MP panchayat auctions tribal women

  • 07/01/2003

  • Asian Age (New Delhi)

Nothing seems to have changed in Digvijay Singh-ruled Madhya Pradesh. This is the only lesson that can be drawn from the bizarre incidents that keep recurring in this part of the country. Two women were auctioned in a tribal panchayat during the second Bhil conference at Mandwa village in Khandwa district. One of them was the wife of the local forest ranger, who belongs to the Bhilala (as opposed to Bhil) tribe. Inaugurated by minister in charge of the district Hiralal Silwat on Sunday, the conference, significantly, was convened with the noble intention of finding ways and means to redress the continued injustices being perpetrated on tribal women. In attendance were hundreds of fiery Bhils and their village heads.