Engaging the postcolonial state: dam, forced relocation, and the Bhil Adivasi Group of the Narmada River Valley, India

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper shows the limits of the Global North activism related to environment and indigenous identity for the South to instead highlight the primacy of regional political processes. It studies the changing perceptions of the state and the consequent political strategies used by the marginalized Bhils. They faced submergence due to the Sardar Sarovar Dam on River Narmada in western India. The Bhils, categorized as ‘aboriginal tribe’ by the colonial regime, along with other groups, are popularly called Adivasi (original dwellers). The Narmada dam followed in the wake of their sociopolitical isolation due to state policies, loss of forest, and exploitation by dominant groups. The paper highlights the continuous attempts by the Bhils to adapt and constructively engage with the state as they first opposed the dam and later mobilized for their resettlement. They made transient alliances with various external activists rather than simply being helpless victims or heroic resistors.