Injustice to the tribals

The injustice done to the tribal people of India is a shameful chapter in our country’s history. The tribals were called ‘ raskhas’ ( demons), ‘asuras’ and what not. They were slaughtered in large numbers, and the survivors and their descendants were degraded , humiliated , and all kinds of atrocities inflicted on them for centuries. They were deprived of their lands , and pushed into forests and hills where they eke out a miserable existence of poverty, illiteracy, disease , etc.

The well-known example of injustice to the tribals is the story of Eklavya in the Adiparva of Mahabharata. Eklavya wanted to learn archery but Dronacharya refused to teach him, regarding him as a low born. Eklavya then built a statue of Dronacharya and then practiced archery before the statue. He would have perhaps become a better arher than Arjuna, but since Arjuna was Dronacharya’s blue eyed boy Dronacharya told Eklavya to cut off his right thumb and give it to him as ‘ guru dakshina’ ( gift to the teacher given traditionally by the student agter his study is complete). In his simplicity Eklavya did what he was told. This was a shameful act on the part of Dronacharya . He had not even taught Eklavya , so what right had he to demand ‘guru dakshina’, and that too of the right thumb of Eklavya so that the latter may not become a better archer than his favourite pupil Arjun?