From exile to homecoming: 300 tribals return to Gujarat village after 11 years

Banaskantha (Gujarat) [India], August 28 (ANI): What began as a casual kitchen conversation has transformed into a historic homecoming for nearly 300 members of the Kodarvi tribal community in Banaskantha.
Alka, a domestic help at IPS officer Suman Nala's home, once mentioned that she had never visited her husband's ancestral village. For more than a decade, her family -- along with 28 other Kodarvi families -- had been forced to abandon Mota Pipodara after a murder triggered enmity with the Dabhi community under the tribal custom of 'Chadhotru' (banishment).


Her remark set Suman Nala, the Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) of Danta Division, on a mission.
With the help of local police and district officials, mediation was carried out with panchayat members and reconciliation was achieved. Within days, the groundwork was laid for the Kodarvi families to return to their ancestral land.
On the day of their return in July, Gujarat's Home Minister Harsh Sanghvi and senior police officials welcomed the families back. The government identified and restored 8.5 hectares of land to the community. Roads were built, electricity and water facilities installed, and revenue staff ensured the land was cleared for habitation.
"Our lands had all become jungle. JCBs were brought in, roads were made, and we were connected back to government schemes. We are happy to finally resettle on our lands again," said resettled villager Jaggabhai.

Alka too expressed gratitude, saying, "Earlier there was no electricity and roads. Now the government is providing us with facilities. I wish this custom of Chadhotru ends forever."
For the tribals, officers like ASP Suman Nala and SHO Jayshree Desai have become part of their extended family.
"Negotiation, creating an understanding and building trust can bring about solutions that paperwork and courts cannot," Nala said, recalling how a villager tied a rakhi on her wrist in gratitude. SHO Desai echoed the sentiment, calling the resettlement an "example for the whole society" and urging that outdated practices like Chadhotru be abandoned.
Two new houses with electricity, water and gas connections have already been built with NGO support, and more are under construction. Senior police officers, including Banaskantha SP Akshay Raj Makwana, noted that coordinated efforts between police, administration and community leaders made the breakthrough possible.
From a cook's personal story to a community's homecoming, the return of the Kodarvi tribals to Mota Pipodara is not just about resettlement -- it is about rewriting tradition through reconciliation. (ANI)