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Remembering scholar and activist Abhay Xaxa, whose death is an irreparable loss to Adivasi movements

27 June 2020
Abhay Xaxa, a scholar and activist born in Chitkawine village of Jashpur district in northern Chhattisgarh, received a fellowship from the Ford Foundation, an American charitable organisation, to pursue a masters in social anthropology at University of Sussex in 2007. He was awarded a PhD from the Jawaharlal Nehru University in Sociology in 2018, where his dissertation focused on the land rights of Adivasi communities in Jharkhand.
COURTESY OF FAMILY OF ABHAY XAXA
Abhay Xaxa, a scholar and activist born in Chitkawine village of Jashpur district in northern Chhattisgarh, received a fellowship from the Ford Foundation, an American charitable organisation, to pursue a masters in social anthropology at University of Sussex in 2007. He was awarded a PhD from the Jawaharlal Nehru University in Sociology in 2018, where his dissertation focused on the land rights of Adivasi communities in Jharkhand.
COURTESY OF FAMILY OF ABHAY XAXA

On the evening of 14 March, a wave of shock and grief gripped a vast number of people as social media was suddenly flooded with the news of the untimely demise of 43-year-old Abhay Xaxa—a scholar, activist, poet and lawyer, among other things. Xaxa belonged to Kurukh or Oraon tribe and was a native of Chhattisgarh. He was gone, much before his time. The loss was felt personally by many, especially those working on issues of rights of Adivasis, as the magnitude of it is immeasurable. Nicholas Barla, secretary of the Office of the Tribal Affairs under the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India was with Xaxa moments before he suffered what has been said to be a heart attack. He was accompanying Xaxa for his speaking engagements in West Bengal’s Jalpaiguri. Barla sent across a message to many friends of Xaxa, informing them of his demise, saying, “We have lost one of the tribal gems of India.”

The Victorian poet, Alfred Tennyson, in his classic poem “Ulysses,” wrote of the curiosity for knowledge and the unknown till the last moment of life. If there was a person who emulated this philosophy, it was Xaxa. He was one of the foremost intellectuals speaking succinctly on the issues of Adivasi self assertion, culture, identity as well as the economic hardships faced by the tribal communities in several parts of the country.

I started interacting with him about five years ago on various issues concerning Adivasis which included policies and laws impacting the community. I wanted to invite him to Mumbai for a discussion on land rights of Adivasis in Jharkhand. Hailing from the state, I have always felt that there is no visibility to the specific issues facing people from Jharkhand, especially Adivasis. The news that actually makes it to the media is that with sensational and voyeuristic headlines. However, the background and history of Adivasis’ tenurial rights over land is not understood well. Xaxa was the person to approach for that discussion. Since we first came into contact, we spoke on numerous occasions, mainly exchanging views and thoughts on several such issues. 

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Sushmita is a researcher, journalist and a multimedia artist. She works on issues related to the rights of indigenous people, environment, climate change, violence against women, governance and more. She is part of an ongoing assessment on the impact of COVID-19 on Adivasis and forest communities.

Keywords: Adivasis
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