Since the tribals have become an agrarian society some of their movements are also included in this category. Essentially, the tribals are forest dwellers.
Agrarian and forest-based movements are restricted to only a few regions, such as northern and southern parts of India. In central India, though tribal discontent over various forms of exploitation is, widespread, it has been organized into movements only in some places involving a few tribes.
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The Gonds in Madhya Pradesh did not have traditions of militant struggles waged in defence of their rights in land and forests. However, from 1940s, instances of the Gonds’ resistance to encroachment on their rights in the forests have come to light.
Since independence, their territorial and political systems have broken down and their rights over forests and land have been eroded. It appears that forest- based movements have petered out among the Gonds.
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There are also instances of agrarian struggles among the tribals of Dhulia of Maharashtra. “There has been large-scale transfer of land from tribals to non-tribals who include moneylenders, rich landlords and traders. As landlessness and poverty, grew the tribals sought employment on low wages.
A Sarvodaya worker, Ambar Singh Suratwanti, a Bhil himself, started to organize the adivasis in 1967. The Government of Maharashtra issued an ordinance in July 1975 to prohibit alienation of tribal lands and to provide for the restoration of lands alienated in contravention of the law.”
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Yet another instance of agrarian movement is from the tribal of Chotanagpur in recent years. There, the non-tribals took away the land of the tribals who organized themselves and got their land vacated from the latter.
However, it is not land but forest which has become the focal point of widespread disturbances. More than land, forest is intimately connected with tribal life.
It is the abode of the spirit and the place of worship, the seat of lifecycle ceremonies including burial; it is the source of food, and of employment. “Under the law all such customary rights are extinguished in the reserved forests.
In practice, tribals have been reclaiming land with the connivance of petty officials, and it is common sight to see patches of cultivation in reserved forests.
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Of late, the pressure on land has increased, there is demand for more land and, therefore, trees are felled in forest reserves causing loss not only to the national economy but also to the tribal economy in the long run.”
A new mass movement, named as Chipko movement, has emerged against the decay of forest and forest laws. However, the participation of tribals such as Bhotiyas is very scant in this movement.
The Naxalite movement has come into existence at the initiation of CPI (ML). The movement mobilizes both tribal and non-tribal peasants against oppression by rich peasants, moneylenders and local officials. “The first phase of the movement was from 1967 to 1972 and the second from 1978 onwards.
The movement established bases in north Bengal, the Srikakulam-Adilabad region of Andhra Pradesh, Chotanagpur-Santhal Pargana belt and the Bhil regions of western India. However, it is found that the tribal participation in the leadership structure of the Naxalite movement, as also in its oppression, was marginal.”