They had grievances, they had aspirations, but no voice. So a group of educated tribal youths from Madhya Pradesh decided to take matters of the community into their own hands, and made Facebook a platform to exchange views and find solutions.
Created nearly seven months ago, the 'National Indian Tribal Yuva Shakti' page on the social networking site has already attracted more than 5,000 members. And hundreds of them will come face-to-face for the first time next week to discuss various issues, including tribal land acquisition by big companies and loss of tribal access to land and other natural resources.
The group has decided to organise a Facebook Tribal Meet in Barwani district on May 16, which is likely to be attended by more than three hundred people from Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, West Bengal and Gujarat.
During the meet, the members will be able to discuss their ordeals, issues facing the community, and flaws in redressal mechanism.
"The one-day meet will be held in the community hall of Barwani Nagar Palika. It will be attended by nearly 300 youths from seven states, including Madhya Pradesh. We have set up a seven-point agenda of discussion and talks," said Hiralal Alawa, a student of AIIMS, Delhi, and coordinator of the group.
"We have over 5,000 members, and many of them have shown their interest to attend the meet… But we have technical issues and have to invite only a few hundred of them," he added.
In the meet, there will be interactions among youths who will be expressing, clarifying and interpreting their problems. One of the interesting aspects of the event is that, a problem-solving approach will be used to encourage them to make generalisations about various problems, Alawa said.
The 30-year-old says, almost a decade back, it was too risky to be identified as a person who is raising the voice of the tribals. "It is no longer a taboo to talk about it on Facebook."
Hiralal, who is a student of AIIMS, Delhi and specialises in immunology branch, wishes to share podium with mainstream celebrities and influential businessmen who will understand the problems the tribes face in the country.
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