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Journalism of Courage
Spread across Bankura, Paschim Medinipur and Jhargram districts of West Bengal, the Kudmi population in the state is nearly 55 lakh with agriculture and animal husbandry being their primary occupation.
For the last five days, a large number of Kudmi people squatted on the rail tracks and roads to demand the community’s inclusion in the Scheduled Tribes list.
“This is a long-pending fight. Before Independence, our community was listed as Scheduled Tribes (STs). In 1950, the government issued a notification giving the ST status to 12 tribal communities except us. We were included in the OBC list. Now, many more communities have been given ST status. There are 43 communities in West Bengal that have ST status, except us. Therefore, we are fighting for our identity,” said Sanjay Mahato, joint secretary, Adivasi Kudmi Samaj Central Committee.
At Khemasuli railway station in Paschim Medinipur district, bordering Jharkhand, a stream of people from the community kept pouring at the protest site as their leaders spoke from a makeshift dais erected on one side of the road.
“Our people have come to Khemasuli from faraway villages in Salboni, Keshiari to take part in the protest. We have set up food camps to prepare food. For the last five days, we have been cooking food for about 25,000 people daily,” a community leader said.
For Kudmis, this was not new. Last September, they had organised similar protests and blocked road and rail traffic. Then, too, their protests continued for several days – 123 hours – paralysing the railway services.
“We are being deprived of the benefits that people belonging to the STs get despite we have the same tribal characteristics as them. If 43 such communities are on the ST list, then why not us,” asked Jhiri Hiri Mahato standing at the protest site as she lifted her axe upward.
According to a Kudmi leader, the TMC government had sent a letter to the Centre, demanding the inclusion of Kudmi communities in the ST list. A Bill was also passed in the Assembly.
“The criteria for ST status are primitive traits, distinctive culture, backwardness, geographical isolation, and shyness of contact with the large community. While the West Bengal Government had approved the first three criteria in 2016 and gave no objection, the Central government had sought further comments and justification, which is still pending. Apparently, the state government is not replying to the Centre in the correct format. We want the state government to clear its stand on our issue,” said Dharmendra Mahato, who has been taking part in the protest for the last five days
Notably, the backward community play a decisive role in every election in the tribal-dominated Junglemahal districts of Paschim Medinipur, Jhargram, Bankura and Purulia. In the 2018 panchayat elections, the BJP had captured power in 100 panchayats and won five out of the six Lok Sabha seats in the regions dominated by Kudmis and tribals. But the BJP suffered a setback in the 2021 Assembly polls with the party winning only 16 of the 40 seats in the tribal belt.
