‘Don’t reduce tribespeople to a spectacle’

Bibitha, a Tata Samvaad Fellow, spoke at a workshop to mark Int'l Day of World's Indigenous Peoples. She highlighted how tribal communities are reduced to being spectacles and face difficulties. She urged young people to rise up and demonstrate their capabilities. She also noted the alienation felt by the youth in the communities, who are detached from their heritage. She is studying the cultural and natural heritage of Kadar community.

People belonging to tribal communities to a large extent continue to be reduced to being spectacles, said Bibitha, a member of Kadar Ooru at Vazhachal near Thrissur and Tata Samvaad fellow. She was speaking at the inauguration of a week-long workshop here on tribal heritage to mark International Day of World’s Indigenous Peoples.

She said tribespeople had their problems, faced difficulties in life, and wanted their problems and needs to be addressed properly. At the same time, she said, society at large tended to attribute success of people from the communities to the advantages of reservation. They think the members of the communities lack talent.

But Ms. Bibitha said there were shining examples of achievers in both academics and administration from the communities. The onus is now on young people from tribal communities to rise up in life and demonstrate what they are capable of, she added.

Ms. Bibitha said protection and preservation of tribespeople’s heritage was an important issue but felt that the projects to address their problems were not being followed up. She spoke of the alienation felt by the youth in the communities, who are detached from their communities at various facets of their life, be it for education or other trainings but find themselves both jobless as well as ill-equipped to follow or take up traditional activities associated with their communities.

Ms. Bibitha, as a Samvaad Fellow, is studying the cultural and natural heritage of Kadar community. She was selected for the programme in 2021.