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The first introduction of the book on the efforts towards conflict resolution in Bastar, the highly affected maoist area

Vivek Umrao Glendenning

The book is being written on Bastar, Chhattisgarh, India, expected to be published in the next year 2017. The main content of the book does not carry geographical or historical information or discussion on the culture or religious beliefs of the various tribal communities of Bastar. The traces of traditional tribal cultural relics could be alive in very remote villages but is extinct almost completely in major parts of Bastar. The area is in high conflicts between maoists and the government, The common people of Bastar has been facing bloodshed for long time.

The Britishers did not interfere with the local tribal communities. After independence, the government of India continued with not interfering with different policy, the policy of preserving tribal culture by not interfering with the tribes.

In this area, tribals were living their lives following their traditions and getting livelihood from the forests. Government was following the policy of preserving cultures of tribes but this ended with paradox, extinction of tribal culture, conflict with the maoists and the bloodshed.

The area of Bastar district was more than 39,000 square kilometres with insignificant number of administrative staff. The fugitive criminals and lubber people  of various states easily entered in the region for shelter, later they started capturing local assets by manipulation, introduced corruption and destruction by forming a nexus with the administration. Here the administration entered into the mode of insolence from the mode of negligence which gave an opportunity for the entry of maoists.

Forest laws, contradictory with the policy of tribes preservation, made by the prioritising mainstream development, industrial development and economy and forest administration insolence played big roles to reach this paradox, the detriments of tribes traditional rights on their forests.

Tribes were innocents, untouched by the cunningness. lies, corruption and violence. But the people they met first in their life were fugitive criminals, lubber people and maoists representing the mainstream world. For these tribes mainstream world means these types of people thus the very first things they learnt from the mainstream world are lie, corruption, insolence and violence. Having no or least rights on their forests, the forests they loved for thousands of years, they started to follow these fugitive criminals, lubber people and maoists as their ideals.

The causes behind the cultural extinction and the bloodshed are not black or white but grey, the cocktail of insolence of government administration, maoists activities, corrupt NGOs, forest laws, mining policies, insolence of business people, negligence & double standards of mainstream common people and other.

The vested interests of various interdependent nexuses of administration, political persons, local businesspersons, NGOs, journalists, activists and maoists. Some of these nexuses create fake tribal heroes and brag for them, to counter these fake heroes other nexuses do the same.

Gradually with the time the government divided the Bastar district into seven different districts, introduced development activities, livelihood skills training, employment programs and infrastructures.

The government started to send young energetic government officers as the chiefs of district and police administrations. These young government officers started to work with enthusiasm towards the conflict resolution. Maybe they do not have very deep philosophical ideas of conflict resolution but their efforts and actions are making things better and moving towards the conflict resolution.

The book is dedicated to long term constructive approach is the fundamental strategy for solution of bloodshed and conflict in this region. The book talks on the constructive approach for conflict resolution, efforts by young officers from the common society for making lives of tribal communities better, the other face of Bastar, usually not seen by mainstream, national and international media.

This book is an asset for honest, sincere and open mind people who trust on non-violence, democracy and want to understand the efforts for conflict resolution by the common people and the community.

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