Some time ago Mr K. L. Mehta remarked to me: 'Unless we are clear in our minds about what we are trying to do, unless, in fact, we have a philosophy behind all our activities, we may do.
more harm than good with the money and labour we spend'. This remark has inspired me to write down what I conceive to be the 'philosophy' which inspires, or should inspire, what we are trying to do in the North-East Frontier Agency of India.
In the two years since this hook was first written there has not only been remarkable and exciting progress in implementing this policy, but the philosophy itself, especially as it applies to the tribal councils, tribal jurisprudence, the practice of shifting cultivation (jhuming), the development of arts and crafts and the adaptation of local architectural designs, has been more fully worked out. When I first wrote I was frankly doubtful whether the policy I described would work. During the past two years, guided by the deep wisdom and concern for the common man of Mr S. Fazl Ali, Governor of Assam, it has become clear that it can and does work under the right leadership, and I now have every hope that 'the rich and varied tapestry of NEFA' will not only preserve its lovely traditional colour and pattern, but that its material and techniques will be enriched,
As Adviser for Tribal Affairs, I am not technically a Government servant and this has made it possible for me to study the work of the NEFA Administration with some objectivity. This study has made me very proud of my association with it, and I have described it with an enthusiasm which might he considered inappropriate if I was in a different position. Mr K. L. Mehta, at present Adviser to the Governor of Assam, and I came to NEFA at the same time, and this has meant that for nearly five years I have had the happiness of working with him and enjoying his friendship. It is not too much to say that had he not been here, it would have been impossible to have worked out this philosophy even on paper, still less to implement it in the field. His singularly sensitive mind, so quick to grasp every aspect of a tribal problem; his realistic approach; his adventurous and pioneering spirit; his unusual sympathy and compassion; and his sincere affection for the tribal people and enthusiasm for their cause have made him the best of counsellors and have put him among those who will be remembered by history as one of the great administrators of the tribal areas.
In the revision of this book I have also been inspired by discussions and even controversies (for to the scientist disagreement is the breath of life) with many of the officers of NEFA, and in particular I would express my gratitude for the help given me by Mr D. M. Sen, the distinguished jurist who is now Legal Adviser, and to Mr P. B. Kar, Director of Forests, in the NEFA Administration.
In his Foreword to the First Edition-the Prime Minister expressed the wish that the reading of the book would not be confined to the officers of NEFA but would have a wider audience and that its broad approach would be applied to the other tribal people in India. I have therefore, in this second edition, tried to make my story more intelligible to readers in general by adding all introductory chapter about the people and administrative set-up of NEFA, and have given fuller treatment to many of the subjects I have discussed. There are some twenty million hill and tribal people in India and, though every area has its special problems, I believe that the example of what the Governor of Assam recently described as 'a model tribal administration' might well inspire the psychological approach, the techniques of development and the general 'philosophy' of officials and social workers operating in other parts of the Indian tribal world.
I have called myself a missionary of Mr Nehru's gospel and it is from that point of view that I have approached the many problems facing us. I did not come to tribal India (now exactly twenty-seven years ago) from a school of anthropology, but from Gandhiji's ashram at Sevagram. I have always, I am afraid, been a very bad 'Gandhi man', but I have never forgotten some of the lessons he taught me. One of these was that, in his own words, 'we must approach the poor with the mind of the poor' so too we must approach the tribesman with the mind of the tribesman. Another was the importance of simplicity: I saw something of Gandhiji's work in the villages of Gujarat where he based everything on the local economy, worked through local institutions, avoided luxurious and unnecessary innovations, and concentrated everything on a few fundamental and essential needs. And yet another lesson was the importance of the individual. The tribal folk are not 'specimens', 'types' or 'cases'; they are people; they are human beings exactly like ourselves in all fundamental ways. We are part of them and they are part of us; there is no difference. They live under special conditions; they have developed along certain special lines; they have their own outlook and ways of doing things. But the ultimate human needs, aspirations, loves and fears are exactly the same as ours.
With this background, I have tried to apply Mr Nehru's humane and scientific ideals to concrete situations. To do this loyally and intelligently is, I believe, the chief source of hope for the people of NEFA and indeed for all the tribal people of India.
Hindu (935)
Agriculture (118)
Ancient (1086)
Archaeology (753)
Architecture (563)
Art & Culture (910)
Biography (702)
Buddhist (544)
Cookery (167)
Emperor & Queen (565)
Islam (242)
Jainism (307)
Literary (896)
Mahatma Gandhi (372)
Send as free online greeting card
Email a Friend
Manage Wishlist