For Santhals, tribe at cusp of change, Droupadi Murmu is reason for pride

From Sidhu and Kanhu Murmu, who led the rebellion against the East India Company in the 19th century, to Babulal Marandi, the first chief minister of the newly created state of Jharkhand, to Raghunath Murmu, who created the first-ever written script for the Santhali language, to G. C. Murmu, the first lieutenant governor of the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir, and now Droupadi Murmu, who, if elected, will become the first tribal President of India, the Santhali tribe has subtly shaped India's identity over the years.

That is a lot of heft for a community that makes up about 7 million people and less than 10 per cent of all the tribes in India. Murmu, if elected as the next President, would create a landmark for her native state of Odisha, where the tribe is often caught in the crossfire between mining interests, naxal activities, and paramilitary counter offensives that extend into neighbouring Jharkhand, where the tribe also has a sizeable presence.

According to official figures, India’s tribal population is concentrated in four states -- Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha, and Bihar. A small population inhabits Tripura as well, but more than half of them reside in the rural parts of Jharkhand and West Bengal. In Jharkhand, they are the single-largest tribe comprising almost a third of the population. Despite their miniscule numbers, they are the third-largest among the thousands of indigenous tribes that inhabit every part of India.

Although one of the 61 tribes of Odisha, the Santhals form almost 9 per cent of the population in the state. The irony is Murmu, who rose to the ranks of politician from a college professor, comes from a state where almost half the Santhalis are illiterate. A heartening development among the tribes in her home state is their educational status has massively improved over the years. While Murmu became a Santhali leader for the BJP in 1997, 90 per cent of the tribe in the state was illiterate. Education has spread among Santhalis, so has their migration to urban centres in search of employment over the years. This trend is defined in Jharkhand and West Bengal as well.

While the culture and customs of the Santhals remain confined to a few states, a huge fillip to its preservation was given by the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government in 2003. Through the 92nd Constitutional Amendment Act, Parliament included Santhali, along with three other tribal tongues, in the eighth schedule which entitled it to be given special attention for its development and enrichment by the government. The NDA government under Narendra Modi in 2022 seems to have given the Santhals another reason to make their presence felt despite being a speck in India’s billion-plus demography.