International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples: A mischievous attempt to hide West's barbaric face

Western colonial power, in order to expand its control and political hegemony in the world in the days of imperialism, established its dominance over socio-cultural and knowledge discourse in the conquered countries as well. After World War II, various third-world countries, including India, became free from their domination, but, even after 70-80 years of freedom, knowingly or unknowingly, the colonial thought processes and discourses, unfortunately, still control our hearts and minds.

Sundry examples can be seen in the terminology used in knowledge systems and socio-cultural discourses. The concept of ‘International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples’, celebrated across the world on 9th August, is a glaring example of mental colonisation in this context, which is not only inappropriate but dangerous in the Indian context.

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For the progress of a country, it is a must to overcome this colonial mental slavery, which African thinker and writer Ngugi wa Thiong’o strongly propounds in his book ‘Decolonising the Mind’ (1986). Thiong’o writes that colonial powers created various cultural and linguistic terminologies for their vested interests. Decolonising the mind means a process to end the false universality created in the guise of “Westernised” canons that attribute truth only to Western forms of knowledge production created for their vested interests.

‘International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples’ (IDWIP) is such a concept only to perpetuate the mental subjugation and exploitation of the third world. To understand the ‘International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples’ (IDWIP) and its intriguing ramifications, one must understand how the imperialist expansionism of Western European countries perpetrated genocide on a large scale in America, Africa, Australia, and Asia.

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In ‘Native American Genocide’ of the US or ‘Colonial Frontier Genocide’, Australia, millions of indigenous people were ruthlessly massacred. The same were the cases in South America, Africa, Canada, New Zealand, and other islands, where indigenous people were brutally murdered.

After the Second World War, a newly found culture of dialogue and solidarity among indigenous people from various parts of the world put pressure on the so-called first world community for their rights and culture. Under pressure and also to reduce the guilt emerging of the barbaric genocide of indigenous people, a ‘Working Group on Indigenous Populations’ was constituted under the aegis of the ILO within the United Nations, which held its first meeting on August 9, 1982. The United Nations General Assembly in 1994, in light of the recommendations of this working group, decided to celebrate ‘International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples’ (IDWIP) every year on August 9. The idea behind the selection of August 9 for this particular celebration was to commemorate the first meeting in the context of indigenous people, held on August 9, 1982. This, in fact, again was a conspiracy of the Western powers to deflect attention from their crimes and mislead the world once again, when actually the date of August 9 is reminiscent in the annals of the barbaric genocide of indigenous people.

It’s not unknown that after the arrival of the European sailor Columbus in America in 1492, European countries like Spain, Portugal, and England adopted many tactics to capture America. Many small conflicts and battles took place. Three major wars were also fought in this sequence. The first war in this series took place on August 9, 1610, in which the entire Powhatan tribe of Virginia province of America was killed fighting the British. This example can be compared, in the context of India, to the Battle of Plassey in 1757, which paved the way for the Britishers to completely destroy and enslave the natives. For about 250 years after the arrival of Columbus, bloodshed and massacre continued erasing the natives.

According to a study, the natives’ population in America reduced from 14.5 crores in the 15th century to mere 70 lakhs by the 18th century. Meanwhile, a conspiracy of capturing America by religious conversion of the natives on the pretext of medical treatment and education was also started by Christian missionaries. The evangelists got this opportunity on account of the establishment of British rule in the province of Virginia, and the D-day was August 9. Choosing the date of August 9 to celebrate IDWIP can be thus seen as a conspiracy to simultaneously hide their sins and also make this day memorable by the American and European-dominated United Nations. This is the real history of ‘International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples’ (IDWIP).

After the declaration of IDWIP in 1994, a discussion began to define the indigenous people, but, even after 12–13 years of discussions, no consensus could emerge. The Government of India supported the ‘United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples 2007’ on the condition that “All the Indians are the original inhabitants (indigenous people) of Bharat”.

