Santali Language Movement in the Context

Santali Language Movement in the Contextof Many Dominant Langauges

In the nineteenth century European sense of the word, 'nationalism' reffered to a political movement or a process of growing self-consciousness based on a feeling of common ethnically. Of the several criteria of ethnically, a common language has been the paramount one, with religion coming in second place. Thus, when we speak of German or Italian nationalism, we mean primarily the growth of political consciousness by people sharing the same language.
In this sense of the word 'nationalism', which may be called sub-nationalism in the Indian context, most of the Indian context, most of the Indian states fall into a single typological set, i.e., 'nation state' or 'ethnic state'. Majority of the Indian states, whether they share the common ethnically or not, share one of its major components-a common language i.e., Orissa-Oriya, Bengal-Bengali, Tamil Nadu-Tamil, Maharastra-Marathi, Uttar Pradesh-Hindi, etc. typologically, a different set of States are Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Meghalaya etc.
1. Jammu and Kashmir-Where Kashmiri is the motertongue of the bulk of the inhabitants, Urdu is the official language.
2. Himachal Pradesh-Where Hindi, the official language, is the mothertongue of a negligible minority.
3. Nagaland-Where English, the official language is almost nobody's mothertongue and is an imported 'other tongue'.
the latter states then are not really 'nation-states' or 'ethnic states', as they are still striving for some measure of nationhood not yet warranted by today's linguistic facts. The singleness of the language
which indicates a nation undivided, that is, a clearly dominant ethnic group constituting an undisputed majority of the inhabitants is still a missing factor in the formation of these states. Therefore, they can best be called as 'political States' or 'multi-ethnic States'.
The so-called 'ethnic States' in India do not have a uniform history. The present State of Andhra Pradesh, which is an ethnic State was carved out of the Madras State at a much later stage. the same is also true of the Haryana State. Both these States have emerged from Madras and Punjab respectively and are good examples of new ethnic States, emerging from situations of linguistic duality or multiethnicity. The formation of these States is based upon a completely different linguistic philosophy from that of the political States, i.e., Himachal Pradesh, Arunachal, Meghalaya and Nagaland, etc.
Thus, 1500 to 2000 mothertongues, which are returned by the Indian population in its censuses are found to be spoken in any one of these two geo-political set ups, that is, either as the official language of an ethnic State. Whatever the case ay be, the minority languages present an array of problems which differ from language to language.
1. A minority language may be the language of the majority in a particular State, thus enjoying the status of official language in that State. For example, Telugu in Tamil Nadu vis-a-vis Telugu in Andhra Pradesh.
2. A minority language may enjoy the status of official language by being the language of a dominant community whether constituting the majority of the inhabitants or not. For example, Urdu in Karnataka vis-a-vis Urdu in Jammu and Kashmir.
3. A minority language may enjoy the status of official language due to high incidence of bilingualism in that language. For example, Hindi in Himachal Pradesh.
4. A minority language may be the language of minority populations in more than one State. For example, Santali in Orissa, Assam, West Bengal and Bihar.
5. A minority language spoken only in one state. For example, Juang in Orissa.
The main aim for categorising the minority languages variously is to stress teh pint that each of these has the potentiality to create movements characteristics of the position it has in the over all linguistic situation of the country. For example, all the languages like Konkani, Gondi, santali, etc., which fall into the category 4 show similiar traits with regard to the language developments. These languages which are
distribute in three or more States have undergone periodic cathartic upheavals to reassure themselves of their threatened solidarity or to consolidate their position as a viable force. In fact, these minority languages when compared with Sindhi and Kashmiri are lingusitically more stable and demographiclly numerous. Nevertheless, while Sindhi and Kashmiri has received the official protection by virtue of their being included in the VIII schedule of the Indian constitution, these minority languages are still struggling for identification. These struggles are not necessarily linguistic always, but, language plays an important role in their movements either overtly or covertly, for language alone can provide the single most important solidarity bond to herd the population which is geographically non-contiguous.
