The neocolonization of tribals in a decolonized state: the plight of indegenous communities in India

Abstract

India has historically suffered colonialization for roughly two hundred years at the hands of the British, either through the British East India Company or directly as a subject of the British crown. While the experience of colonization has been that of large-scale exploitation, of raw materials, and degeneration of productive capacity of India, to sustain the industrial pursuits of the European imperialists, India moved along the path of democratization and universal franchise post-independence. However, this democratization has not led to equal representation of heterogenous interests that are deeply embedded in the diversity of India, which could be defined as being far removed from the notion of being a ‘Nation’, at least in the traditional sense of the term. In this light, of rapid industrialization and in context of the heterogeneity of narratives that Indian is embedded in, we have attempted to explore the idea of ‘settler colonialism’, which exerts homogenizing pressures. We attempt to draw attention to this kind of colonialism, a concept that is more deeply relevant in contemporary Indian discourse. In doing so, a dichotomy needs to be established between the known conception of colonialism, as imperialism, and the more subtle form, settler/capturing colonialism. Additionally, we will explain how this is exercised and relevant to India, despite colonialism being seen only of relevance when race differences are visible. We attempt to explore the conditions and tendencies on those who have felt the pressures most, the indigenous people of India, as a means to furthering our conjecture. This research becomes an exercise in itself, to place a challenge to the belief of colonialism only being of a particular kind, in India’s experience. This places a challenge on the idea of interests and the supposed protection of these interests, explaining the homogenizing and exploitative nature of this narrative itself. It is also an attempt to understand the moral position of the tribal, the departure from the exercise of their own interests and the, exploitation faced by them.