Genesis of Jharkhand movement
 |
| Tribal agitation in Chotanagpur. Pic Credit Cultural Survival |
NK SINGH
Last
year a militant Adivasi movement was stated by Birsa Seva Dal in Chotanagpur
area of Bihar. Even the villagers were influenced by this movement and they
demonstrated in Ranchi town carrying their traditional arms.
Naxalites
were active in Birsa Seva Dal because they saw Chotanagpur hills as a good
place for guerrilla warfare.
The
movement was an expression of the new militant mood of the tribal people.
The
movement took a violent turn when the police lathi-charged Adivasi girls in
Ranchi and opened fire on Adivasis in which 6 tribals were killed.
Mundas
and Oraons were the first to come to Chotanagpur when it was merely a vast
tract of jungle. Then came the Dikkus (non-tribals) who became Rajas and
zamindars of the area. They took to trade and owned up every means of
production.
Tribal versus non-tribal
Ninety-nine
per cent of Rajas and zamindars of the area are non-Adivasis. They took to
trade and owned up every means of production. It is a fact that tribals have
lost more land since 1947 than during the British period.
Several
laws were enacted by the Government to stop exploitation. But land was being
sold to non-tribals like hot cakes.
Purchase
of Adivasi land by non-Adivasis was illegal under the Chotanagpur Tenancy Act.
But thousands of acres have been acquired by speculators, many of them Congress
leaders and government officers, through dubious means.
Adivasis
are now either peasants having some land or landless unskilled labourers.
The
recent movement was not a fight between tribal and non-tribals but a revolt of
innocent, illiterate and exploited people.
Separate Jharkhand
movement
There
was a political vacuum in this area before Independence. After Independence the
Jharkhand party filled it.
But
it was soon exposed as a power of power-hungry politicians for whom the
“separate Jharkhand” slogan was handy and an opportune tool to maintain their
hold over tribal masses.
Birsa
Seva Dal is perhaps the most powerful tribal organisation in Chotanagpur today.
Top leaders of the Dal are in jail but the organisation is a force in tribal
villages.
Officials
are blaming Christian missions and missions are blaming the communists for
fostering the Dal. The communists have accepted this as an opportunity.
Comments
Post a Comment
Thanks for your comment. It will be published shortly.