MP: Now, Saharia tribals throw their hats in the poll ring

BHOPAL: After Alirajpur, Jhabua and Dhar districts, the tribal community in Sheopur has accused the state government of being insensitive towards the progress of the area. Now, tribals under the umbrella of Saharia Vikas Parishad have started raising their voice of dissent against the apathy of the government. Their war cry is, “Let the gram sabha safeguard our rights”.

Flexing their political muscles ahead of elections, the tribal leaders said that the provisions under the fifth schedule should take care of their rights in the region. On October 22, a mahapanchayat will be held in Sheopur where decision on tribal candidates for the coming elections will be taken.

“We have a strong presence in as many as eight assembly constituencies of Gwalior and Chambal region. BJP and Congress supported candidates have not been able to carry out welfare work for the Saharia community”, said Saharia Vikas Parishad leader Ashok Malhotra, a second year student of law.

Malhotra may sound like a Punjabi surname but it is derived from a Saharia hamlet of the same name in Sirsanwadi village of the district. He said the community will decided the names of contestants on October 22. The Parishad activists have been holding sector-wise meetings to mobilize support for the mahapanchayat. They hold sector meetings like a school class. Literate Saharais explain about the tribal rights under fifth schedule and the failure of the governments to fulfill them.

“It is an attempt to increase awareness about the tribal rights. The tribals are being told about their rights as mandated in the Constitution and how MLAs from major political parties have failed to deliver in the past”, Malhotra, a post graduate in sociology, said.

Before the assembly elections in 2013, the BJP government had even made him chairman of Saharia development authority, which was dissolved as soon as the model code of conduct came into force in 2013.

“Later, the government revived the Baiga and Bhuria development authorities, but no one paid attention to-Saharias, the poorest and the weakest among the tribal fold”, Malhotra said.

The Parishad has launched a campaign to “free the Saharia land usurped by Jats and Sikhs” in the region. Several memorandum were submitted to the district administration in this regard, but all in vain. Malhotra said that the CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan also knows about these issues and this is the reason why he has not visited Sheopur during his Jan Ashirwad Yatra.

According to Malhotra, the Saharias are in good in numbers in Sheopur ( 2.21 lakh) and Shivpuri (2.85 lakh).