Jharkhand on the boil

Fresh trouble is brewing in Jharkhand with various tribal and other groups launching agitations demanding increased reservation.

WITH organisations of various tribal groups, Scheduled Castes and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) fighting for enhanced reservation for their respective communities in government jobs and positions in panchayati raj institutions, the newly formed State of Jharkhand has become a hotbed of communal politics. All these groups are on the warpath, and they have separate programmes of action. In the last two months, the functioning of the eight-month-old Bharatiya Janata Party-led Babulal Marandi government has been seriously affected by agitations. Violent demonstrations in Ranchi and other parts of the State and clashes with the police have become the order of the day.

The tribal people and the Scheduled Castes, who once fought unitedly for the realisation of the Jharkhand State are now divided as each S.C. and Scheduled Tribe(S.T.) group wants the quota for it increased. Their claims and counter-claims have made it difficult for the government to reach a decision. The six-member Cabinet sub-committee constituted under Welfare Minister Arjun Munda to study the legal aspects of the reservation policy has remained inconclusive and has sought several extensions. At a meeting of the sub-committee on June 6, Ministers belonging to the S.Cs and the S.Ts and representatives of Opposition parties traded charges and finally abandoned the attempt to find a solution. Two Ministers, one belonging to an S.T. and the other to an SC, threatened to quit the Cabinet should their views be ignored. Informed sources said that the sub-committee wanted the quota to be around 28 per cent for the tribal communities, 12 per cent for the S.Cs, and 27 per cent for the B.Cs. The offer was not acceptable to leaders of the OBCs. The demands presented before the State government are such that if implemented they would lead to 100 per cent reservation.

The prominent pro-tribal players in the agitation are the Sangh Parivar-sponsored Adivasi Jharkhand Janadhikar Manch (AJJM) and the Adivasi Catra Sangha (ACS). They are supported by several tribal organisations. Both have held a series of rallies, demonstrations and dharnas to press for their demand.

While the AJJM, led by Salkhan Murmu, a BJP Member of Parliament, demands 100 per cent reservation (60 per cent for the tribal people in the State government services, educational institutions, and even in the Assembly, and 40 per cent for the original inhabitants), other groups are more prudent.

The issue has become a volatile one and almost all political parties are divided on it. While Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) president Shibu Soren told Frontline that reservation should be in proportion to the percentage of the castes and tribal groups in the population, Leader of the Opposition Simon Marandi does not want anything less than 40 per cent for the S.Ts.

The AJJM has been organising meetings and dharnas all over the State since the birth of Jharkhand in November. With the tribal people in general rallying behind the AJJM, its agitation is slowly turning militant. The organisation has told the government that it would not allow the government to function after June 30 if its demands were not conceded.

Salkhan Murmu claimed that the AJJM demand was quite reasonable. Jharkhand, he said, was created for the tribal people who fought for long for recognition to their identity and for self-rule. Murmu believes that since the movement for a separate Jharkhand State was initiated by the tribal people they must be empowered to govern the State by having 60 per cent reservation in the Assembly and in government jobs. The AJJM has also demanded an increase in the number of Assembly seats from 81 to 150 in order to ensure the reservation of 90 seats for the tribal people.

Murmu, who represents Mayurbhanj in Orissa in the Lok Sabha, is now in the forefront of the tribal people's "fight for their right". Murmu who hails from Karandih in Jamshedpur in Jharkhand was once an assistant divisional manager in the human resource development wing of Tata Iron and Steel company.

Although the Christian missionaries in the State have refused to join hands with the AJJM, it has their tacit support. However, the Sangh Parivar is divided on the role being played by Murmu. One section is unhappy with his reported hobnobbing with missionaries. It believes that he is playing a spoilsport at a time when the BJP should be having a smooth sailing in the State. Another section believes that Murmu is helping the BJP's cause. "Murmu has emerged as a strong and viable force against the politics of the JMM and Shibu Soren," said a Sangh Parivar insider. He said that the main idea of promoting Murmu was to weaken Soren on his home turf in the Santhal Parganas and consolidate the party's hold on the tribal people.

The demand raised by Murmu was strongly opposed by the JMM and communities such as Mahatos and Kurmis. Soren lashed out at the government "for hatching a conspiracy to create social tension between the tribal people and the non-tribals of Jharkhand in the name of reservations". Dismissing the AJJM demand as a "political stunt", the JMM chief said "the BJP was out to hoodwink the people of Jharkhand and Babulal and Salkhan were its agents within and outside the government respectively."

Asked about the JMM's position on the reservation issue, Soren told Frontline that it wanted reservation to be fixed on the basis of population. The tribal people's population had been understated in all Censuses, he claimed. "This," he said, "was done to deny the indigenous people their due. Even Census 2001 has been carried out with the motive of suppressing the tribal people of the country in general and of Jharkhand in particular, and the records have been tampered with. It was the huge influx of settlers from outside that reduced the tribal people to a minority."

The most vocal opposition to the AJJM demand has come from Kurmis, who constitute a little over 25 per cent of the State's population. Although they demand S.T. status and increased quotas for the OBCs, their opposition to the AJJM demand is unequivocal. Lalchand Mahato, State Power Minister and prominent Kurmi leader, said: "The backwards constitute 65 to 70 per cent of the State's population and the demand for 50 per cent reservation for them is logical and should be considered."

The Backward Class Students Union, formed to counter the tribal-dominated ACS, has supported the demand of Lalchand Mahato. Demanding S.T. status, the Kurmis recently held a "Kurmi maha rally" in Ranchi in order to frustrate the AJJM move to prevent any fresh addition to the S.T. category. The rally demanded reservation according to the respective group's percentage in the population.

The rally has added strength to the demand for a greater Jharkhand, which would include Purulia, Bankura and Medhinipur districts of West Bengal and Keonjhar and Rairangpur districts of Orissa apart from the present Jharkhand State. Almost all pro-Jharkhand parties are in favour of a greater Jharkhand State. Euphoria over the creation of Jharkhand with 18 districts of south Bihar had drowned the demand for the 23-district greater Jharkhand. However, with the fresh demand for the inclusion of five more districts coming up, the hope for a greater Jharkhand has been resurrected. At the rally, the Kurmis dropped two Chattisgarh districts (Raigarh and Sarguja) from the map of greater Jharkhand.

Meanwhile, the Intelligence Dep-artment of the State police has cautioned the State government against a possible communal flare-up over the issue of reservation. Various tribal and caste groups have put forth their demands for reservation and are aggressively campaigning for their cause. According to intelligence sources, there are possibilities of violent clashes between the tribal people and Kurmis.