Sharad Chavan

Part 3: Tribal Pride Day provides an opportunity to honour the traditions, culture and valour of India's Adivasi communities. Having examined the origins of World Indigenous Peoples' Day in Part 1 and its relevance to India in Part 2, we must now consider whether this observance has any place in the Indian context. The question is not whether indigenous peoples deserve respect and recognition—they certainly do—but whether this particular observance reflects India's historical experience and...

Part 2: The historical experiences that shaped the global indigenous movement were very different from India's own civilisational journey. Part 1 examined the origin of World Indigenous Peoples' Day and the historical circumstances that led to its recognition by the United Nations. In this part, we examine how that global framework has been interpreted in India and why it has become the subject of debate. Around the world, there are nearly 440 million indigenous peoples (Adivasi), of whom...

Part 1: To understand the debate surrounding World Indigenous Peoples' Day, it is essential to first understand why it was created. The tradition of celebrating festivals in India is deeply rooted in its ancient history. In independent India, festivals, anniversaries, commemorative days, and historic milestones have been categorised as religious or social, with some officially designated for observance. Over time, some of these occasions have been celebrated with excessive zeal, often fuelled...