State Policy and Tribal Movements in Tripura 1948 2017

Abstract

This thesis is an attempt to trace the historical path of the socio-economic transformation in newline the State of Tripura, and understand it from the perspective of public action. In the recent newline past, the state has had significant achievements on the development front, namely education, newline land reforms, democratic decentralisation and the control of violent insurgency. Tripura s newline achievements in these fronts have been the outcome of public action- through mass struggles newline in the form of tribal movement and State action. We know from the sketchy literature on the newline subject that the role of tribal movement was pivotal in the achievements of Tripura with newline regard to public action in the form of mass movement. Specifically, the role of organisations newline like the Ganamukti Parishad (GMP) on the issue of land and political autonomy was newline instrumental. However, what appears not emphasised in the available literature is that, among newline tribal movements in the north-east, it was only in Tripura that the tribal movements had a newline strong agrarian as well as a class character. Tribal movement in Tripura attempted to newline safeguard and promote the rights of tribal people as well as forge a political unity between newline tribal and non-tribal people. In addition, a proactive State enacted laws and implemented newline policies to protect the social, economic, political and cultural interests of tribal people. newline Using secondary sources in Bangla, other secondary sources, archives and interviews, this newline research attempts to historically document and analyse the history of tribal movement and the newline role of State action in Tripura from 1948 to 2017. It studies the role of organisations like newline GMP in this movement and the link between tribal movement and State power, and explores newline the class dimensions of the tribal movement in Tripura. newline Evidence from 19 th century princely Tripura questions the notion of Indian and north-east newline tribes as homogenous and undifferentiated communities practising subsistence economy and newline lacking exploitation and social conflicts. The unique aspect of princely Tripura s social order newline was not merely the development of class and class relations, but a social order having both an newline ethnic dimension (tribal versus non-tribal) and class dimension. newline A distinctive feature of the GMP s movement during the 1948 revolt was that it saw the tribal newline people as part of peasantry who shared common agrarian exploitation. This arose from the newline fact that class was an important factor in its movement. While rapid immigration from the newline time of the partition of India altered the state s demography significantly and impacted tribal newline xlands, appropriation of lands by tribals has also become a phenomenon due to class formation newline among tribes in Tripura. Looking at the concrete features that constituted land reforms and newline the process of its implementation, it argues that these reforms played an important role in newline proving relief to peasantry and protection of tribal land. Examining the different approaches newline to the autonomy movement in Tripura, it concludes that the approach having sole focus on newline identity and ethnicity could not take the tribal movement far; a branch of it took to armed newline insurgency which adversely affected both tribal and non-tribal people. On the contrary, the newline approach which advocated a united struggle of tribal and non-tribal people achieved concrete newline gains for the tribal people. newline