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278 REYEEWS

The author of this descriptive account, being himself a part of the adminislralive system of Indian Govemment - Regional Officcr of the Anthropological Survey of India in the North East Region - seems to gloat over the giganlie leap of the matrilineal War Khasis of Meghalaya from a tribal elan enjoying fuli freedom of the forest habitat with ils rightful produets, to an industrialised sociely disintegrated within itself bya cut-throal competition in the aceumulation of huge wealth by fair or fowl means. The author, howevcr, does not realise the tremendous cost paid by the War Khasi tribe, like any other tribe, for this ehange.

For almost two centuries now, Indian tribal communities have been facing the colleetive onslaught of the disruptive, proselytizing Christian missionaries, of the outsider exploitcrs, and of the foreign models of economic development. Successive governments and other vested interests have eroded the humane tribal relationship and convcrted natural forest-woods into commodities. Tribal traditions and customs were gradually rendered meaningless and somelimes eonsciously destroyed. In the War Khasis, the elan played a dominant role, but gradually there has been an inereasing trend towards privatization of eommunity land. This proecss of land alicnation has led to inequity in land-holding and to the rise of agrieultural labourcrs and share-croppers with the eventual eoneentration of land in lew hands.

By early 1950 suffieient damage was eaused to forest economy due to elearing of forest-land for eu!tivation. In 1952, tribals were placed under the eontrol of the Forest Department, redueing their rights and privilcges to mere eoneessions. A large number of tribals were displaeed from their forest habitat when heavy industrics, with their insaliable appetite for natural resourees, were established in their homc-land, during the first deeade of Indian independenee. This led to the crosion of the subsistenee system of the tribal eommunity. No viablc allcmalive for their shifling eullivation involving buming of forests had been providcd. Many tribals were foreed to work in slums and eitics as labourcrs, eoolics and prostitutes. Those who did not migrate, faecd starvalion or helpcd in the smuggling of timber from the rcserved forests for a meagre eash. Thcy have been devastating the ecology and digging their own grave.

The National Forest Poliey has been adversely alTeeting the existing paltem of tribal lite. Yet deforestation has been going on due to high demand for timber and the use of forests for shifting cullivalion. And it was estimaled that around 1,500,000 people have been dependent on shifting cultivalion. In Meghalaya alone the percenlage of population dependent on shifting eullivation has been 34%. There has been also a sharp rise in the number of landless tribals, as morę and morę land was being taken over by the govemmcnl for reservcd forests, plantation crops, road and raił nct-works as “dcvclopmcnt projccts." Apart from the growing pressure of population