Demand for tribal status for Hattis grows louder as Himachal polls draw nearer

BY VISHAL GULATI

Shimla, March 20 (SocialNews.XYZ) Donning traditional dresses and folklores on their lips, a silent revolution is echoing in Himachal Pradesh to get a Scheduled Tribe (ST) status for nearly 300,000 lakh people settled in Sirmaur, one of the country's most backward districts, on the lines of their counterparts settled in adjoining Uttarakhand, has been gaining momentum as the state assembly polls draws closer.

Leaders under the banner of Hatti Sangharsh Samiti rue both traditional national parties -- the BJP and the Congress -- that have largely ruled the state have been befooling them by promising an action plan on granting them the tribal status, a demand pending for over five decades now.

The state ruling BJP's election manifestos for the Assembly in 2009 and the Lok Sabha in 2014 have found mention on granting ST status to the Hattis.

The Hattis are mainly concentrated in the 144 panchayats dotting the trans-Giri area (Giripar), which is part of the Shimla (reserved) parliamentary seat, and they are fighting for the special category status on the lines of the residents of Jaunsar-Bawar area in Uttarakhand, who were granted the status way back in 1967.

Previously, trans-Giri and Jaunsar-Bawar areas were part of the erstwhile Sirmaur princely state. Despite the Jaunsar-Bawar area separated from the princely state in 1815, marriages between the two clans are still sharing cultural similarities.

Amichand Kamal, head of the central committee of the Hatti community, told IANS the demand has been pending since 1979.

Granting the ST status would help bringing the people into the mainstream and ensuring special budget for the area, he believes.

It is the Tons river that separates the Hatti community from others in the state. The locals still follow age-old traditions like animal sacrifice and unique fairs and festivals like Budhi Diwali, the festival of lights that is celebrated almost a month later the country celebrated.

The area is one of the country's prominent ginger belts that account for 55 per cent of state's total plantation, mainly in Paonta Sahib and Sangrah tehsils.

"The days are not far off when our revolution, now not so silent, will find echo in the top echelons of politics," Sirmaur Hatti Vikas Manch chief adviser Ramesh Singta told IANS on Sunday.

Riding high on the wave of the Maha Khumli -- the Gram Sansad of Hattis -- journalist-cum-activist Singta, who is based in Shimla, said since January 1, when the first meeting held at sub-tehsil Ronhat, a momentum in the area has been gained ground.

Thousands of people from Shillai, Sri Renukaji, Pachhad and Paonta Sahib Assembly constituencies are participating in the Gram Sansads that are being organised on regular intervals.

The next Gram Sansad is on April 17 in Sangrah, the village that came to limelight owing to Kinkri Devi, an illiterate woman who had waged a long fight against illegal mining and quarrying in the state.

Singta explains Maha Khumli not only helps preserving the centuries old culture and traditions of the Hattis but also echoes the silent revolution for 'natural' justice.

He says Maha Khumli is also an occasion to showcase traditions where the participants, donning dressed like Thalka or Lohiya, relish local cuisines, enjoy folk culture and this helps preserving the age-old traditions that are on the verge of extinction amidst modernity.

Official sources said the state government sent a proposal to the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs on May 4, 2005, to declare some areas, including the trans-Giri area, as scheduled areas.

Among the areas listed in the state government's proposal were Chhota and Bara Bangal villages in Kangra district, Chohar Valley in Mandi district, Churah in Chamba district, Malana in Kullu district and Dodra Kwar and Rampur Bushahr, both in Shimla district.

Similarly, the hill state pleaded that Barad, Bangala, Labana, Hatti and Dudra Kawaru communities living in these areas be declared STs.

On December 16, 1993, a select committee of the Assembly even recommended to then Speaker T.S. Negi to initiate steps to declare the Hatti community ST, said a state government functionary.

Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur raised the issue with Union Home Minister Amit Shah at a meeting in New Delhi on March 11 to declare trans-Giri area as tribal area and Hatti community as ST.

The Chief Minister said the adjoining area of Uttarakhand has already been declared as a tribal area. "Declaring trans-Giri area as tribal area is a very genuine demand of the people of the area as about three lakh people in 144 panchayats will be benefitted," an official statement quoting him said.

In a written reply to Congress legislators Harshwardhan Chauhan and Vinay Kumar, Tribal Development Minister Ram Lal Markanda informed the Assembly this month that for the declaration of trans-Giri area as scheduled area, the ST population of the area must be more than 50 per cent, whereas presently the ST community residing in the trans-Giri area is only 0.20 per cent as per Census 2011.

In order to declare trans-Giri as scheduled area, firstly the Hatti community residing in the area needs to be declared as ST, he said.

Accordingly, an ethnographic proposal for inclusion of Hatti community in the ST list of Himachal Pradesh has been prepared and submitted to the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs.

Presently the matter is pending at the level of Ministry, Markanda added.

Leaving aside the demand for an ST status, local farmers have also been demanding that ginger powder they are producing must get protection through GI (geographical indications) tag like turmeric.

Hatti Farmers Union convener Kundan Singh told IANS the ginger powder of the Bella Valley in Shillai subdivision requires GI tag as it has a huge market due to its special extraction technique that has been traditionally preserved for centuries.

(Vishal Gulati can be contacted at vishal.g@ians.in)

Source: IANS