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2 - Stepsons of the State: Marginalization and the Struggle for Recognition

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 May 2013

Assa Doron
Affiliation:
Research Fellow, Department of Anthropology, The Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, The Australian National University, Australia
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Summary

Nishad Samaj is a massive community, which has always made sacrifices to safeguard the Nation. History is the witness that civilisation and culture originated and developed from the valleys and rivers. This means that the Nishads have been the creators of civilisation and culture. The Nishad community has contributed to India by making it prosperous through trade, water transport and international relations. The Nishads have played an important role in the freedom struggle and continue their work of saving lives during devastating floods. They remain the vigilant guards of the Nation and true servants of society… after independence it was expected that the Nishads would receive justice and equal opportunities to develop, but this did not happen. In this democracy the agricultural farmers are secure and stable, becoming officers [of the state] while the water farmers (jal karsak), the Nishads, are deprived of their ancestral rights and traditional professions. And through the auction of these professions a handful of people are exploiting them, making money….Is this not a black spot on democracy? This black spot needs to be wiped out….

Boatman's Association, Handbill, 1979

For people who were marginalized and dispossessed under colonial rule, Independence brought new hopes of occupational opportunities and restoration of their rights over natural resources. The modern Indian state was premised upon the democratic ideals of social justice, universal rule of law and the constitutional granting of rights to all its citizens.

Type
Chapter
Information
Life on the Ganga
Boatmen and the Ritual Economy of Banaras
, pp. 57 - 96
Publisher: Foundation Books
Print publication year: 2013

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