For a small group of Madia-Gond tribespeople in a densely-forested corner of Chhattisgarh’s Bastar region, pre-poll promises of higher minimum support prices and crop procurement from both the ruling Congress and the Opposition BJP mean little. For this community of Vishwasis, even accessing their fields is a challenge, and they say their first priority is “peace”.
The community refuse to accept the dangerous tag of “Christian convert”, preferring to be called “believers” or Vishwasis in Hindi.
The 15 Vishwasi families from Remawand village of Narayanpur, who were driven out of their homes by a series of communal attacks last December, started returning to their ancestral lands in January this year, just in time for paddy harvesting. But they were not allowed to touch their crops till the government procurement window had closed, forcing them to miss out on the MSP purchase cycle.
