Tribes oppose MP govt's portrayal of Bhagoria haat festival

BHOPAL: While the tourism department officials are brainstorming to formulate special tour packages and promotional activities for Bhagoria Haat, which attracts hordes of tourists every year, local tribes Bhils and Bhilalas are dejected because of the manner in which their festival was being portrayed in front of the whole world.
"Bhagoria haat is neither a tribal matchmaking fair nor some kind of marriage market.It represents our unique culture, say groups of indigenous people who are peeved at the Madhya Pradesh government for 'wrongly' portraying their culture to attract tourists.
The famous festival of aboriginal Bhils and Bhilalas, celebrated in the district of Jhabua and some parts of West Nimar, takes place on market days before Holi-the festival of colours . Tribal groups and the state tourism department differ on why and how the festival is being celebrated, thus sparking a controversy over the rich cultural festival. This year, the festival will begin on March one, a week before Holi festival.
On its official website, Madhya Pradesh Tourism department claims that the 'Bhagoria Haat' festival "is actually in the nature of mass "swayamvara", a marriage market usually held on the various market days falling before Holi festival in March.
"As the name of the festival indicates (Bhag, to run), after choosing their partners, young people elope and are subsequently accepted as husband and wife by the society through pre-determined customs," the tourism department website states and elaborates on to point out that how the festival is providing institutionalized framework for announcing the alliance publicly.
The Bhagoria haat also coincides with the completion of harvesting, adding to it the dimension of being an agricultural festival as well. If the crops have been good, the festival assumes an additional air of gaiety.
But various tribal organizations are not convinced. Much before the festival this year, Indore-based Tribals Multi-purpose Welfare Society has shot letters to President Pratibha Patil, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, National Commission for scheduled Tribes and the state government seeking their intervention to stop what they term as wrong portrayal of tribal culture and to present the festival in its right perspective.
The society claimed that the word "Bhagoria" itself is a distortion of original word "Bhangraya"-which originally means a weekly market where the tribes go to buy puja materials for 'Holika Dahan process.
"There is no word Bhagoria in our tribal dialects," the letter stated, adding that the distorted word was being used to wrongly link the festival with "Bhag" or tribal boys and girls' runaway.
As per the tribal tradition of the region, the letter pointed out that the month before and after Holika dahan are not considered auspicious for marriage ceremonies. Community elders also believe that this period is not suitable for marriages. The society has also sent letters to various newspapers and television channels, requesting them not to wrongly portray the rich tribal traditions.
Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) president Kantilal Bhuria, a tribal leader from Jhabua, doesn't disagree as he said, "Yes, it's a false propaganda to attract foreign tourists. In the process, the tourism department is distorting the facts about relatively known facets of tribal culture."
Madhya Pradesh Tourism Development general manager R P Chouhan refused to draw himself into the controversy saying "The festival is being held for the last so many years. It's a major tourist attraction. We have formulated good packages for the tourists to enjoy the festival."
Meanwhile, various tribal organsiations including Adivasi Samaj Bahuuudesiya Kalyan Sangh, Adiwasi Yuva Vikas Samiti, Akhil Bhartiya Adivasi Maha Sangh, Adivasi Mukti Sangathan, Adivasi Vikas Sangathan and Khedut Majdur Chetana Sanghathan maintained that they have decided to print pamphlets with 'correct information' about the festival. They are also planning to distribute them among the tourists and others visiting Jhabua during the festival.