[ Taba Menia ]
Dr Verrier Elwin (1902-1964) was an eminent anthropologist, tribal activist, a social worker and a recipient of the Padma Bhushan. He was born an Englishman and later became an Indian, and he served this nation of his adoption and its people. Though he was never professionally trained as an anthropologist, his contribution to anthropological scholarship and to the uplift of tribal population remains exceptional. He authored many books on Indian tribes and their lives. In 1954, he was appointed as anthropological advisor by prime minister Nehru to find solutions to the tribal question of the far eastern state of India which was known as the NEFA (North Eastern Frontier Agency). His years of stay in the NEFA and his honest approach towards understanding the tribal population came out in the form of his celebrated work titled A Philosophy for NEFA in 1957, forwarded by then prime minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. The book presumably was written to assist the formulation of policies for the NEFA, which consequently shaped the integrationist approach of Panchsheel. Nevertheless, the philosophy behind was remarkably presented. The book covers varied socio-cultural aims for the development of the NEFA. However, one can simply draw relevance to today’s Arunachal Pradesh to Dr Elwin’s imagined NEFA which describes the psychological aims for the state. Taking note from Dr Elwin’s observation, the contemporary experiences of current socio-cultural issues of changes in tribal society, accessibility to good education and the matter of psychological prosperity can be realized earnestly.
Dr Elwin said, “Education in the tribal areas is far too serious a matter to be left to school masters… for in any part of the world which aims at guided and scientific progress, every official must be an educationalist.” By putting emphasis on the psychological betterment of the people of the NEFA, he stressed on the policy of educating the mass, which would not only focus on inculcating the skill of reading and writing but also enhance the core values and morals. “In NEFA, the political officers and their staff educate the people to know, love and be loyal to India; they teach them how to build up and manage their councils for judicial and justice, which in time will make them release slaves of their own accord; they are trying to educate them out of the opium habit and to aim, within the framework of their own traditions, at living fuller and richer lives. The medical officers educate them in habits of cleanliness and simple ways of preventing and treating disease; they are not there merely to cure it. The agriculturists have the most vital task of all, in carrying on research and imparting its results to the tribal cultivators. The engineers are educating them in road-making and building houses. The forest officers are teaching them the value of their forests and to protect their wild animals and birds,” he wrote. For him, such is the real education that is “something much more than collecting a group of elderly men and making them trace laboriously a few letters of the alphabet on slates.”
Along with the importance on the introduction of education, he also elucidated the general fear regarding abrupt changes in the tribal society wherein formal education bears the prime cause. As he describes: “The boys and girls in the schools will learn, for example, that all men are equal, that they should be kind to animals, that in other parts of the world people marry girls of their own choice. They will thus become impatient of any kind of slavery or inequality; they may react strongly against cruel methods of sacrifice; they are certain to rebel against the long-drawn business negotiations connected with marriage… they will not easily put up with a system of taboos which prevents them going about, or weaving when they want to, or working in the fields at just the right time. They may come to feel that the older people are obstacles to progress, and will demand a bigger and revolutionary say in the village councils.”
Adding to the concern over the challenge of such emerging issues, he also proposed the supposed solution: “They may, if the elders are too obstructive, destroy much that is good along with the bad. But if the elders are liberal, flexible and sympathetic, adapting themselves to the changing times, old and young may together work out a new and happier way of life that will not be a break with tradition and history but will grow out of the past, along the lines of their own genius. It is essential, therefore, to prepare the elders for this situation, so that when it comes it will not take them by surprise and they will not resent it… this is a matter of great delicacy, for the conflict may be merely destructive, yet if we anticipate and prepare for it, even the conflict may be productive of good.”
Another pertinent point envisioned by Dr Elwin was the spiritual prosperity of the people. As he remarked: “The people of NEFA, and all the tribal areas throughout India, are making rapid progress in material prosperity, but this prosperity may be positively dangerous unless there is a parallel spiritual and ethical revival… they must never forget the imponderables; never forget that man does not live by bread alone, but that the greatest of all treasures is a quite mind and inner happiness. They must adapt themselves and all their enterprises to the local scene; they must receive creativeness in those who have lost their arts, stimulate the old joy and zest in the living, restore self respect and a pride in their own religion and culture among those who have been infected by a feeling of inferiority, and above all give them a sense of freedom through a vision of what they can contribute to the great country which they have come to love, and the hope that they will soon play their full part in administering themselves.” In Dr Elwin’s words, the progress has to be inclusive of every aspect of a society, from personal to the growth of the state, in which the development should not be bounded by the economic boom alone.
The rationale behind revisiting the idealized aims for NEFA from Dr Elwin’s lens lies to its significance, which can be felt in the present-day Arunachal Pradesh. As our state has attained 50 years of its existence and the philosophy proposed by the philanthropist has turned 65 years old, it is time for us to realize the developmental path we have undertaken. While transformation of tribal society has become inevitable, the question of how can we mould into a better generation should be addressed and together we should be cognizant of the attainment of spiritual prosperity along with material advancement. (Taba Menia is a PhD scholar in the anthropology department of Rajiv Gandhi University, Rono Hills.)
