They Were The Real Inheritors Of The Earth, Until The City Came Along

Hailing from a small village in Kolhapur, Lad studied social work at Pune University after a numbing revelation about how tribals live in India. For over two decades he's been fighting for the rights of a quaint category called urban tribals, most of whom are not on the voter's list, they don't even own a ration card. They simply don't exist. They just grow seasonal vegetables for a living, but for the better part of the year they live on the edge. A few weeks ago, the Mumbai high court issued eviction notices to the 'encroachers' in the National Park. It's true that in the park, many people who flocked to Mumbai recently in search of that elusive square meal, have kick-started a civilisation on land that doesn't belong to them. But it's also true that even before environmentalism became a fad, ancestors of tribal families had been living in these very forests.

"So, the point is," Lad says, "these tribals never went to the city. The city grew and came into their home." Twenty-five years ago when the National Park was formed as a patch of green among the urban chaos, the tribals were swallowed up by a demarcation, someone had drawn a sly line. The tribals didn't know that a day would come when they would be asked to leave their homes because they didn't have proof of residence. Vitthal started an organisation called Jaag which has fought against such government edicts.

But there have been bigger plunderers: builders. The tribals were sitting on land worth crores. "Thakur builders did everything they could to get the land. Even the underworld wanted the property. They beat up the people. I too was beaten up sometimes for going to the authorities. But when we continued to oppose they came home and offered me Rs 25 lakh to bury the fight," says the motivated 37-year-old. The builders also used ingenious methods to fool the tribals. A man would visit a family with a big bundle of two and five rupee notes. The tribals believed that since the bundle was big, it should be a lot of money. And they would sell their lands for a paltry sum. Even today, builders successfully employ this ruse. This is why Lad is asking the government to declare that tribal lands cannot be sold. But it's a fight every step of the way.

Lad was 18 years old when he realised his aim in life. When he found himself "trapped" in Mumbai, he used to escape to the forests on the outskirts. That's how he discovered the hidden hamlets. "They were pathetic villages. Even today they have nothing. The children don't go to school, there is no drainage, no doctors, there is nothing." Once, roaming in the forests, he discovered that in the Aarey Milk colony, the cows had doctors and food. "I'm not against animals but sometimes you wonder that if man can take so much care of animals, why does he leave human beings to lead such terrible lives?"

Now Lad isn't just fighting for tribal rights, but also brings them a better life. He collects donations from the tribals who want to help. cry (Child Relief and You) has supported him with Rs 4.28 lakh for the period between April '99 and March 2000. "He needs at least this much to bring doctors and teachers to the villages. And, of course, to mobilise support for his fight with the government, says John Roberts, manager, Programme Support, cry.

In these villages it's Lad who takes census reports. He even prints birth and death certificates. In birth and in death, Lad says, these tribals don't belong anywhere. But that doesn't mean the fight is over. Vitthal Lad can be contacted at: Wangad Chawl, Room no 5, Navpada, Marol Naka, A.K. Road, Andheri (E), Mumbai -400 0059. Phone: (Off) 8220889; (Res) 8694329.