Tribals are 'original owners' of forest land, says Rahul in Wayanad

Talking at a launch of a power facility at a cancer centre on April 13, he said tribal brothers and sisters are the “original owners” of the country, and that Adivasis should be given rights over “land and forests”.

In Wayanad for the first time since he was reinstated as an MP, Rahul also slammed the use of the word ‘vanvaasi’. The word had a “perverted logic”, he stressed.

Further, Rahul went on to elaborate on the meaning of the word ‘Adivasi’. According to him, Advisasi means the original owners of the land, it means a particular wisdom, a particular understanding of the earth we live on, a particular relationship with the planet we live on.

What Adivasi means

The word ‘Adivasi’ also respects and accepts the fact that our tribal brothers and sisters were the original owners of this country, Rahul continued, adding that in turn this implies that the original owners of this country should be given rights over the land and forests, and should be allowed "an imagination" to do whatever they want.

He also said that as the original owners of the land, they have the right for their children to study engineering, become doctors, become lawyers, start businesses, know computers. "But you should also get the rights in the forest, you should get the right to land, you should get the right to forest produce,” he said. 

Also read: Rahul back in Wayanad as MP, gets rousing welcome

The word ‘vanvaasi’ however “denies tribals are the original owners of India”. It restricts them to the jungle. "The idea behind the word ‘vanvaasi’ means that they belong in the jungle and you should never leave the jungle. And this is simply not acceptable to us,” he said.

“ This word is a distortion of your history, your tradition, and an attack on your relationship to this country. For us, you are ‘Adivasis’ and we can learn from you,” he added.

The word ‘environmental protection’ has become fashionable but the ‘Adivasis’ in their inherent wisdom have been talking about environmental protection for 3,000-5,000 years, he pointed out. So, Rahul said wanted everyonean learn from Adivasi history, from their tradition and from their way of life. “Not just about the environment, but how to deal with each other, how to respect each other,” he said.

Wayanad is like my family: Rahul

Earlier on Saturday at Kalpetta in Wayanad, the Congress leader referred to Wayanad like “my family”. He said, “They don’t understand that the more they try to separate me from you, the stronger the relationship would be. The disqualification has made my relationship with Wayanad stronger.”

Rahul also continued to target Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the ongoing violence in Manipur. He said, “You can disqualify me 50 or 100 times, but this relationship (with Wayanad) would only become stronger," he said accusing BJP of destroying families. According to Rahul, the BJP wants to divide the idea of India. "In Manipur, they destroyed families… But we would bring love back to Manipur. You took two months to destroy Manipur, but it may take five years to bring love back to Manipur. We will do this. This is the fight between Congress and BJP.”

Later in the day, Rahul is slated to lay the foundation stone for a disability management centre at a Kozhikode.