Question 2: Discuss why the colonial government in India brought in the following laws. In each case, explain how the law changed the lives of pastoralists:
! Waste Land rules
! Forest Acts
! Criminal Tribes Act
! Grazing Tax
Answer:
Waste land rules: This law was brought to take control of the land that was not under the cultivation and also to increase in land could be used to increase the area under cultivation and also to increase land revenue. This rule shrunk the pastureland which was available earlier.
Forest act: These acts changed the life of pastoralists. They were now prevented from entering many forests that had provided the valuable forage for their cattles earlier. They issued permits which monitored their entry and exit into the forests at the particular time. Moreover these acts were also utilised to collect some revenue from the pastoralists.
Criminal Tribes Act: The British government eyed nomadic people with suspicion and disregard on the account of their continuous movement. They could not be tracked down or placed in one particular place not like the rural people in villages who were easy to identify and control. Hence, the colonial power represented nomadic tribes as criminal. This act trainshed the image of nomadic tribes which disturbed their relationship with peasants and other mainstream communities. It also badly affected their pastoralists.
Grazing tax: This was introduced in order to widen the tax net and to put a new burdern on the pastoralists. It was implied by the colonial government to expand its income. Pastoralists had to pay a tax on every animal that they grazed on the pastures. This right was now auctioned out to the contractors. They extracted as high tax as they could to recover the money that they had paid to the state and earn as much profit as they could.
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