'The Elephant Doctor' story in Malayalam was not just the translation of my story written in Tamil, but it was a re-creation. It is 30% longer than the original. A part of that story, had become a debate immediately after it was released. There were abuses as well. In that story, the mindset of Malayalis about the forest, was strongly pointed out.
Forests have been colonial dominated lands in Kerala.( Kerala’s forests have been facing colonization for a long time). The word, 'Kaadu', the Malayalam word for forest, itself is generally used in negative Connotation in Malayalam. The lack of control in/over (one's use of) language is referred to ‘kadukerudal’ in Malayalam.
Getting ruined is referred to ‘becoming forest’. All forest related idioms and phrases in Malayalam portray the forest with fear and loathing. One could observe that the mental state of a Malayalee entering the forest is that of a rapist. They howl, they swear, would go on rampage and wreck things. The story 'Yaanai Doctor' (The Elephant Doctor) points this out.
In the Malayalam version, the Elephant Doctor refers to such Malayalis who enter the forest with the word 'Chetragal' (roughly translates to scoundrel), in the sense of 'uncultured' and ‘depraved’. Many, vehemently opposed the usage of that word. I think that the Elephant Doctor wouldn’t have used any other word for them. This is something that I have realized through direct experience and I also have been writing about such acts for 20 years. In most of my Kerala travelogues, I have written about this.
It is undeniable that in recent years, the Kerala Forest Department has reformed forest administration to a great extent. However, for the average Malayali mind, the forests and all its associations are - 'cheap'; deserve only to be Subjugated and vandalized.
In recent years, the state that has seen highest level of forest destruction in India is Kerala. The state that was full of dense forests is left with very few forests today. Even the remaining forest areas would have many encroachments. amidst dense forests, atop hillocks, we could see very big tourist resorts and Christian Institutions.
One would wonder on what basis these lands were legalized. It is only because Kerala receives excessive rains that the forests are not destroyed completely and have not become bare mountains like that of Tamil Nadu.
Kerala’s general psychology could be compared to the colonial superiority complex of the British. On one side, merciless vandalization and subjugation. On the other side, the opposition & sorrow of the intellectuals and the sensitive ones who are against it. The first category is a big mob without any cultural evolution. Unconnected to them is a small second category, of a group of artistes, litterateurs and intellectuals.
It is in Kerala where dissenting voice related to environment was heard first, in the Indian intellectual arena. The 1981 debutant journal Soochimukhi had created a movement for environmental preservation and that had a very good influence among the thinkers of Kerala. John C Jacob (Sometimes referred as ‘JohnC’/'Johnsi'?) was its founder. The SEEK [Society for environment education of Kerala] founded by him, was a good start.
The intellects had tremendously attempted to change the general view the Malayalis had about the forest. All the frontline poets of Malayalam had written poems that presented new perception of forest. Ayyappa Panicker's ‘Kadevide Makkale?’, Kadammanitta Ramakrishnan's ‘Kurathi’ and ‘kattalan’ ( I have translated this into Tamil ), Sugathakumari's poems and many such literature were written.
The first major protest to protect environment, rose in 1981 to save the Silent Valley, with the leadership of Sugathakumari and Prof. M.K.Prasad. Later, environmental protest against Mavoor paper mills was carried in 1984, led by Adreyi (K.A. Abdul Rahman). There has been a tradition of protests to save Western Ghats and tribal rights, as well. I had taken part in couple of such protests in the capacity of a worker.
But the other side is shameful. If you watch the latest movie Puli Murugan, you would know this. It's a movie against all environmental causes filled only with stupidity. In fact, while watching that movie I felt disgust about Kerala. The story line is about the protagonist who chases and kills all terror tigers. When a tiger dies, the audience enthralled with claps, like watching a wicket fall in Cricket. Those audience do not know about the environmentalist and poets of Kerala. Even if they know, they don't care. This is the duality of current situation in Kerala.
The historical back ground of this, is something one should ponder upon. Robbing of Kerala’s forests had started in in early 1850s. Nearly 80% of Kerala's land were forests then. The British found that huge estates of Tea, Coffee and Rubber could be established there. They laid roads to cross the mountains. Labours were brought from outside and settled. Majority of them were Tamilians/Tamils.
