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Reservation Row in Telangana: Lambadis Banned To Enter Adivasi villages

It is now left for the Telangana government to handle the politics around the reservation and resolve the issue by reaching a mutual understanding.
Lambadis Banned

Image Coutesy: The Indian Express

Yet again the rift between Adivasis and Lambadis over the reservation in Telangana has been making headlines. In several villages, mainly comprising an Adivasi population in the northern districts of the state, Adivasi leaders have banned government officials belonging to Lambadi community from entering their villages.

On May 27, various Adivasi groups such as Thudumdebba, Adivasi Sankshema Sangam, Adivasi Manila Sangam and Adivasi Vidyarti Sangam held a meeting at Adilabad, wherein more than 100 Adivasi leaders from various groups decided to declare “self-rule’’ in their villages imposing a ban on Lambadi people from entering their villages. Consequently, boards with the slogan “Maava Naate, Maava Raj’’ (Our village, our rule) were erected in several villages. Reportedly, more than 100 teachers from the Lambadi community were barred from teaching in government schools in the Tribal belts of the northern Telangana.

Adivasi community leaders mainly from Gonds and Koya sub-castes are arguing that the Lambadis should be delisted from the Scheduled Tribes in the state as they are categorized under different castes in different parts of the country. On the other side, Lambadis are arguing that they are constitutionally recognized as tribes and that only a few leaders are creating the conflict for their own political benefits.

Meanwhile, the Telangana government, including Chief Secretary S K Joshi and district collectors, have been negotiating with the Adivasi leaders to settle the controversy. However, the Adivasi leaders seem to be intensifying the issue.

Fake ST certificates

In Maharashtra, Lambadis are listed under Other Backward Caste (OBC). Over years, reportedly, Lambadis from Maharashtra have been allegedly migrating into Telangana and obtaining fake ST certificates and purchasing lands in the Tribals belts of Adilabad, Nizamabad and Medak districts. This allegation is central to the discontent between the two groups.

The Adivasis’ plea in Supreme Court

In May, Adivasi (Girijana) Employees Welfare and Cultural Association has filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking the delisting of Lambadis from the ST community.  The petition stated that the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Orders (Amendment) Act, 1976, which recognized the Banjaras (Lambadis and Sugalis) as Scheduled Tribes in the erstwhile State of Andhra Pradesh, be declared unconstitutional. It further stated that the Banjaras are classified under different categories in various states which resulted in “unprecedented exodus” of these communities from the neighbouring Maharashtra, Rajasthan and other northern states into the Telangana districts “for cornering the benefits available to the Scheduled Tribes.”

Last year, between October and December, Adivasi and Lambadi groups held several protests across the state over the same issue. While the Adivasis barred Lambadi teachers from teaching in Adivasi-majority villages, Lambadis have condemned it. Situations of high-tension have prevailed as rumours such as one group attacked another circulated in social media, leading to the imposition of Section 144 by the police in the northern districts.

As the controversy is highly sensitive involving two vulnerable groups, it is now left for the Telangana government to handle the politics around reservation and resolve the issue by reaching to a mutual understanding between the two sides.

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