Extremist terror

The Maoist Communist Centre steps up armed operations in southern Jharkhand in order to strengthen its organisation.

WITH the naxalite agitation spreading to the tribal areas of Jharkhand's southern districts, the outlawed Maoist Communist Centre (MCC) has begun testing its strength by resorting to armed operations and organising bandhs and economic blockades in the new State. The MCC has been trying to mobilise opinion against a Gaya court order sentencing three of its top operatives to death for the Bara massacre. Although Gaya is in Bihar, the group appears to have decided to focus on the National Democratic Alliance (NDA)-ruled Jharkhand, which is steeped in feudalism. Besides, the Bihar government has never really resisted the MCC.

In its latest move, the MCC, along with its new extremist ally, the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) People's War, decided to organise an economic blockade between May 6 and 8 in protest against the recent Supreme Court verdict upholding the death sentence passed against three MCC activists in the Bara massacre case, "state oppression", implementation of the controversial Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) and the"anti-labourer and fascist policies" of the NDA government at the Centre. In a statement released to the press in Ranchi, the MCC described the judgment as a "calculated act of psychological terror" against the people's movement through which Dalits were trying to assert themselves.

On June 3, 1987, following the gruesome massacre at Dalelchak-Baghuara in Aurangabad district in which 34 upper-caste men were killed, the government of undivided Bihar banned the MCC under Section 16 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1908. But in the mid-1990s, its members slit open the throats of 54 upper-caste men at Bara near Tekari in Gaya district.

The MCC has been finding the going tough following the crackdown on its cadre. Also, Jharkhand Chief Minister Babulal Marandi's call for surrender has caused some confusion in its ranks, although the MCC leadership described the proposal as a "dope" to disorient its members. By enforcing bandhs repeatedly in the southern districts, the organisation wants to capitalise on their cascading effect on life in these areas. This, observers say, is part of its effort to expand its organisation in Hazaribagh, Ranchi and Lohardaga, where it is facing resistance from Ali Sena, a private army of upper-caste landlords. The first target of the MCC's attack is generally contractors, who are said to be aiding and abetting the private militia. In Gumla, Latehar and Hazaribagh, the extremists stop trucks belonging to the contractors, disrupt their work and force them to acknowledge the might of the MCC.

As a result the situation in the tribal-dominated hills and forests in southern Jharkhand is tense. Palamau's Superintendent of Police Anil Palta, who has intensified the drive against the MCC and the People's War, said that the violent incidents reported recently formed part of the extremists' defensive battle for survival. Police reports say that between January 2001 and February 2002, 74 policemen were killed by the extremists. The number of extremists who lost their lives in police encounters during the same period is 35. There were 106 incidents of extremist-related violence. Official sources admit that out of the 22 districts of Jharkhand 10 are naxalite-infested. These are Palamau, Giridih, Garwa, Chatra, Latehar, Ranchi, Gumla, Hazaribagh, Lohardaga and Bokaro. Originally, Jharkhand was formed with 18 districts of south Bihar.

Meanwhile, with the emergence of a new militant organisation, the Jharkhand Liberation Army (JLA), the State administration is headed for fresh trouble. The JLA, formed on the lines of the Bodo extremist group operating in Lower Assam, is purely a tribal militant group. The JLA's objective, according to intelligence sources, is to free the tribal people from the "oppressive government and also the MCC, the People's War and other naxalite groups." A JLA spokesman said: "The tribal people, find a continual erosion in the ideology of these extremist organisations and have lost the faith in them."

Yet the MCC's control over southern Jharkhand is evident from its capability to run a parallel administration. It was under its supervision that elections to at least 150 village bodies were held in 1998 before Bihar was bifurcated. These elected village bodies, which are not officially recognised and do not get any economic assistance from the State government, are involved in rural development activities with the funds collected as "taxes" from local residents.

With the panchayat elections in the State round the corner, the traditional village headmen (Munkis and Mundas) are on the warpath. Babulal Marandi announced recently that the State government would soon hold the panchayat elections and involve the panchayats in rural development. Shortly after this announcement the Munki-Munda Sangh came out with a statement opposing the government's bid to foist the three-tier panchayati raj on them. The Munkis and the Mundas govern the villages under the tribal self-rule system enshrined in the century-old Wilkinson's Law which is applicable to 112 blocks (Scheduled Areas) in Jharkhand under the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution. The Munkis and the Mundas have the administrative powers of the police. The only difference is that a Munki or a Munda can exercise his powers only in his village. "How did the Chief Minister think that the Munkis and the Mundas would allow panchayat polls in their villages?" the Sangh asked. It warned that the Munkis and the Mundas would not allow a parallel administration in the Scheduled Areas.

The panchayat elections, which were scheduled for early June, have been deferred in view of the announcement of the Lok Sabha byelection in Dumka on May 31. Political observers were surprised when Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) supremo Sibu Soren declared that he would contest from Dukma, which is traditionally a BJP seat. Soren entered the Rajya Sabha only less than a month ago with the support of BJP legislators. His dramatic announcement has naturally sent the BJP leaders into a huddle. The BJP had expected the JMM either to stay away from contest or to field a weak candidate against its nominee in Dumka. The Dumka seat fell vacant in March 2001 following the resignation of Babulal Marandi. In the 1999 Lok Sabha elections Marandi defeated Soren's wife Rupi Soren in Dumka by a margin of about 4,500 votes.