Gladson Dungdung (1980- ): Author Profile
Mission Saranda deals with the destructive effects of mining on rural populations in Jharkhand. The Adivasis and their Forest follows the long and convoluted history of attempts to regulate India's vast rural forest lands. Some laws have been seen as beneficial to Adivasi interests (such as the Forest Rights Act of 2006). Other laws have had more detrimental effects, sometimes under the cover of environmental protection.
In his essay, "Am I A Maoist?," published in 2010, Dungdung writes that his family was displaced from their traditional lands in 1980 in the interest of a state irrigation project:
I’m one of those unfortunate persons, who have lost everything for the so-called development of the nation and am struggling for survival even today. When I was just one year old, my family was displaced. Our 20 acres of fertile land was taken away from us in the name of development. Our ancestral land was submerged in a Dam, which came up at Chinda River near Simdega town in 1980. We lost our house, agricultural land and garden but we were paid merely Rs.11 thousand as compensation. When the whole village protested against it they were sent to Hazaribagh Jail. (source)
With this experience, Dungdung's experience resembles millions of other Adivasi people in many different regions of India who have been displaced from their traditional lands. (See also: Haldhar Nag) Dungdung continues, describing his childhood experience:
After displacement, we had no choice but to proceed towards the dense forest for ensuring our livelihood. We settled down in the forest after buying a small patch of land. We used to collect flowers, fruits and firewood to sustain our family. We also had sufficient livestock, which supported our economy. Needless to say that the state suppression continued with us. When we were living in the forest, my father was booked under many cases filed by the forest department (the biggest landlord of the country) alleging him as an encroacher and woodcutter.
The conflict with the Forest Department is a theme that also appears in Dungdung's other writings, including The Adivasis and Their Forest. The tension between state forest conservation efforts and Adivasi claims on land is also a recurring theme in Dungdung's writing.
In a recent essay called "The Decline of Adivasiyaat," Gladson Dungdung touches on the challenges Adivasi communities have faced with growing integration into modern and urban Indian society:
Communitarianism of Adivasi society, which shook the foundations of British rule, has been poisoned with communalism today. Adivasis are fighting each other. The attempt to divide Adivasi society in the name of religious conversion, delisting, and benefitting from reservations has been very successful. I have been relentlessly fighting for Adivasi identity and culture, and Adivasis’ right to ownership of our land and natural resources. But even my own people have been looking at me through the lens of religion. My religious identity has been deliberately magnified.
You will not find words for “sexual harassment” and “rape” in any Adivasi language, as everyone in the community lives together and remains protected. But now, all the crimes of the outside world are reflected in Adivasi society. This is the result of integrating Adivasi society into the mainstream. (source)
Many Adivasis converted to Christianity at various points since the early 20th century; the communal turn in Indian politics, Dungdung is suggesting, has unfortunately divided the community within itself at times along religious lines.
Gladson Dungdung's book Mission Saranda can be downloaded from the publisher here.
Dungdung's book, Adivasis and their Forest, can be downloaded from the publisher here.