The government’s stand here explicitly clarifies that not only the tribals but the non-tribal people also were considered as the original inhabitants of Bharat. It is not without reason that in the Indian Constitution, drafted under the leadership of Babasaheb Ambedkar, the term ‘Scheduled Tribe’ was used for the tribal community and not the words ‘Mool Niwasi’ (original inhabitant) or ‘Adivasi’ (most ancient inhabitant).

Jaipal Singh Munda, a member of the Constituent Assembly and a prominent tribal leader then, also accepted this. Jawaharlal Nehru had once said, “In my opinion, all of us are ‘Adivasis’. I do not like this (such kind of) distinction. We are all ‘Adivasis’. Yes, there may be some differences. In our country, there are different kinds of castes. Whether they call themselves Brahmins or Kshatriyas, they are all ‘Adivasis’.”

All Indians were thus seen as the original inhabitants (indigenous people) of Bharat. This includes Dalits or Scheduled Castes as well as OBCs or backward castes and also the so-called upper castes. Fake colonial theories like ‘Aryan Invasion Theory’ or ‘Aryans were outsiders’ have been demolished today on the basis of new archaeological, linguistic, and genetic evidence.

Unfortunately, due to the instigations, directly or indirectly, by anti-Bharat national and international forces, many people from the tribal community and also others have started celebrating IDWIP in our country since the past few years. Celebrating the ‘Indigenous Day’ in the Indian context is unwarranted on the following grounds: First, IDWIP is basically a day of protest and mourning against the Western powers. The American indigenous community itself has refused to celebrate this ‘imposed’ day as the day of their ancestors. In fact, millions of people in America organise protests and observe mourning on August 9.

Second, there was no emotional separation between the tribals and non-tribals in Bharat till the arrival of the British. Evidence of the idea of “ Tu Main Ek Rakt” (you and I are of one blood), present in ancient scriptures like the Vedas, Puranas, Ramayana, and Mahabharata, establishes that tribals had a respectable place in society.

Third, special provisions for tribes in the Indian Constitution and laws clearly show that tribes have been given more rights in India than what the United Nations’ Declaration specifies. Fourth, in the countries ruled by Europeans, the representation of the indigenous people in their parliament or government is negligible. Whereas in our country, from the President to many governors, chief ministers, MPs, MLAs, and other high officials are from the tribal community. Fifth, IDWIP is a conspiracy, again, to divide and rule India and break our unity. This is an extension of the international conspiracy ‘Bleed India with a Thousand Cuts’ for breaking India.

We, the people of India, share our solidarity with the indigenous populations of America, Australia, and other parts of the world and strongly condemn the atrocities and barbaric ethnic cleansing committed against them. However, it is equally important for it to be clear that we can read the conspiracy behind the celebration of ‘Indigenous Day’. In the context of India, we must celebrate the days associated with the great tribal personalities of Indian tradition. We have various greats like Mata Shabari, the Bhilani of the Ramayana era, Mahabharata-era heroic women of the Northeast—princess Chitrangada and Ulupi; great heroes of Jharkhand like Bhagwan Birsa Munda, Sidhu and Kanhu Murmu who fought against the British, or Umaji Naik of Maharashtra, Tantya Bhil of Madhya Pradesh, Alluri Sitaram Raju of Andhra Pradesh, Rani Gaidinliu of Nagaland, Matmur Jamoh of Arunachal Pradesh, and Pa Togan Sangma of Meghalaya.

The Narendra Modi government rightly announced November 15 as ‘Janjatiya Gaurav Divas’ (Tribal Pride Day) to honour the brave tribal freedom fighters. All of us, 140 crore tribal and non-tribal Indians, especially the youth, must understand that ‘International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples’ (IDWIP) stands for both the sin and atonement of the Western powers. For us, ‘Janjatiya Gaurav Divas’ is the celebration of the indigenous spirit in all Indians.

The author is the Dean of Planning at Delhi university and a Professor in Hindi Department. He tweets @NiranjanKIndia. The views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the writer. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost’s views.