Rahul Gandhi of the Congress questioned the term “Vanvasi,” which the BJP and its ideology RSS use for the tribal group, during his campaign for the Gujarat Assembly elections on November 21. He contrasted it with the term “Adivasi,” which the Congress uses for them.
Vanvasi or Adivasi?
Tribes are referred to as “Anusuchit Janjati” or Scheduled Tribes in the Indian Constitution. Numerous tribal members prefer to identify as “Adivasi,” which means “first inhabitants.” It is used in media, documents, textbooks, and public discourse.
The Sangh Parivar, which works extensively in tribal areas to protect them from the clutches of Christian Missionaries, refers to these people as “Vanvasi,” which is Hindi for “forest dwellers.” The term Vanvasi was used to convey their unique identity because the marginalized tribal community was traditionally treated as a unit outside of the main caste structure.
Ramakant Keshav Deshpande established the Akhil Bharatiya Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram (ABVKA) in Jashpur, Chhattisgarh, on December 26, 1952, after consulting with M S Golwalkar, the second Sarsanghchalak, in response to his concerns about the shifting tribal communities’ cultures and their separation from the Hindu religion. The Sangh’s initiatives within the community have always assisted the BJP in winning elections, even while the primary focus was on the Hinduization of the tribals, which the Sangh claimed was important for national cohesion, and protecting their identity and culture.
The RSS, according to Madhav, has consistently rejected the Aryan invasion idea, which holds that the Aryans originated from someplace in Central Asia and moved to an already populated Indian subcontinent. The name Vanvasi was coined in 1952, according to Harsh Chouhan, Chairman of the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes and a Sangh leader with extensive experience working with tribes.
The term aboriginals, according to Chouhan, is better suited to the American context than Adivasi.
Additionally, according to Chouhan, the Sangh did not just establish the Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram to stop the conversion process, but also to protect and preserve the culture of the forest dwellers so that they can contribute to the nation’s growth.
Is the conflict brand-new?
Many have emphasized that tribal communities don’t always reside in forested areas.
Jaipal Singh Munda, a hockey player who later served as the tribal representative in the Constituent Assembly, insisted on using the term Adibasi during the discussions and questioned why the word tribes became Banjati in Hindi.
There appears to be a part of the RSS that believes the term Vanvasi to be archaic.
However, Madhav claimed that there are no plans to revise the Vanvasi and that the RSS recognizes the use of the term Janajati in the Constitution.
News Mania Desk