With this introduction we can now look into the specific case of Santali language, which is spoken by 3,130,829 persons all over India and this number of total speakers is significantly larger than even some of the scheduled languages like Sindhi and Kashmiri. Nevertheless, it is a minority language in four States being spoken by 67,262 in Assam, 1,582,016 in Bihar, 3,58,262 in Orissa and 1,121,447 in West Bengal. The Konkani language, which is no better than Santali in this respect has however the added advantage of not being a tribal language. As a result, Konkani has received some amount of recognition both from way in achieving its self-preservation. Although one would very much like to corroborate to Padits's view that in Indian cultural setting people maintain their language, unfortunately it is not the whole very much like to corroborate to Pandit's view that in Indian cultural setting people maintain their language, unfortunately it is not the whole story. According to Pandit, (1971) "One of the typical features of multilingualism or bilingualism in India is its stability; despite the high rate of illitracy and lack of any tradition of formal language teaching in India, the incidence of billingualism indicates that speakers of different languages stay side by side, in considerable number in rural as well as urban areas, thereby making a sizable population of each language a billingual group". To the question, 'why are the bilingual situations stable?' he further romanticizes the situation saying: "In order to settle down among other language speakers, an Indian does not have to give up his language. He is welcome despite his different language; speaking a different language does not make him an alien. The underlying acceptability of an Indian in any cultural setting is symptomat c o cultural identity and homogeneity at a deeper level; it permits retention of identity makers-whether it is language or religion, food habits or dress habits". Pandit's observation are true to some extent if and only if we take minority communities like Panjabis and Kannadigas who fall into the category I of our earlier description, but this would,
hardly be true for the communities of other catogories. Their historical experience including that of the Santals suggests certain processes which may be applicable to all encysted societies which have conceded rank to a dominant surrounding society or societies. These processes may be called as "rank concession syndrome", "Rank concession" means the acceptance of social inferiorty. For example, the evidence of Santal rank concession is manifold. Recalling these, Martin Orans (1965) says that "the earliest historical evidence shows the Santal adopting and adondoning traits on the basis of their rank value in Hindu society. The acceptance of alien rank values can hardly ensue without rank concession. The Santal themselves say that "the diku are big and knowing people" and their demeanor as they interact with the Hindus, particularly of high caste, confirms acceptance in fair measure of their inferior status. Even tody, in a period of renewed solidarity, the Santal are striving to "raise themselves" top the Santal-Hindu relations has provided the Santal with sufficient reason to hate and fear as well as admire their Hindu neighbours".
To accept inferior status is to accept the attributes of rank of the superior society, and such acceptance produces a tendency to emulation. This emulation is an effect of rank concession, and evidence for it as well. The many examples noted of Santal emulation of the dominant Hindu societies which have conceded rank to emulate. They may also be regarded as supporting evidence, to indicate rank concession, though rank concession can be independently observed in Santal social relations with Hindu as well as inferred from Santal comments about the social superiority of the diku. Such a power concession generates its own borrowing tendencies. For example, one commonly hears Bengali and Oriya songs and Sanskritic prayers as essential elements in Santal curing rites, though often even the practitioner does not understand the words. All of the borrowing tendencies which flow from rank concession plus external pressure and encroachment on encysted society tend to diminish solidarity. Among the cultural bonds which pertain to all Santal solidarity is a particular myth of creation which comes as close to being an official symbol of unity and a constitution as traditional Santal society has attained. Even this myth which serves as the foremost solidarity bond is on its way out according to Culshaw's report (1949). What remains then for the Santals is a common language whose strength can hardly be overestimated; for pervasiveness and necessity no bond can match it. there are dialectal differences particularly
between north and south; a few quite regular sound changes may cause brief difficulties in communication, and a few words have different meanings or are known only in an particular region. Nevertheless, there is almost complete mutual intelligibility.
The question however remains, how long, the Santali language, the greatest of all solidarity bonds, can withstand the indiscriminate borrowing from the dominant groups to the lesser ones, without destroying the mutual intelligibility in the process. This is one of the major points a language by Santali faces by simultaneously being exposed not to one dominant language but to four, i.e., Assamese, Bengali, Hindi and Oriya. Similar is the case with the Santali biloingualism, the ever growing incidence of which is caused what Orissa 91965) calls "external pressure brought to bear by the dominant society on the encysted society to adopt its customs". Surrounding dominant societies must demand allegiance to at least the official symbols of suzerainty; acceptance of a number of other customs is likely also to be demanded as the solidarity needs of the dominant society increase. There are likely also to be a number of customs of the encysted society which the superior finds repugnant or even redundant, a reaction which pressures exerted on the encysted society. The pressures exerted on the encysted society may include positive rewards for compliance or coercive acts.
