Jal Jangal Zameen

Hariram Meena is an expert and thinker on tribal society who has traveled extensively to tribal areas across the country and conducted extensive research on the lives of tribal people. Based on this extensive study, he presents the contemporary and future challenges facing tribal people in this book.Those whom we today recognize as tribals are the original inhabitants of India, as evidenced by the Ramayana, Mahabharata, Puranas, and other ancient texts. Tribals are settled in many regions of the country, and each tribal community has its own distinct culture, language, and social traditions. Despite these differences, all tribal communities share some common characteristics, such as their love for nature, coexistence with animals, equality between men and women, and the absence of the concept of private property.Since tribals mostly live in the forests, non-tribal societies often assume that these people are backward, uncivilized, and savage. But when we consider their lives from the perspective of spontaneity, simplicity, collectivism, selflessness, brotherhood, resistance to injustice, and the ecological balance of the earth, tribal society appears to be in a better condition than the so-called educated, prosperous, and civilized society. Tribals protect natural resources as trustees or custodians, and this is why whatever natural resources remain in the country today are primarily concentrated in tribal areas. This book by Hariram Meena is an important effort toward a better understanding of tribal society.