He thinks that all these tribes, sometimes thirty to fifty in each province, which he called Adibasis collectively form part of a single community. Now, that is—I know something about my own province—an entirely incorrect statement of fact. Each province has many scheduled tribes of its own. Each of these tribes is different from the other ethnically as mellas from the point of view of language, from the point of view of social and religious customs. There is nothing in common between one tribe and another. In my own province there are five tribes, who are scheduled tribes under this Constitution. Dublas, Bhils, Kolis, Bardas and Gonds. I know something about them. They are completely different from one another. I am sure no one would agree with the view that the Santals of Bihar, the Gonds or Bhils of Bombay and the Nagas of Assam are members of the same ethnic, religious or social group. They belong to different types of civilisations and different geological periods and it is necessary that different considerations should be applied for bringing them up to the level of the rest of the country. To call them all Adibasis and group them together as one community will not only be an untruth in itself but would be absolutely ruinous, for the tribes themselves. Therefore it is necessary that in order to give them a proper place in society, different sets of activities would have to be adopted. This is the cardinal difference between the attitude of my friend Mr. Jaipal Singh the rest of us. The Adibasis are not one conscious corporate, collective whole in this country so that somebody can speak in its name or can lead a movement combining them into a single unit. It would be fatal to the tribals themselves if such a policy is followed in this country.
