October 4923HARADAS RELEASED, DEFIES CRIMINAL TRIBES ACTDhuleep HaradasMore than a decade after being jailed without trial under the Criminal Tribes Act, and after months of bitter campaigning and threatened fasts-to-the-death, Dhuleep Haradas, the Adivasi (OOC: Indian tribal) leader and Gerajan (OOC: Hindu) holy man who has become a figurehead for every marginalised group in the country, stepped out of Kajpur City Jail to greet the hundreds of thousands of people who had come along to greet him. The international media was out in force as well, and the televised scenes are being repeat broadcasted all across Terra.
When the heavy, intimidating prison gates opened and Haradas first emerged, the cheers from the crowd were deafening, and did not subside for a good 15 minutes, and only after Haradas had gestured with hands for the crowd to quieten, so he could say a few words.
He began, curiously enough, by thanking his jailors, whom he said he had gotten to know well over many years, and hoped to stay in contact with after leaving prison. "I am hoping to visit them and their families, when I can" he said. He also thanked his prison doctor, his family, his fellow villagers in the River Washe community in Washebar and his supporters across Malivia and the world, whose support, he said, "means more to me than I can ever express".
He then talked about wanting to return to his hut in the forest. "Assuming they've not knocked it down again," he quipped, a comment which aroused a little laughter, since Haradas' home has famously been demolished by police and then re-erected by the local villagers more times than anyone can remember.
His speech then took a more serious turn. "But as much as I would like to go back to my forest and live out my remaining years, I cannot, because there is so much work still do to, and I feel not only on behalf of myself, but on behalf of my own generation, that I have a responsibility to fight the battles that are ahead of us now, rather than just leaving them to my grandchildren to deal with".
He began with a blistering attack on the philosophy of Gerajatva (OOC: Hindutva) which animates the ruling Raktavani National Party, denouncing it as "an evil, hateful, fascist ideology". Geraja, he declared, "is the way of life for many of us in Malivia, and is a wonderful thing which has everything to offer to the world", but Gerajatva, he warned is "a perversion of everything Geraja stands for and is not Geraja at all, not all all" and is "a danger to everyone inside Malivia and a danger to a good many people outside Malivia as well".
He went on to talk about the international community, thanking "all of those people abroad who have supported our cause and done so much for us", but he had some words of criticism as well. "International community, where have you been?" he asked. "It is as though just because Malivia has for a few moments in history withdrawn its territorial claims, you think everything is fine here and everything should carry on as normal".
Next he turned to the main focus of his speech, the notorious
Criminal Tribes Act. "I vow to fight this wicked legislation with every fibre of my being, every drop of my blood, every breath from my lungs - I am ready to fight this even at the cost of my own life," he thundered, to ecstatic applause and nervous glances from nearby police officers.
"Under this legislation", he continued...
We Adivasis are criminals in our own land. A police officer can enter an Adivasi dwelling without cause or reason, he can ransack his belongings, he can arrest him, he can drag him to the police station, he can detain him for as long as he wants - again with no cause - and if they choose, they can throw him in jail, for as long as they want, without even a judicial trial.
After this, the crowd became aroused, and shouts were heard demanding the government should be overthrown and even "Haradas for Prime Minister". Haradas then quietened the crowd, reminding them of his "total commitment to the principles of non-violent protest", but nevertheless arguing "we can, through non-violent protest and non-violent non-co-operation, render this entire system of oppression unworkable - we can defeat it, I promise you we can". He then spoke about how "the cause of the Adivasi is the same as the cause of every person in Malivia who wants a better and a fairer way of life here", and he referred in particular to the struggles of the Hosians (OOC: Christians), Malisindus (OOC: Afro-Caribbeans) and the lower castes.
With Haradas having remained quiet for several minutes whilst the crowd was cheering and chanting in support, it seemed as though the main event of the day might now be over. This was not to be, however. After gesturing to the crowd once again for silence, Haradas unleashed his bombshell.
"Before I came out of here, they gave me an official card, which I, as an Adivasi, am required by the government, under the terms of the Criminal Tribes Act to carry with me wherever I go". He then produced the identity card from his pocket. "Do any of you have a card like this?" he asked the crowd.
Hundreds of Adivasis surged forward, holding up their official cards.
"These are cards which we, as Adivasis, have to carry, but nobody else in Malivia has to," he said. "If we are to overcome the injustice of the Criminal Tribes Act, then our goal must be to eliminate this difference between us, and I intend to begin right here and right now".
One of Haradas' loyal supporters then emerged with a small charcoal fire, which he proceeded to light. To gasps from the crowd and horrified expressions from the nearby police officers, Haradas then raised his official card above the charcoal fire.
At this point, the senior police officer on the scene, Commander Jeet Kamath, took out his megaphone and bellowed at Haradas:
Mr. Haradas, that card is official property, and if you damage or destroy it I will have no no choice, sir, but to arrest you.
"Behold what you see," Haradas replied calmly, "This small flame will send out a light which even your grandchildren and great-grand-children and great-great-grand-children will know of". And with that, he dropped his card in to the fire, and it incinerated within moments.
With the crowd becoming more and more excited, the police hesitated, their heads huddled together, trying to work out what to do. To attempt to arrest Haradas now would be to risk a riot.
A queue of Adivasis formed, all holding their official cards. One by one, they dropped their cards in to the fire, burning forever, they hoped, at least a portion of the indignity heaped upon them by one of the cruellest and most degrading pieces of legislation anyone in the world is subject to today.
The police, outnumbered and their morale deflated, did nothing.
And after these scenes appeared on the television, and news of them spread across the country, they were repeated everywhere - in the forests, in the mountains, in the coastal communities, in the villages, the towns, the cities - everywhere.
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