In principle, most forests belonged to Kings and Temples. Tribes had rights and duties in Kerala's temples. They had to perform certain rituals to honour the Kings. Once in a year, the tribes would come down from the mountains, perform these rituals and go back. Otherwise, there was no major relation for tribes to Kerala's mainstream culture.
After 1900, to increase the revenue from land tax, The British and Thiruvithamkoor (Travancore) Governments encouraged colonization of forests. Those who destroy forests and 'culture' it into agricultural lands were given complete ownership over those forest lands. Most of the towns in the districts of Idukki, Malappuram and Thiruvananthapuram seen today have originated just during that time.
Destroying the forest and colonizing it, was celebrated in literature as acts of bravery and sacrifice. S.K.Pottekkatt's novel Vishakanyaka is an example (This is available in Tamil). In that novel, forest has been symbolized as Vishakanyaka - a poisonous lady. It is beautiful and poisonous. The story line was about taming and conquering that. At least 100 Malayalam Novels were written with similar theme during those days.
Majority of the colonial farmers are Christians. They are a community that exists in Kerala since 4th Century CE. After 14th Century their population increased in coastal areas. They were merchants in water ways. When road ways increased, they turned towards agriculture. They needed more and more agricultural lands.
Land ownership in Kerala, during that time, was completely with only 3 categories. Brahmins, Temples and Kings. The lands owned by them were respectively called as Brahmhaswom, Devaswom and Rajaswom. But those lands were on the hands of Nayars by use. New lands had to be discovered. It is at that situation they expanded towards borders. The wetlands and forest land at the edge of forests had become farmlands. During British rule, roads were laid across the forests. When transportation emerged, they spread themselves into forests. They destroyed the forests and created plantation estates.
After the Independence of India, Dam projects were implemented in dense forests. More and people moved to forests and settled there. Towns emerged; estates grown. All these were lands of Tribal. They were forced to move further, to farther interior forests. They became slave labours. Then, when forests became 'reserved forests' for wild life, they were forced out to towns and villages. They have been mercilessly vandalized for centuries. They have been destroyed to non-existent by famous political conscience of Malayalis.
In Kerala's politics, in the last 70 years, one of the principal demands that has always been there, is to give Patta for the colonial farmers. i.e., Giving legal rights to the forest lands illegally occupied by them. The Governments formed alternatively by Both Congress and Leftists had been implementing this continuously. This is still happening - till this year. Election manifestos of all political parties would carry this promise always.
The state level political party 'Kerala Congress' was created just for this purpose of getting rights over the occupied lands. At one side it is backed up and positioned by the Churches. On the other side it is hailed by liquor merchants, fishery exporters and landlords of massive farms. Everyone know that this is a party that of forest hunters. Based on needs, this part would split in to two; one would associate with Congress and another one with Communists. Without the support of them, no one has ever formed Government in Kerala in the past 60 years. Hence, legal destruction of forest is a part of Kerala's politics.
After the 1972 International environment conference (1972 UN Conference on Human Environment?), the Central Government took policy decision to protect forests. This caused a situation wherein no more forest lands could be occupied. Soon, a new political business emerged in Kerala to create forgery documents for newly occupied forestlands as if they were in use since 1950s. And this business has been flourishing for 30 years now. Large portions of such occupied lands belong to politicians. After 1990s, establishing tourism centers has joined in this business, in addition to the farming.
These are visible things. There are huge ganja plantations inside Kerala forests that are generally not seen. 10 years back when Sugathakumari tried to visit Ganja plantations, she was attacked and sent back. Those ganja plantations are functioning like separate monarchies. Tribal’ are working as slaves there. If you stand in any Ghat section of Kerala, you could see tribal’ taken in lorries to work in these plantations. Ganja is primary farm substance in deciding Kerala's economy. There is no party which does not have share in it.
Another group of penetrators into these mountain forests are small scale Muslims merchants. There were only few landlords among them. In 1950s they moved from Malappuram region to hill areas to open shops in mountains. Slowly and steadily, they have grown along with the growth of the hill areas and has become a strong group of businessmen. Now, they run resorts and hotels. For that, they are destroying forests in a big way. They have accumulated themselves as one of the political sides.
