Bharat is the land of Dharmic civilization, a land of high culture, a land where the dominant culture did not try to ‘equalize’ or ‘homogenize’ the diverse organic traditions (within or without). The Dharmic civilization, because of its material abundance and theological maturity, accepted differences in all spheres of life as natural. Hence, the urge to standardise remained negligible, while establishing saṁvāda, interdependence and interrelationships among various communities and knowledge traditions became the accepted social norm. The socio-political and historic-religious position of āṭavika, vanavāsī or girivāsī peoples, termed as “tribal” or “ādivāsī” by colonial forces (for obvious reasons), can be better understood in this way. It is from one such proud āṭavika community - the Santhals - the newly elected President of India, Smt. Draupadi Murmu, hails from.
Many so-called “tribal” communities of Bharat were “civilized” (by barbarous colonizers) and consequently, impoverished during the middle-eastern (e.g. Jihād against the Gond Raj of Rani Durgavati) and European colonial periods (e.g. Criminal Tribes Act, 1871) in Bharat. The Nehruvian state kept the exploitative colonial discursive zombies alive. That is why, the repercussions of colonial rule and its discourses are still felt across the socio-economic spectrums of many such āṭavika communities. But times are a changing. Belonging to a marginalised community, life has been a relentless struggle for the new President-elect Draupadi Murmu ji. She was born in Odisha, completed her education there, taught in an educational institution, and even served as a minister of state in the erstwhile NDA ruled state government (2000-2004). Last year, she completed her six years tenure as the Governor of Jharkhand. Over the course of seven years, from 2009 to 2015, she also lost her husband, two boys, mother, and a brother. She valiantly fought depression by sticking to her traditional roots, and continuing social service. After being nominated as the NDA candidate for President on June 21, she visited a local Shiva temple next morning, performed sevā by sweeping the floor, and offered prayers to Mahādeva. Such humbleness, dharma-parāyaṇatā and warrior-like spirit is what makes her the natural leader of the whole nation.
We heartily welcomes the election of Smt. Draupadi Murmu as the 15th President of the Republic of India. We strongly believe that it is not mere tokenism. The election of the first ST President of the Republic of India is the śaṇkhanād of re-emergence of the all-inclusive and pluralist civilization, i.e. Sanātana. This election also shatters the century and a half old colonial narrative of the tribal-non tribal divide. This is a death-knell to the identity based appeasement politics. Today, peoples from varying communities, religions and both the genders are holding the highest offices in Bharat. The civilizational state, i.e. Bharat is moving forward by taking every person along, with collective pride in our glorious past, internalized historic-civilizational lessons and a planned vision for tomorrow.