attitudes of officials
Officials Visit a Paliyan Community
The chief executive officer of the Theni District in India’s Tamil Nadu state visited a Paliyan colony on July 24, asked numerous good questions, and made some promises of help from the district government. The unusual aspect of Collector K. V. Muralidharam’s visit was that two of India’s major newspapers, The Hindu and the Times […]
Paliyans Unaware of Welfare
The chief executive of the Dindigul District in India’s Tamil Nadu took a lengthy trek into a remote Paliyan village on January 23 to listen to the people discuss their issues. According to an article in The Hindu, Collector T. G. Vinay hiked nearly 14 kilometers into the village of Moongilpallam in the forested Kodaikanal […]
Paliyans Handle Conflicts Effectively
Last week, a group of Paliyan women reported that forestry officials subjected them to a strip search while they were walking back from gathering in a forest. Two of India’s major newspapers reported on the allegations and the actions by officials in response to the complaints. According to a report in The Hindu on Tuesday, […]
Official Concern for Birhor Wanes
Concern in India for the Birhor jumped dramatically six years ago, though sympathy for this peaceful society has apparently waned as memories of a tragedy in October 2008 grow dim. A news story last week implies that official interest in the Birhor people has nearly evaporated. The Birhor experience presents an interesting case study of […]
Police Remove Yanadi before Modi Visit
The new Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, visited his nation’s space facility in Andhra Pradesh on Monday last week, June 30th, to watch the launch of a rocket that put five satellites into orbit. After the successful launch, the Prime Minister addressed the staff at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre on Sriharikota Island. He […]
Nubians Waiting for Fair Treatment
Last month, the Nubian people were not discussed during the celebrations in Egypt marking the 50th anniversary of the construction of the High Dam at Aswan, even though the reservoir destroyed much of Old Nubia. Haggag Oddoul, a prominent Egyptian Nubian writer who lives in Alexandria, told a reporter from the Web-based news source Al-Monitor […]
The Birhor and the Bees
Officials in eastern India solicited the help of some Birhor youths in an attempt to get rid of some angry bees, which have killed one man and injured others. The Birhor have, so far, been unsuccessful in their attempts to remove the insects, but they plan to try again. On March 13, the bees attacked […]
Further Training for Birhor Boys
Nine Birhor teenagers, who were ignored by government bureaucrats despite their having gotten educations, have been admitted to the Industrial Training Institute of the Bokaro Steel, Limited, (BSL) plant. The boys made the news about six weeks ago when they began protesting the way they were being treated. They had passed their Class XII examinations […]
Indian Government Ignores Educated Birhor Boys
Nine teenage Birhor boys are now working in laboring jobs rather than in the kinds of positions they were promised when they enrolled 11 years ago at the Bokaro Steel school for underprivileged tribal children. According to a news report in The Telegraph of Calcutta last Thursday, the boys have written to the governor of […]
Kerala Government Takes Interest in the Kadar
A minister from the government of Kerala, in India, visited a couple Kadar colonies in her state last week and promised to allot lands to the people. P.K. Jayalakshmi, Minister for Welfare of Backward Communities, visited the Vachumaram and Pukalappara colonies near Athirappilly to announce that she had started formal procedures which would give the […]