In these situations, no matter how much one like to subscribe to Pandit's happy position, one has to accept that, many tribal groups in India, in the past have completely forsaken their languages. These are Bhil, Baiga, Bhuyan, Bhumji, several branches of Gond, several branches of Malpaharia, Lodha, and may others. In spite of the santal's relatively higher conservativeness in this respect, santili bilingualism in the four state languages is increasingly high. According to the 1961 Census, bilingualism of the santali population in Assam is 41.89%, Bihar 20.48%, Orissa 65.48%, and in West Bengal 41.08% (See Table-I for the details).
But, Santal as a tribe is not oblivious to this situation, many traits of Santal culture has been retained intact, despite the impinging forces that have influenced their life. Some new elements have been syncretized with old ones, while old trains have been reinterpreted to facilities the acceptance of new ones. Many entirely new traits, which do not allow of syncretization and reinterpretation, have, however, entered Santal life. More important is the growth of certain positive movements among the Santal in reaction to these impinging forces.
The failure of the rebellion of 1855 demanding (1) relief from rapacious money lenders, (2) freedom from personal and hereditary debt bondage, (3) adequate court redress did not mean the end of Santal reaction, but only the beginning of a new consciousness which has been manifested in various subsequent movements. The first of these is known as the Kherwar movement which developed in the nineteenth century in a period of great economic suffering. This movement may be said to have two aspects, political and socio-religious. Politically it has resisted the imposition and enhancement of rent, and conceived the idea of driving away the British and other aliens from Santal territory, thus restoring the period when the Santals were not compelled to pay rent, but were masters of their country.
In the nineteenth century Kherwar movement, emphasis was laid more on the absorption and emulation of Hindu traits, as the Hindus were regarded as a means of improving the status of the people. Those Santals who joined this Hinduized sect adopted number of critical symbols of rank, such as wearing the sacred thread. They were said to "regard themselves as socially superior to those who do not wear 'Suta'. The "janeodhari" Santal were reluctant to intermarry or have social intercourse with the non-janeodhari Santal. This sect also abjured meat eating. A prime motivation for the sect's adoption of such practices must have been to attain higher rank.
But during the thirties of the twentieth century, the character of Santal reaction to the impinging forces changed, and the Kherwar movement was on the decline. This change in the character of Santal reaction is marked by a shift in the emphasis from the socio-religious to the political aspect, together with an increasing reliance on the adoption of alien socio-religious practices.
A more typical case of the second type of development is found in the growth of the Adivsi movement which expressed the aspirations of the original inhabitants. In the District of Santal Paraganas, where the Santal, are numerically strong and live in compact groups, the Adivasi movement has shown a rapid development since about 1938. The main demands of the Adivasi movement include the establishment of a separate province for the aboriginal tribes of Chota Nagpur within the framework of the Government of India, the representation of the aboriginal tribe in the State cabinet of Bihar by at least one educated aboriginal, and the introduction of Santali and other aboriginal languages as the media of instruction in schools. This movement unlike the previous ones which more or less conceded the rank to its more powerful neighbours by indiscriminately emulating their traits, looked more and more towards what can be called a 'nativization' movement.
In this movement language and tradition played a greater role. Having taken much from their Hindu neighbours, but desirous of maintaining their identity, they decided to create a "great tradition" of their own rather than accept the one belonging to their neighbours. There is, for example, an attempt to codify Santal traditions in writing and even the development of a distinctive script in which to record these traditions. In place of an essentially inexplicit religious ideology expressed in ritual, there is the development of an explicit religious ideology with an emphasis on morality. There is also the elaboration of literary forms wholly unlike the unpretentious traditional ones. The whole attempt has been in creating and perpetuating new boundary markers which will save the tribe from assimilation, whether these makers are beefeating or cow sacrifice, language maintenance or traditional dances, drinking rice beer or workship of the traditional gods or the sacred grove. These traits serve not only to bind together the Santal but are held in common with most of the tribes, like Munda, Ho, Oraon, Bhumji and Birhor which support the Jharkhand movemnets.