In the politics of Kerala's mountains, there are 3 empowered groups. One group is, the party of the colonial farmers i.e., Kerala Congress and Indian National Congress together, another one is that of Muslim League-which is a party of Muslim merchants and parties with Wahhabism agenda such as PDP and the third one is that of the plantation workers i.e., Communist party. There is no political organization for the tribal’ and Tamil labours who are also living in similar conditions of tribal’.
Indian Government's policies on tribal’ were created with the influence of Verrier Elwin who learnt about tribal by living with them. The British Government's policy was to remove tribal’ from forest, forcefully civilize them and when not possible, oppress them. In contrast, Verrier advocated that the tribal habitation and culture should be preserved, and they should be given rights for the same. Indian Tribal welfare policies were created according to his vision. Indian Constitution Article #244-Section 5 & 6 are confirming those rights.
But, in majority of states, the Governments formed after Independence did not care for those rights. Because, by then, it was already 50 years since people colonized forests and had become established communities of farmers and merchants. The votes of them were a deciding factor in Government formation. Hence their well-being was protected by priority.
On observing tribal’ being exploited continuously, Central Government formed Dhebar commission [Dhebar commission report 1961] and examined their state of affairs and rights. The Dhebar Commission report confirmed that the land of tribal’ has been grabbed from them. This created strong pressure on the State Governments. In the research conducted by ITDP (Integrated Tribal Development Project), it was found that, in 1960s, at least 10,000 hectares of tribal land were given Patta in Attappadi alone. It was also observed that this conversion was done by both left-wing and right-wing Governments of the state, in their alternative terms.
Thanks to such pressure created on State, the Kerala Govt. has passed an act in assembly, namely Kerala Private Forest (Vesting & Assignment) Act, 1971. But this was just eyewash, because on the other hand, issuing Pattas to the already occupied forest lands continued. After the protests, that pointed out the gaps and insufficiency of that 1971 act, next act was passed in 1975. That was KST Act, 1975 [Kerala scheduled Tribes (Restriction on Transfer and Restoration of Alienated Land) Act, 1975]. These acts were created by C. Achutha Menon (CPI) who is considered as one of the best Chief Ministers of Kerala, despite the strong opposition by the Congress which was in the coalition.
But this 1975 act was not implemented. In 1990, C.K. Janu started her protest seeking to implement this act. Initially she protested while being a member of Marxist Communist Party. After realizing that, in exploiting the tribal’, Congress and Communist parties are one and the same, she quit the party. That protest was started against coalition Government's attempt to make amendments to the act which would dilute the law. Tribal organizations like Adivasi Vimosana Front and Adivasi Gothra Mahasabha had come together. When it to the light that 157 tribal’ have died of starving in 2001, in Kannanur district, the protest that was alive for 55 days, created waves across the Kerala.
From the beginning of 1990 multiple different levels of protests were conducted. If we see the amendments done following those protests, one thing would be clear. The left-wing and right-wing Governments have always been trying to ditch the tribal’ legally. For instance, the 1995 amendment brought by the Leftist Government said that if a piece of occupied land of tribal’ is less than or equal to 5 acres, it can be given to the occupant. In the denomination of 5 acres, any amount of land could be given away, even if they together sum up to several thousand acres.
The protests happened at multiple levels have come to an end with the Muthanga protest which had begun in 19th Feb 2003. The protest under unified leadership of tribal groups was controlled & suppressed by violence. C.K. Janu was arrested. Through extreme repression tribal voices were bulldozed by Congress Government which had formed with the support of Kerala Congress and Muslim League. Around 1100 tribal’ were prisoned. One, named Jogi was killed. There are cases being prosecuted against Tribal’ till date. [ This information is from an article of Geethanandan who is one of the guides of tribal protests].
Tribal’ are being brought out of forest and made to reside in slum like residentials created by the Government. They don’t have another opportunity than becoming koolie labours (daily wages) for a living. They no longer have any rights on the forest lands. They can't live in the way they lived naturally in the forests. They are not mentally prepared to do Koolie work. They are being oppressed badly. Murdering and raping tribal’ are quite common. In an interview, Geethanand mentioned that the number of people murdered till 2002 in Attappadi was 120 and no one was punished for that.
The Communist Government that followed, didn't do anything either. The tribal protests have almost stopped now. In debates, Congress and Communists would lists the acts and amendments they brought in favour of tribal’. But in reality, nothing has happened.
