24.DR. J. JAYA PARVEEN and DR. V. RAJESH

ISSN 2349-5189
LangLit
An International Peer-Reviewed Open Access Journal
COLONISATION & CRIMINALISATION – TRIBAL
SUFFERINGS AS PORTRAYED IN SA. BALA MURUGAN’S
CHOLAGAR THOTTI
DR. J. JAYA PARVEEN
Asst. Professor (English),
CTTE College for Women,
Chennai. India.
DR. V. RAJESH
Vice-Principal & HOD,
Velankanni Matric. Hr. Sec. School,
Chennai. India
ABSTRACT
In any international dispute like Kashmir or Tamil Eazham,
ordinary people suffer being sandwiched between the rebels and the
government. Mainstream writers like Mahasweta Devi and
Arundhati Roy often write about the tribal people and rebels like
Maoists. In Cholagar Thotti, Sa. Bala Murugan speaks about the
Adivasis by name Cholagar who live in Thotti. He attempts to
capture the life-style of these tribal people. He discusses their
cultivation methods, food storage techniques, safety measures, food
habits, religious ceremonies, entertainment, marriage, women
equality, etc. He portrays the oppression of upper caste farmers,
miners, businessmen, and policemen on these native tribal people.
He visualises the inhuman torture of tribal people who are caught
in the crossfire between the local bandit Veerappan and the State
Governments of Tamilnadu and Karnataka. This paper elaborately
discusses the sufferings of tribal people in Cholagar Thotti due to
the colonisation and criminalisation in the fertile forests of
Tamilnadu and Karnataka.
Introduction
The British left India before 65 years. Yet tribal people remain trapped in the hands of neocolonisers and pseudo-liberals. The history of tribals during the last 60 years is filled with stories
of forced displacement, land alienation, increasing marginalisation, eruption of violence and the
counter-violence by the State, etc. (Devy, 2008) Tribals in the North-East India don’t have
proper education or employment opportunities. They migrate to cities like Delhi, Mumbai,
Calcutta, and Chennai. Tribals in the East India face problems with land and labour. They
migrate to Bengal and Assam as labourers. Tribals in the mineral-rich forests of Chhattisgarh,
Jharkhand, Orissa, and West Bengal rebel against the Indian government to save their homeland
from the greedy corporate world. Tribals in the South India face problems with upper caste
farmers, miners, and businessmen along with the local bandits, forest officers, and policemen. In
Cholagar Thotti, Sa. Bala Murugan portrays the sufferings of tribal people due to the
colonisation and criminalisation in the fertile forests of Tamilnadu and Karnataka.
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An International Peer-Reviewed Open Access Journal
Life Style of Cholagar Thotti Tribals
Cultivation
The tribals in Cholagar Thotti cultivate Ragi and store it for future use. They spread stones on the
ground and arrange bamboo along with Kuthiraivaali grass knitted closely to save the Ragi from
rainwater and insects. Tribals use crackers and tin sounds to chase away wild elephants from
attacking the Ragi storehouse. They cultivate food materials using crop rotation methods. When
they pluck ‘Valli Kizhangu’ from the forest soil, they leave a part of its stem to re-grow. They
allow water to remain stagnant in ‘Kal Baali’ for the wild animals to drink. They use the ‘Baali’
water during scarcity.
Medicine & Entertainment
There are many hospitals in the mainland. Tribal people don’t have any medical facilities. They
use forest herbs for minor treatments. Tribal women deliver babies at home itself. The nurses tell
prayers to call God for help and thank the Almighty for safe delivery. The tribals light
‘Ukkadathee’ to safeguard themselves from cold breeze and spend the night without sleeping.
Men smoke ‘Kanja’ for relaxation, calling it ‘Sivabaanam’. They play musical instruments like
‘peenachi’ and ‘thappai’ for making music. Women sing and dance around the fire.
Religious Ceremonies
The tribal’s have an oral traditional story about their Gods Kaaraiyan and Madheswaran. With
the help of Lord Krishna, Madheswaran cleverly defeated the monster Saavanna who threatened
all the Gods. Kaaraiyan became jealous of his brother’s success and chased him wildly to kill
him. Madheswaran ran along many mountains and finally surrendered to his brother. Kaaraiyan
demanded that all the people who worship Madheswaran should worship Kaaraiyan first.
