By Arun Srivastava
With Jharkhand chief minister Raghubar Das continuing to ignore the demand of the tribals not to grab their land and transfer the same to the corporate houses, they have decided to launch a sustained movement to force him to concede to their demand.
On July 5, 2018 the advasis hit the streets protesting land acquisition amendments. Thousands of protesters were detained across the state during the one-day Jharkhand bandh, called by the joint opposition against the amendments to the land acquisition Bill, which provides for waiving-off the social impact assessment for specific projects of public interest. The opposition has criticised the amendment saying it could lead to corporates easily acquiring land.
On July 25, 2017 the entire state had come to a standstill in response to a bandh called by the CPI(ML) against land grab. At least 21 organisations, including the Adivasi Jan Parishad, the Moolnivasi Chhatra-Yuva Sanghatan, the Sarna Prarthana Sabha, Nagdi-Chaura Zameen Bachao Morcha, and Ulgulan Mahila Manch actively participated in the agitation. The state BJP had earlier called the bandh “a gimmick” and “unconstitutional”. It was joined by Congress, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik) and Left Parties.
The organisations have been agitating for quite some time. In the past the predecessor governments refrained from aggravating the situation by enforcing punitive actions; as a result the protest movement did not acquire a sharp shape. But Das has been obsessed with his mission and desires to accomplish the task during his rule.
The Raghuvar Das government has been on a mission to grab tribal land and forests of the state to hand over to the corporate sector. Ever since he entered into the chamber of the chief minister he has been busy evolving a strategy to help big business houses. It is worth recalling that Das was installed as the chief minister overruling the claims of the tribal leaders who nurse the welfare of the community people. The alacrity shown by him in amending the CNT-SPT Act, implementation of faulty domicile policy, and using the excuse of “wrong land records” to snatch away raiyot land given to the poor under ‘bandobasti’ (settlement of village revenue records) and registered in Register 2 is testimony to his dubious intentions.
In the past too, some chief ministers wanted to help the industries and entered into talks with corporate houses. But they could not move beyond a certain limit. They were forced by the tribal people to soft pedal. But Das is hell bent to fulfill their desires. During his rule, the state witnessed a spate of protest agitations. Forced acquisition of Adivasi land is common in Jharkhand.
The government has been resorting to secretive arrest of the tribal and political activists. On 17th August 2012, Tahir Ansari, a leader of the CPI(ML) in Garhwa district, was arrested in Chana village of Nager block. He had played a key role in mobilising rural poor in large numbers to capture thousands of acres of land that was illegally occupied by upper caste feudal forces in Garhwa district. Initially the police denied of his arrest but sustained agitation forced them to admit the illegal detention.
In Garwa, the hot bed of the movement, a new method for land loot is being employed. A land survey conducted in undivided Bihar in 1980, which is 95% faulty and not recognized by the present Bihar government, is now being enforced online by the Ranka and Nagar Uttari blocks in Garwa. This survey is controversial even as per the 1932 khatiyan. There is a provision for Section 87 to settle land disputes and Section 90 giving raiyots the right to appeal, but the survey has been put online without using these sections. The farmers’ land has been made ‘disputed’ to the maximum, facilitating handing over of these lands to corporates.
The bandh was called in the wake of the struggle of adivasis of Nagdi village near capital Ranchi against the attempt to grab 228 acres of fertile land. The Jharkhand government plans to grab land in 35 villages for campuses of IIM, Law College and Triple IIT and Nagdi was a test case. This land interestingly was acquired on paper way back in 1957. But in view of the fierce tribal struggle the grab failed to materialise as the tribals refused to accept compensation. Since then the land has been cultivated by the adivasis, who even have proof of having paid land revenue till very recently. Interestingly, the tribal women have been leading the movement under the command of Dayamani Barla.
CPI(ML) General Secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya had earlier alleged that the government was instrumental in directly grabbing land to be handed over to corporates. Faced with the political consequences of people’s resentment against land grab, however, now the governments are taking a back seat and allowing companies to acquire the land directly. There are changed political circumstances too. Today, Jharkhand is a separate state, several of its chief ministers have been adivasis, and under their patronage, Jindals and Mittals are blatantly defying laws like CNT and PESA to grab and loot forests and land. Political forces bearing the ‘Jharkhand’ name have emerged as agents of corporates rather than champions of the true spirit of a separate Jharkhand.
The state BJP is itself sharply divided over Das’ decision to change two land legislations through ordinance. A major section of the BJP legislators along with state BJP President Tala Marandi have raised their voice of protest. Marandi has questioned the hurry in bringing the legislation and the need for them. The statement has put the state government in an embarrassing position. Legislators allege that they were kept in the dark about the move. Jharkhand Mukti Morcha’s executive president and former chief minister Hemant Soren asserted that the land was being acquired for malls, cinema halls and other purposes and that people cannot remain mute spectators.
Historically, the tribals have always lived as masters of their lives and their system of communal holding of agricultural land continued uninterrupted. It was one of the best egalitarian and democratic systems of land holding. But in its quest to benefit the business houses the Das government has been making all-out efforts destroy the system and shatter their economy.
(IPA Service)
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