The Jharkhand movement like any other has produced its own leaders or charishmatic celebrities like Jaypal Singh or Ragnath Murmu. Ragnath Murmu is one of the founders of a cultural organization known as 'Sarna Dharma Semlet' i.e., Sacred Grove Religious Organization. This organization, which today is the spearhead of the cultural movement, is an offshoot of the Jharkhand party. It was established before the Census of 1961 for the purpose of persuading the tribals of the region to return their religion as 'Sarna'. Just as Hindu organization like Arya Samaj pressurize for Hindu returns as a sign of national solidarity, Semlet was created to show the solidarity of tribals. Thus, the battle over cultural identification was waged. Whatever its success in the census under the leadership of Ragnath Murma the Organisation has taken on a number of cultural functions, such as propagating Murma's theory of witchcraft and the sacred scripts and scriptures. In the words of Guru Gomke or Esteemed Guru, the purpose of Semlet is to teach the people to live peaceably with belief in the duties. The Guru has written a very long epic-heroic play, Kherwar Bir, which serves as a Santal equivalent of the Mahabharat. The word Kherwar is a heroic designation for Santal; Bir means forest in Santali. The essence of the plot is that the Santal, then known as Kherwar and the possessors of a great kingdom, lose a war with a people who have the attributes of Hindu, the victors taking many many members of the royal family prisoners. The Guru deftly reverses the usual Hindu pattern by having the Santal's opponents be cannibals prepared to eat their Santal prisoners . Fortunately, a young
Kherwar price, following the call of duty in spite of great danger,succeeds in both rescuing the prisoners and defeating the enemy. this play is both a parable about duty, and, like the old myth of the caste functions of the clans, a character for present independence. In addition, the existence of such a written epic raises the rank valve of Santal culture; to hear Santal praise the play is to erase all doubts about the significance of this objective. The historically of the play is provided with archaeological support by sophisticated Santals who note that an abandon old fort far to the north was probably the seat of the old kingdom. Less sophisticated Santal remark that the Guru did not make up the play, but it was the result of revelation preceded by meditation.
It is also the Guru who created the original Santal script known as the ol script. Numerous booklets explaining it have been distributed, and there are many Santals, particularly among the industrial workers, who can read it. Formerly all Santali writings were in Nagari, Bengali, Oriya or Roman script as developed by the missionaries. Wherever there are large gatherings today, Santals may be seen reading, particularly the words to new songs, in the new script. The connection of the script with solidarity is obvious to all; the Guru reports that he was asked by the former Maharaja of Mayurbhanj to cease propagating the script because it was divisive; he claims to have replied that he would gladly do so if the Maharaja would see to it that the Oriya script was also abandoned.
Several drama clubs have sprung up to perform Kherwar Bir and some other recent plays. The great task that Semlet hopes to undertake, and for which money is the new script. At periodic Semlet meetings one may observe eloquent representations of the cultural movement and its intimate connection with solidarity and political rank path.
Santal movements for survival and solidarity are not a new phenomena. they have their own history. In the present decades these movements have penetrated deep into the Indian power structure by the addition of the political force, which the Santals have achieved to some extent by sending their representatives successfully to at least three state legislative councils and to the Lok Sabha. The 1855-57 rebellion, which was motivated solely by economic deprivations, was the last of its kind and was peculiar to the colonial system of the British Raj. The present day India, being a welfare state, guarentees every citizen whether tribal or non-tribal the minimum economic security and further protects him from exploitation. Therefore, the Santal movements are no longer guided by economic conditions, but by broader socio-cultural considerations. It is a tribe in search of its own great tradition. If it finds its religion in the sacred grove, takes pride in eating beef and drinking rice beer, provides a script and cultivates a literature, then it is:in no way more misguided than say Konkani, Maithili, Pahari or Rajasthani. It also suffers similar disadvantages of being distributed in non-contiguous geographical regions and being separated at least by four distinct political boundaries. In the final analysis then, the present day Santal movements cannot be taken as an isolated incident, peculiar to some wayward Indian tribe. It shares the same aspirations of many other Indains.

Source: http://www.ciil-ebooks.net/html/langMove/santali.html

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