In LS, Congress MP brings up difference between ‘adivasi’, ‘vanvasi’

The discussion begins on Bill to include Hattee community in the Trans-Giri region of Sirmaur to ST list of Himachal Pradesh

Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda on Thursday moved a motion in Lok Sabha to begin the discussion on the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Third Amendment) Bill, 2022, to include the Hattee community of Sirmaur district’s Trans-Giri region in the Scheduled Tribes list of Himachal Pradesh. 

Kicking off the discussion on the Bill, Congress MP Saptagiri Sankar Ulaka said that he supported the move to include them in the ST list but questioned the consequences of the decision. 

“The Bill says that Hattee people of the Sirmaur district’s Trans-Giri region, except for those who are SC, will be included in the ST list. Why is this division being created? It will lead to some thinking they are upper caste in comparison to others. This provision is totally beyond understanding,” Mr. Ulaka said, adding that the current regime’s efforts to brand tribal people as ‘vanvasi’ instead of ‘adivasi’ were incorrect. 

“A few days ago, some people came to me appealing that reservation should be removed for those converting to Islam and Christianity. My question is this. Are Hindus and Adivasis the same? Did Hindus come first or Adivasis? Adivasi means first inhabitants. And now, slowly they are calling us vanvasi. I might be ‘jungli’ but I am not vanvasi,” he said. 

Shimla MP Suresh Kumar Kashyap (BJP) also rose to support the Bill and expressed gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government for following through on the promise of “ Sabka saath, sabka vikaas”. 

Mr. Kashyap said that the demand of the Hattees to be included in the ST list was pending for decades. He added that when the community was declared as ST in neighbouring Uttarakhand, members of the same family, living on the other side of the Giri river in Himachal Pradesh found themselves disenfranchised, stressing the importance of this Bill. 

Responding to Mr. Ulaka’s concern on exclusion of SC people in the region from the Bill, he said, “During consultations, SC groups in the area requested that they not be removed from that category and our government has made sure that they were heard as well.”