Madheswaran agreed to this, and people began to worship both the brothers. Cholagar people are
the descendents of Kaaraiyan and Lingaayats are the descendents of Matheswaran. The tribals in
Cholagar Thotti worship Maniraasan and Madheswaran. During Maniraasan festival, they put
dead people’s bones in a bone-pit (Keppai Kuzhi) and place a stone near Aegle Marmelos tree
(Vilva tree) in memory of the dead ones. They believe that the souls of the dead ones settle in
peace only when their bones are put in the bone-pit in front of Maniraasan temple. The dead
men’s souls talk with their relatives through the priests by name Kolkaaran.
When there is no rain, tribal women perform peculiar religious rites. They clean their houses
with cow dung, cook food using the remaining grains, take the food in bamboo baskets, go inside
the forest, place the baskets near Thanri tree, remove their dresses, sing ‘kummi pattu’, and
dance to worship ‘Engu Seerkuttai’ God. They believe their worship will bring rain to the forest.
Women Rights
Women are given equal rights in the tribal community. Widow re-marriage is allowed in
Cholagar Thotti. After Sikkumatha’s death, his wife Kembamma wants to marry his brother
Kariyan. Though she is elder than him, she justifies herself by saying that she has desired to
marry a person from the same community. Though Kolkaran Sennenjaa (Sikkumatha and
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An International Peer-Reviewed Open Access Journal
Kariyan’s father) is against this marriage, Kothalli and others agree and arrange for the widow
remarriage. Pethan and Jogammal’s daughter Rathi studies by staying in a boarding school at
Maavallam, Masini Koil.
Colonisation in Cholagar Thotti Land Rights
Before independence, many English men visited the forest for hunting. Forest officers were
afraid of them. The tribal people helped the English men in guiding through the forest and
hunting wild animals. Once, a tribal by name Kothalli saved an English man from wild
elephants. As a token of gratitude, the English man offered to give as much land in the forest as
Kothalli wanted. Kothalli claimed that the whole forest was his property and denied to get the
‘Sembu Pattayam’ from the English man. The tribals were least bothered about land rights or
private properties.
“After 1950, Indian Constitution deliberately isolated and marginalised the tribal people by
ratifying the colonial policy and made the State custodian of tribal homelands. It denied them
their traditional rights to forest produce; it criminalised their whole way of life. In exchange for
the right to vote, it snatched away their right to livelihood and dignity.” (Roy, 2010) Upper caste
farmers from the countryside begin to do farming in the fertile forest lands and chase the tribals
away from their native place by buying the forest lands from the government legally. The tribals
are too poor to buy back their native soil. They become alienated in their own land.
Duraiyan from the low land begins to do farming in the land near Cholagar Thotti. He gets the
friendship of Maniyakkaran Madhappa using his wife Santha. He collects garbage from the
nearby places and sends it to the lowland along with sandalwood scraps. He illegally earns
money, owns Pethan’s land legally, and occupies it with the help of Maniyakkaran Madhappa.
Local policemen get bribe from Duraiyan, beat the tribals, and threaten them of filing
sandalwood case against them. Kothalli argues that Sikkumatha is the true son of the forest. He
has the broad mind to embrace the whole borderless forest while Pethan has the desire on a piece
of land like a lowland farmer. Jogammal defends Pethan by saying that Pethan wants to live with
dignity and respect. Duraiyan, Santha, and their son Raju build a house and continue to do
farming in Pethan’s land. Frustrated, Pethan dies. His son Sivanna aspires to get his father’s land
back from Duraiyan.
Duraiyan earns a lot from his sandalwood-smelling garbage business. He applies in the
Satyamangalam Tahsildar Office and gets ‘land patta’ during Jamabandhi. He gets electricity
connection and motor. He grows sugarcane and turmeric. Using electric fence, he chases away
elephants and wild boars. A wild boar hits and kills him. He is burned without post-mortem, and
the forest air blows with sandalwood fragrance. Pandurangan from the lowland views the stone
mine in Pandhaiya Cholagan’s land. He cheats and buys his 2 acres land for Rs. 3000 by giving
him foreign alcohol and biriyani. Many tribal people work in the stone mine though the work is
hard. Pandhaiya Cholagan also works as daily labour in Pandurangan’s mine. Feeling bad for his
condition, he leaves his native forest and goes to Bejjilpalayam for sustenance. Sikkaiya
Thambidi works as a supervisor in Pandurangan’s stone mine. He is afraid of the sandalwood
smugglers who threaten his owner for money. Farming, mining, sandalwood smuggling,
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poaching, etc. are not done by the tribals, but the people from the lowlands. Upper caste farmers,
business men, and poachers colonise the forest and alienate the tribal people.
