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| | Promises and problems |
 | | Given the paternalistic and deeply contemptuous perceptions of the colonial rulers towards all the subject people of their empire, tribal and non-tribal, a humanitarian and romantic gloss, deeply influenced by the disdain and revulsion of the native faiths of the majority of the subjects, Hinduism and Islam, was put on to this perception. |
 | | Thus, the tribal people in the hills, by virtue of their isolation from their distant non-tribal neighbours, had somehow escaped from being tainted by the more vicious and repellent beliefs and practices of those in the plains, tribal and non-tribal. |
 | | This `innocence' and `purity' of the tribal people in the hills, ever under the danger of being swamped under by the `contaminated' beliefs, superstitions and practices of the people in the plains, both tribal and non-tribal, had to be protected. |
| www.hindu.com /fline/fl2005/stories/20030314001305000.htm (2279 words) |
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