Self Determination and Indigenous People: The Fight For ‘Commons’

Abstract

History has always seen the less-privileged as the one suffering the alienation of their rights, entitlements. It is equally true that these communities have fought back to claim what is rightfully theirs. The principle of Self determination or the right to decide how to be governed can be traced back to World War-1 and the principles laid down by Woodrow Wilson. This right to Self determination exists for each one of us. This becomes even more imminent when it belongs to a community which has its own preserved culture to protect, it has its own resources of which it is the foremost protector. Here the paper emphasizes how the tribals in India have now been reduced to a mere dependant and beggary.The paper traces the various changes of the Indian legal system governing the relationship between the ‘Commons’ and the Tribal Communities. But ‘the history of Forests is the history of conflicts’. The researcher has taken two case studies- the struggles of the Dongria-Kondhs of Odisha and the Sentinelese from Andaman , to show how these communities have in their own unparalleled ways protect their Commons from the never-ending appetite of the industrialization and human greed. Lastly, the researcher has analysed various provisions from the Corpus of Indian laws, to find out where is the State missing out. Along with it, the researcher has also suggested potential reforms to those lags , so as to guarantee the Tribals their “Right of Self Determination” in wholesome.