TRIBAL HISTORY OF UTTARAKHAND

JANJATIYON KA ITIHAS  

The book, Uttarakhand: Janjatiyon Ka Itihas  comes at  a time,  when there is a renewed focus on the Tribals in the backdrop of the naxalisim movement engulfing several parts of the country and resistance to the  unhindered exploitation of their land for Development project.

In Uttarakhand, the five tribes comprising of Bhotiya, Jaunsari, Tharu, Boxa and Raji the18 percent chunk of the tribal population in the state.    They present an interesting diversity with their presence extending from  from the  Indo- Tibet border in the north to Terai in south and Nepal border in east to Himachal Pradesh in west.

 The eight chapters  of the book dwell on various issues like the threat to national security due to the large-scale migration of people from the Indo-Tibet border region in Uttarakhand, land alienation in tribal areas, lands of Tharus and Boxas in the Terai region being snatched away from them by influential outsiders, atrocities and exploitation of tribals by non tribals,apathy of the authorities towards the Forest Rights Act 2006 and formation of tribal advisory council in observance of the spirit of the schedule V of Constitution of India and other relevant issues.

The book written by senior journalist Jay Singh Rawat  also analyses the demand for declaring the Rawain, Jaunpur and the Indo-Tibet border area as scheduled areas. While there  have been plethora of books on the Tribal issues recently, there have been very few books focusing on their History and their way of life and stressing on the need to understand the Tribal issues, while taking their history into account. The book has been lucidly written. The writer has tried to combine his own  journalistic experience and his own understanding of the Tribal History, about which he was always curious since childhood. The book has been published by Dehradun based Winsar Publication and  would prove useful for students and  Historians.