Criminalisation in Cholagar Thotti Hunting
Sivanna and Puttan hunt a deer and share the flesh with the Thotti people. Kothalli is happy
about eating deer flesh, but feels sad about hunting animals secretly as if they were doing some
illegal action. He recollects the days when they could hunt wild animals and preserve them for
future use. He thinks of Sikkumatha who is a very courageous tribal man. Kothalli and many
tribals in the Thotti admire Sikkumatha for his hunting skills. Once he goes deep into the forest
to hunt a deer and encounters two big bears. To save himself from the bears, he attacks and kills
one bear. He brings the bear flesh and distributes it to everybody in the Thotti. Hearing the news,
forest officials rush to Thotti, capture Sikkumatha, put him in jail, and beat him to death.
Farmers from the countryside poison the tigers to save their fields in the forests. They hunt wild
animals with the escort of policemen. The forest officers allow politicians, officials, or rich
businessmen to do hunting for entertainment. But they prevent the tribals from hunting wild
animals in the name of environmental protection. The tribals whose livelihood depends on
hunting rather than farming lose their main source of food. The tribals who consider the whole
forest as their native land and hunting wild animals as their birthright feel sad about the pseudo
law and order enforced by the government officials.
Poachers & Policemen
Smugglers and poachers from the countryside hunt elephants for tusks and cut sandalwood trees
for selling in the mainland market. Tribals who are unaware of illegal trading or unethical
business are tortured in the name of law and order.
Veerappan is not a tribal. He is from Gopinatham village along the Karnataka border. He belongs
to the Vannia Gounder community. He cuts and sells sandalwood trees illegally. He kills
elephants and sells tusks. He kills the policemen and forest officers who are against his trade. He
kidnaps politicians or popular people to get large amount as ransom. He kills ordinary tribals
whom he suspects as spies to the policemen.
The tribals are sandwiched between the poachers and policemen. While searching for Veerappan,
the policemen and forest officials of Tamilnadu and Karnataka government arrest tribal men and
women and torture them to death. They mercilessly beat tribal men and rape tribal women. They
put them in jail where the tribals have to urinate and defecate in the same room. They provide
little food or water. They give electric shock to the tribal men and women. They kill the ordinary
tribals to take revenge upon Veerappan who kills or kidnaps politicians, forest officers, or
policemen.
Conclusion
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In Cholagar Thotti, Sa. Balamurugan portrays the lifestyle of tribal people and visualises how
colonisation and criminalisation have spoiled their lives in the dense forests of Tamilnadu and
Karnataka. The tribals’ natural way of living is disturbed as hunting is prohibited in the forest.
Upper caste business men buy the forest lands and alienate the tribals in their native soil. The
tribals are compelled to work as coolies in their own farms or mines. The tribals do not know
business or money-making. They do not kill elephants or cut sandalwood trees for business as
they consider the forest as their mother. Poachers from the mainland utilise them to cut trees,
supply food materials, provide messages, etc. Policemen who are unable to catch the poachers
like Veerappan torture the tribal people mercilessly. As the government is least bothered about
the tribals, they don’t get proper education, employment, health care, etc. In addition, they suffer
pathetically due to the colonisation and criminalisation in the forests.
References
1. Balamurugan. Sa. (2010) Cholagar Thotti Pollachi: Ethir Veliyedu.
2. Devi, Mahasweta (2002) “Chotti Munda and His Arrow” Trans. Gayatri Spivak. Google
Books. Retrieved on 01.02.13 from < http://books.google.co.in/books?id=0O5cEt8WVcC&printsec=frontcover&dq=chotti+munda+and+his+arrow&hl=en&sa=X&ei=WsoMU
bKvEMrtrQfIxoDgBw&ved=0CDAQ6AEwAA>.
3. Devy G.N. (2008) “Wealth of Wisdom”. The Hindu. Retrieved on 31.01.13 from
<http://www.hindu.com/lr/2008/08/03/stories/2008080350360700.htm>.
4. Roy, Arundhati (2010) “Walking with the Comrades” Outlook India. Retrieved on
30.01.13 from < http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?264738>.
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