The Lodha – Compelled to Abdicate Traditional Occupation Due to Indian Forest Act.

Abstract

Unity in diversity is the basic concept of Indian traditional heritage. Every individual community have their own traditional feature in socio-economic and socio-cultural pattern of life. Scheduled tribes are one who have own identity in every respect. The Lodha a hunter-gatherer primitive tribe maintained their traditional method of livelihood, which was based on the forest.

The British who were rulers of India since 1760, realised the immense potentiality of the Indian Forest, its flora, fauna and economic values, subsequently comprehended the tribal concomitance to the forest and forest acumen, put an embargo on collection of forest produce, even entry to the forest was forbidden, to establish absolute supremacy over the Indian Forests. The then British Government ushered the Indian Forest Act 1865, as amended in 1878, finally enacted in 1927, which still is in force.

The innocent, illiterate Lodha without having any knowledge regarding implementation of the Indian Forest Act and contents therein, were compelled to forego their own territorial niche and techno-economical adaptation as well as indigenous traditional method of sustaining livelihood. But having no knowledge of any other form of livelihood sustenance, entered into the forest for collection of minor forest produces, which could not be stopped since the procurement was for food. Repeated such actions identified them as Criminal Tribe by introducing Criminal Tribes Act 1871, repealed in 1952, though the stigma is a sore even today. Thus, Indian Forest Act and its legal approach compelled the Lodha to abdicate their forest based traditional way of sustaining livelihood.

The present sequel peered into Langamara village of Khagra Beat, Hijli Range of Kharagpur Forest Division in Paschim Medinipur, a District of West Bengal.