Agitation against Lambadas is for Adivasis' self-respect: Kumaram Sonerao

Pedda Doba (Kumarambheem Asifabad): In the wake of the Adivasi agitation demanding that the state and central governments remove the Lambadas from the Scheduled Tribes (ST) list, Deccan Chronicle interviewed Kumaram Sonerao, grandson of the legendary Adivasi, Kumaram Bheem, to get his take on Adivasis, their rights, and problems.

This reporter visited Pedda Doba village in Sirpur (U) mandal in Kumarambheem Asifabad district where Sonerao’s family has been living for a long time. Excerpts from the interview:

How do you look at the ongoing Adivasi agitation against the Lambadas?
There is a strong feeling among the Adivasis that an Adivasi upsurge will take place once every 40 years to counter the exploitation meted out to us. The Jodeghat incident led by late Kumaram Bheem took place in 1940 and later Indravelli massacre in 1981, and now agitation against the Lambadas which is a self-respect movement.

What is your assessment after addressing the massive public meeting in Hyderabad?
The Hyderabad meeting raised my hopes that we will succeed in removing the Lambadas from the Scheduled Tribes. Janalkun chudsi velle santhosham Atha… Lambadakun thendval inke wakath watha (Translation from Gondi: Lakhs of Adivasis participated and raised their voices against the injustice they are being meted out at the hands of Lambadas)

I was addressing such a huge crowd for the first time in my life and I promised to carry forward my grandfather Kumaram Bheem’s mission for Adivasi rights on jal, jangal, jameen (water, forest and land), and the fight against the Lambadas, so that our future generations have a better future.

My responsibility has increased manifold in carrying forward my grandfather's unfulfilled mission after attending the self-respect meeting in Hyderabad. It has inspired me a lot.

Lambadas have cornered all the education and employment opportunities, welfare sche-mes and other benefits meant for the tribals after being illegally incl-uded by the backdoor during the Emergency in 1976.

Has the state government extended any help to your family?
Yes, but it was meagre and did not fulfil all the promises Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao gave in the past. KCR promised to give Rs 10 lakh as financial assistance, government jobs to my two educated children, a double bedroom house and 10 acres of land.

So far, Rs 10 lakh has been given and my daughter Varalakshmi has got a job in the education department as a junior assistant. My son Madhavrao is waiting for a job. I have five children.

Do you have any personal experiences about Lambada domination that the Adivasis are claiming?
The local Adivasis had never allowed the Lambadas and Mathuras to settle in their Pedda Doba gram panchayat for a long time. In other places, they succeeded in influencing the local Adivasis and settled there.

The Lambada teachers give fewer marks to Adivasi students and even failed them. They can identify the Adivasi students or ‘Koyathur’ by their saga (group names within Adivasis) such as Soyam, Sidam, Kumra, Kanaka, Atram and so on, which are different from theirs.

There were huge migrations of Lambadas into Adilabad from bordering Maharashtra after 1976 to claim ST status and they also got agency certificates wile staying in plains areas like local Adivasis. Thus the Lambadas cornered jobs in the police and revenue, health and education departments in Telangana state.

What is your future course of action as far as agitation against the Lambadas is concerned?
Adivasis are peace loving but they will not tolerate exploitation in any form and will fight tooth and nail to protect their rights. The present agitation is also an identity movement in the newly formed Telangana state.

There was not a single violent incident reported in the last two months during our agitation. We will reciprocate in the same tone and tenor of our opponents.

Some Adivasi children are in higher education and are well qualified but they are not getting jobs as the Lambadas get the jobs through fraudulent means. Adivasis have never encouraged such corrupt practices; it is against the Adivasi value system.

The Lambada migration was high as you can see from the Census reports from 1961 to 2011.