1994. A large contingent of rural folks headed towards the seat of government at Nagpur. They had a list of deep grievances and sought to petition the govt in person. Police barricaded their access. Demonstrators were restless and insistent. Police warned them to retreat, then charged at them with batons. Some say they fired from the guns too, in the air, to intimidate. An enormous pandemonium broke out and then followed a heartless stampede.
114 tribal folks, Gowaris and others, met a cruel end in the street of their capital. Aadiwasi Smaarak is a poignant tribute to those lost lives. The centrepiece is artist's imagination of a bunch of batons or barrels of guns. Goats - tribal life's popular possession - seem to represent the simple tribal folk themselves. A lame dog runs alongside his keeper herdsman in another portrayal. Sadly, New Democracies have failed to comprehend the despair of their neediest yet most optimistic citizens.
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