Organized by C.K. Janu, there were continuous protests in places like Ambukuthi, Kolukkumalai, Panavally and சீங்ஙேரி. The demands of tribal’ were very simple ones. They demanded that the land that Central Government agreed as their land, should be recovered from the occupants and given back to them in the level that each gets at least 5 acres. They also demanded, their rights to collect honey & similar things in the forests, should be made legal rights. Kerala Government is ready to negotiate anything but these demands.
Because, Kerala Government formation is typically decided by a small margin of 4-5 M.L.A.'. The colonial farmers and the merchants in mountains are a political force who controls 15 M.L.A. seats. Tribal’ don't have a number to decide even a single Panchayat Counselor anywhere. This is a violence that representative politics of Democracy comes with.
Recently, the hill area Tamils in Kerala have protested in big way - with complete boycott of all political parties, having only their women in the forefront. They neither allowed rightwing or leftwing political parties to join their protests. This would make us understand political stance prevailing there.
There are many pseudo wellfare concerns in this. Only when the colonial farmers and such occupants are extracted from forest for making 'reserved' forests, leftist and other protestors would come forward to protest. They would claim they are protesting for the welfare of tribal’ - which is not true.
A battalion of intellectuals are deployed today to create a picture that, all the sufferings of tribal’ are only due to reserve forests. Reserve forests are not against the tribal’. If 10% of illegally occupied lands are acquired and given back to tribal’, plus permit them to collect things in the reserved forests, the problem will be solved. But they won't allow this to happen.
It is in this context; this lynching has happened. This is just a fraction of violence happening daily in those areas. If Madhu hasn't died, this news would not have come outside. Madhu is a tribal man. It is not easy for him to come out of that psychological state. He had been living in the rock slits. He had his meals by gathering edibles. As part of that, he had occasionally taken a fist full of rice or few supari nuts or a coconut. In his world, it was collecting the food - It was not stealing.
See the video footage of him being attacked by them. After tying his hands together, they have taken selfies with him. They were laughing and teasing him. Slowly they have beaten him to death. He couldn't speak. He was not even able to beg them. It was celebration for them. It is not the anger or feeling of loss that had come out. Their prosperity is exhibited in that video. The cost of one-time meal is not at all a matter to them. He was just a prey for them.
For past 50 years, they have been reducing the tribal’ by such killings. They have been reduced by extracting them from their land, by spreading diseases, by creating restrictions to sell the products they collect, by giving least price for their products, by corrupting in their welfare schemes, by stealing and selling the ration allocated to them and by making them slave labours in Ganja plantations. This lynching is nothing but an icon of that mass destruction.
In this case, other co-accused side was not arrested. Madhu was inside the forest. The people who helped the shop owner to identify Madhu and taken them inside the forest to capture him were none other than the Forest Department personnel. They are not arrested till date (until this article was written).
What would be the outcome of this case? 16 people were arrested. They are charged under very strong IPC sections. As a rare scenario, two sides that usually go on a rampage of forests are not part of the state Government. That is the sole reason how even these arrests were possible today. The political parties of Muslims already started saying this action is against Muslims.
Kerala politicians are continuously saying that Madhu was mentally challenged. He was brutally assaulted and then handed over to police. He collapsed in the police jeep and gave statement in the hospital before stopping his breath. In the statement, he had mentioned the names of Hussain, Mathachan, Manu, Abdul Rahman, Abdul Latheef, Abdul Kareem and A.P.Ummer. He stated that they assaulted him. His confession of death was released by police, only after the severe agitation by the tribal’. Portraying him as mentally challenged is to make his statement void in the court. Courts are more likely to decide that he was mentally challenged for the reasons like he was not used to taking bathe and he lived in caves.
Hereafter there won't be eyewitnesses in this case, mostly. Circumstantial evidences would be messed up. Even the Court’s mentality would be against the tribal’. The agitations will diminish after few months. The trial will go for many years. Everyone would forget about this incident then. That time all the accused will be legally released. There is also a chance that after sufficient delay, the trial court would sentence them severely but later Supreme Court would release them. This is what usually happens in such cases.
Because, they(accused) are representatives of Kerala. How fellow Keralites would punish them?
source: https://jeyamohan.in/107078 published on 27Th Feb, 2018.
