding Ekal Vidyalayas Inside the Tea Gardens of Assam

“…The Adivasis were brought as Coolies 2 after tea was discovered in Assam in 1826 (Kalita et al, 2022;Sharma, 2011;Sharma & Khan, 2018). Its discovery allowed the imperialists to break China's monopoly over tea by establishing the Assam Company in London in 1839 (Behal & Mohapatra, 1992;Sharma, 2009Sharma, , 2011.…”

“…Perhaps this lacuna in information was responsible for the surprise that the wider world felt when, in the two assembly elections of 2016 and 2021, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) swept to victory in Assam. The tea garden workers broke their decades-long support of the Indian National Congress to unambiguously vote for the BJP (Press Trust of India, 2021; Sharma & Khan, 2018). Reports suggest that the massive BJP support from the tea garden regions has a lot to do with the rapid growth of Ekal Vidyalayas, which have been resiliently working in the tribal and tea gardens of Assam for over two decades now (Bhattacharyya, 2019; Singh, 2021).…”

Elusive identities, enduring demands: the Haatis’ struggle for recognition in the trans-Giri region, Himachal Pradesh

“…The Haatis' current demand can be likened to the struggle by South Asian groups for constitutional recognition as STs: for instance, the Adivasi groups who were uprooted and resettled in Assam and who are currently demanding recognition as 'tea tribes' (Misra 2007, Sharma andKhan 2018) or tribal status in Darjeeling (Chhetri 2017, 2023, Middleton 2011. These demands can be contrasted with the mobilisation of generic castes such as the Jats in Haryana (Jaffrelot andKalaiyarasan 2019, Kumar 2021).…”