Rajpipla: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA and tribal leader Chaitar Vasava on Tuesday raised anew the demand for a separate state of `Bhil Pradesh’ for the tribal populations in Gujarat and the three neighbouring states.
BJP MP and fellow tribal leader Mansukh Vasava, however, said that this will create “anarchy” and friction between the tribal communities and others.
“History tells us that there was a separate state called Bhil Pradesh. But after independence that state was divided and its parts were merged into different states such as Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra,” Chaitar Vasava, first-time MLA from the Scheduled Tribes-reserved Dediapada seat in Gujarat’s Narmada district, said.
Bharatiya Tribal Party’s founder and former MLA Chhotubhai Vasava had raised this demand in the recent past.
The AAP MLA was speaking to reporters.
There are 39 tribal-dominated districts across these four states which formed the old Bhil Pradesh, he claimed.
The Fifth Schedule of the Constitution (which has provisions regarding the administration and control of Scheduled Areas) is still applicable to these districts, Chaitar Vasava said.
A delegation headed by Chhotubhai Vasava had handed over a memorandum containing this demand to then President Pratibha Patil several years ago, he noted.
“If you continue to do injustice to the tribal people, we will definitely raise the demand for a separate Bhil Pradesh,” the young leader added.
In Kevadia, where the Statue of Unity stands, thousands of hectares of land belonging to tribal communities was given away to outsiders for various projects, he said.
“As a result, tribals of the area, who were the real owners of the land, are now reduced to working as labourers for Rs 280 per day,” said Vasava.
“Since our rights on our Jal, Jungle and Jamin (water, forest and land) are being snatched away, we are again raising this demand for a seperate Bhil Pradesh,” he said.
Tribal areas are rich in water, timber and deposits of coal as well as other minerals but they remain underdeveloped and the BJP government in Gujarat diverted the budget meant for tribal communities, he claimed.
Opposing the demand, Mansukh Vasava, BJP Member of Parliament from Bharuch, said, “This demand will create anarchy in many areas. It will also create friction between tribals and non-tribals, which will eventually affect the implementation of developmental projects in tribal areas.”
Former Dahod MP Somjibhai Damor originally started a movement for a separate state for tribals but it did not find any takers, he said.
“Other tribal leaders also tried to revive this movement afterwards but they too received lukewarm response because majority of the population does not support it,” the BJP leader said.
Instead of demanding a separate state, these leaders should draw the government’s attention to what is lacking and how schemes meant for tribals can be implemented properly, he added.
