Champion of tribal rights,not Maoists mediator

If this creates any impression that he is soft towards the ultra-Left,the former collector of undivided Bastar dismisses the very notion that he is even mediating for the ultra-Left. Fellow negotiator Professor G Haragopal,too,says the expression Maoists mediator displays ignorance about the issues.

I am not their mediator, Sharma tells The Indian Express. They only requested me to negotiate on the issue. I do not belong to one party. We are here for the people. The negotiations and the outcome reflect the concerns of both parties.

Few can command the wide respect Sharma does among both parties. He had recently mediated during the abduction of two Italian tourists in Orissa,too. Author of many books including Unbroken History of Broken Promises,he is known both for his work for tribal rights and for following Gandian ideals. After retiring as the ST commissioner,he would travel second class and,when his ticket was not reserved,would often sleep in the aisles.

Given his age,Sharma shows an energy that would do many younger men proud. In the scorching heat of Chintalnar,Sukma,where young journalists were dehydrated nearly to the point of fainting,the octogenarian walked deep into the forests,showing not a sign of discomfort.

When I was the collector,my mother once complained to the commissioner that her son would go deep inside the forests without security cover, he says. I never needed any security to visit my district.

As a young collector in the late 1960s,he got over 500 men who had come from outside to work in Bastar,including contractors and NDMC employees,married to tribal girls with whom they had been accused of having illicit relations. That was among the first solutions he invented for issues affecting tribals. This brought me instant fame and notoriety too. Everyone remembers me for that.

The stint in Bastar,which when undivided was larger than Kerala,saw him travel extensively between Dandakaranya and Abujhmaad and familiarised him with tribal concerns.

His biggest achievement as the collector,he says,was reining in liquor traders. I found liquor being sold with freedom despite complaints and objections by tribals. Despite all resistance from above,I put them under the control of gram sabhas. The income from excise fell from Rs 1 crore to 20 lakh that year.

In the early 1970s,he went on a Central deputation. When he returned as tribal secretary of Madhya Pradesh,he took on the government over the setting up of 15 paper mills in the region,which he felt would destroy tribal life. He resigned in protest against the multi-crore project and later joined the North Eastern Hill University as vice chancellor.

As SC and ST commissioner,a post from which he retired in 1991,he managed to bring about changes in tribal policies of various governments.

After his retirement,he formed the Bharat Jan Andolan to address grievances of the marginalised and has been in the forefront of opposition to anti-people projects from Posco in Orissa to the Narmada dam. He also sat on a fast demanding implementation of the Bhuria Committee recommendations for greater rights to tribals. He now demands 25 per cent ownership for locals in large projects.

And he keeps throwing challenges at the government. In a July 2010 letter to the President,the Prime Minister,the Finance Minister and the Home Minister,he mentioned the virtual collapse of the constitutional regime for the tribal people while being attacked and suppressed in a war-like situation. Inviting them to visit areas witnessing Constitutional crisis,he wrote,I am constrained to state at this critical phase of the history of tribal people that the Union Government is guilty of abdicating its constitutional responsibility by allowing the situation to degenerate from that of stray revolts in 1960s to a warlike situation at the moment. It has remained unconcerned with the simmering discontent from day one with the adoption of the Constitution.

He is yet to get a reply.

What is his next move following the collectors release? There are many such problems in India. The country is facing constitutional crises over many issues. I will have to look there too.