Primitive Classification
Down To Earth|April 16, 2017

The Gonds, like other indigenous communities, still do not have sovereign political rights.

Rajat Ghai
Primitive Classification

BARELY 100 km from the city of my birth, Vadodara, is a region that is distinct from all of Gujarat. Called Poorvi Patti (eastern belt), it stretches from Banas-kantha in the north to Dangs in the south. It is a hilly and forested area and most of its inhabitants are tribal communities such as Gonds, Rathwas, Chaudharys and Gamits. Growing up in Vadodara, I was fed with stories about how these communities were naïve, childlike simpletons and lazy buffoons, who drank lots of country-made liquor.

This story is from the April 16, 2017 edition of Down To Earth.

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This story is from the April 16, 2017 edition of Down To Earth.

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