`We are sure that justice will be done to us'

PRAKASH SINGH/AFP

Interview with Shibu Soren.

There is a kind of buoyancy about former Union Coal Minister and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) chief Shibu Soren as he sits in confinement in the office chamber of the principal of the Jamatara Women's College, which is serving as his temporary jail. He chats with the `jail guards' and occasionally makes an appearance before the hundreds of JMM activists and sympathisers who gather every day on the college grounds, raising slogans in support of him. He also meets, under the supervision of `jail officials', some of his senior party colleagues and other important visitors from various parts of the country. Venkitesh Ramakrishnan met him in the makeshift jail on August 7 - five days after his surrender - even as his supporters gathered in various parts of Jamatara to launch a "jail bharo" agitation demanding his release. Excerpts from the interview:

How is it that you look so cheerful in confinement?

I am not sitting in a jail for the first time. And, I know that I have been put here because I fought for the rights of the downtrodden people and for securing a just life for everybody in Jharkhand. I also know that I have their support in large numbers. What you see outside this college and in the rest of Jharkhand is proof of that. Should I be sad in such a situation?

But you did not seem so confident when the warrant was issued against you. In fact, your initial reaction was to flee from the law enforcement agencies, like any other fugitive...

People are free to call me whatever they want, but I have all through acted according to the dictates of my conscience and to save Jharkhand from getting consumed by social and communal tension. I did not want to get into a path of confrontation because this would have sunk Jharkhand into complete lawlessness. Even now my appeal to the people of Jharkhand is to eschew the path of violence.

Are you sure that your supporters will remain peaceful if the courts deny you bail and put you in jail for a long time?

I and my supporters have full faith in the judiciary. We are sure that justice will be done to us.

But do you not think that this uncomfortable situation could have been avoided if you had followed legal procedures properly and abided by the directions of the court?

See, I do not want to comment on the case or talk about its various nuances at present. The matter, as I see it, is under the consideration of the court and I hope that there would be a speedy and just trial. But, as the people of Jharkhand know very well, Shibu Soren was in the forefront of a movement to assert the rights of the downtrodden citizens of Jharkhand and to deliver them from social evils such as feudalism and landlordism. It was this struggle that ultimately resulted in the formation of the State of Jharkhand. And naturally, cases were bound to come up in this struggle and several have indeed come up. We will not run away from any of them. In fact, as each of these cases gets highlighted, the history of the struggle of the downtrodden people of Jharkhand will also come into focus. That is what is happening now and, ultimately, I am of the view that this will bring historic benefits to Jharkhand and its people.

Leaders of the JMM have been saying that there was a political conspiracy in raking up a case that is 29 years old. The argument is that the conspiracy was to unseat you from the Minister's post and wreck the JMM's alliance with the Congress and the Rashtriya Janata Dal.

I will not comment on the measures taken by the courts in the case. But, I can certainly say one thing. The manner in which the case was used for campaign by the BJP [Bharatiya Janata Party] and the NDA [National Democratic Alliance] inside Parliament and outside was certainly not straightforward politics. There were even attempts to bring in blatant communal issues in the campaign against me. It showed a kind of desperation to do something to wipe away the humiliating loss they [the BJP and the NDA] suffered in the Lok Sabha polls.

But some BJP leaders say that a section of the State Congress has worked behind the revival of the Chirudih massacre case. The argument is that the Congress, as the leader of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) at the Centre, wants to put the JMM in a corner.

I suppose this story is the result of a belated realisation that their campaign against me has backfired. I see it as the continuation of the efforts to drive a wedge in the UPA and get the JMM out of the alliance. They just want me to sever ties with the Congress. That is why they are now saying that the Chirudih case was filed during the Congress regime. But, I must tell the BJP that all this will not produce the results it desires. It cannot break the unity of secular forces in Jharkhand.

So, where do Shibu Soren and the JMM go from here?

Shibu Soren, for the present, is at the mercy of the law enforcement agencies and the courts (laughs). But the political path of the JMM is clear - it is going from strength to strength. One of my friends said that the JMM became a nationally renowned party and Shibu Soren a nationally known political personality because of the incessant torment and torture suffered at the hands of opponents. If I can paraphrase his words, the present torment and torture is bound to sweep us into power in Jharkhand as and when the next Assembly elections are held.