Revision as of 22:58, 27 February 2022

The tiny tribe in 2017

Prem Punetha, Tiny tribe will vote for `whoever gives food'Feb 11 2017 : The Times of India

Pithoragarh:

The tiny Van Rawat tribe with a population of a few thousand, regarded as Uttarakhand's smallest Himalayan tribe, has just about 300-odd voters, mainly at Dharchula and Didihat of Pithoragarh district.

Many in the community have no education and are extremely poor.Till the first decade of the 21st century, they lived in mountain caves. Only recently have many settled near towns, work as labourers and wood-gatherers.

Parvati, a Van Rawat is a firewood seller at the Jauljibi market near Dharchula. Vimla, who accompanies Parvati to the market, says: “Most of us barely earn Rs 80 or 100 a day. That's why whoever gives us food or money we go with [vote for] him.“

The origins of this mountain tribe are hazy . Dehradun-based anthropologist Lokesh Ohri says: “Folklore has it that the Van Rawats descend from a king who ruled at Askot near Pithoragarh. The belief is that a brother of the king was exiled and went to live in a cave. His descendants became the Van Rawats. They consider themselves Rajputs. Those who've interacted with them say they often insist on being ad dressed respectfully in line with their lineage.“

Because they mainly belong to the remote jun gles, the tribe hasn't had access to education and jobs. Renu Thakur, convener of the NGO Arpan, says some Van Rawats now live in pucca houses but still don't have a permanent source of income. “They get MNREGA work, are usually employed by the Border Roads Organisation or are employed as farmhands. Since their numbers are so tiny , politicians ignore them.“

Gagan Singh Rajwar, a tribe member, won two assembly elections in 2002 and 2007, after Dharchula was made a reserved seat. Rajwar, one of the few Van Rawats who went to school, acknowledges that the community “hasn't been able to speak up for itself. Most of our people are tied up trying to make ends meet.“

As in 2022

Prem Punetha, February 14, 2022: The Times of India

Pithoragarh: One of India’s smallest and most endangered tribes has always found it hard to make itself heard. This time, too, it’s no different for the last 600 members of Uttarakhand’s Van Rawats. 
To exercise their franchise, a Van Rawat would first have to undertake a journey of roughly 60kms to get a voter ID card made, which very few have. On polli ng day, there would be long distances to travel to a booth to cast their vote. And a trek back through forests and tough hill terrain. “It’s not worth it,” one of them said. “In any case, in a country so large, what weight do wecarry?” 
The population of the tribe, which experts fear is on the brink of extinction, is scattered across a few localities in the remote hills of Pithoragarh, Khirdwari, Dharchula, and Baitadi district of Nepal. Virtually cut off from society, most have no voter cards, Aadhaar cards or even cellphones, and are in abject poverty. Tribe m embers who mainly live in areas in and around forests in the hills would have to trek several kms to reach polling booths. Bhaktirva has 24 voters with the nearest polling booth 7 km fro m the locality. Kantoli has roughly 70 v oters with the v oting station 5 km away. “Those who have turned 18 give us logic. ‘20 km, no voice’, they say. What can we tell them,” said Kheema Jethi, an elder.

The tribe was recently hit hard by the Covid outbreak. TOI had earlier reported that sans smartphones and other resources, vaccination centres, almost always far away, were out of bounds for the Van Rawats. The tribe remembers are a “success story” though. Gagan Singh Rajwar, a Van Rawat, was an MLA for 10 years from the Dharchula constituency in Pithoragarh from 2002 to 2012, fielded by the local population as an independent candidate against the “big” BJP and Congress.

“Local community members were looking for an educated tribal to contest against the others. They found Gagan Singh Rajwar, who had studied till class 9. He was the most educated among the Van Rawats,” said Kundal Singh, a local. He added that it took over a week to convince Rajwar to contest the election.

But quite a few among the Van Rawats aren’t giving up. “I will go and cast my vote, whatever may be the distance,” said Kalyan Singh from Bhaktirva. Basanti Devi of Kimkhola said she will join him. “Voices echo in the forests,” Basanti said. “Who knows, ours might too. ”