Jharkhand’s unsung heroes ask for clemency

RANCHI, NOV 12: ``Jai Jharkhand'', yells 30-year-old Laldu Munda as he limps along holding a crutch under his armpit. Munda's left leg had...

RANCHI, NOV 12: “Jai Jharkhand”, yells 30-year-old Laldu Munda as he limps along holding a crutch under his armpit. Munda’s left leg had to be amputated after he was badly injured while making a bomb at his house in Gumla for the blockade agitation on July 12, 1992, exploded injuring him.

Jharkhand is replete with such instances of sufferings among the youth, who spearheaded a series of often violent agitations that ultimately paved way for the new state. Twenty-six-year-old Jawala Korwa’s face was disfigured beyond recognition during the bandh on July 8, 1994.

“In an effort to enforce the bandh I was about to hurl a bomb when it exploded and my face was burnt,” recalls Korwa. The physical suffering is only part of the fall-out of the frequent bandhs and blockades enforced by the All Jharkhand Students’ Union (AJSU).

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The innumerable rounds to police stations and courts are yet another hassle, since most of them face criminal charges, including attempt to murder under section 307 of the IPC and the Explosives Substances Act. “I am tired of running from the police station to the court,” cribs Satendra Sahu, an AJSU activist who is facing two separate cases under Section 307 of the IPC.

“I want the case to be revoked,” says Sahu.AJSU Secretary Praveen Prabhakar claims to have seen partyman Sohan Manjhi being nabbed by police. “When Sohan returned home, we found that his palms were nailed by the police. He still carries the signs of injuries in his palms,” says Prabhakar who himself is an accused in a case of breach of public peace.During a rally organised by the Jharkhand Democratic Party here yesterday, AJSU leaders reiterated support to the National Democratic Alliance’s move to form the first government in the state and demanded that the charges against AJSU activists be withdrawn. They disclosed that there were more than 1050 activists, some of whom had lost their limbs and their visions, who were facing criminal charges.

“We salute them because due to their sacrifice the dream of Jharkhand is was about to be realised,” said Prabhakar. At the end of the rally these AJSU leaders circulated a xerox copy of a memorandum demanding clemency for all such activists.

The memorandum inter alia demands identification of all such agitationists and withdrawal of cases pending against them in different police stations in Jharkhand. However, the exact number of those who were handicapped and were facing cases and their place of domicile was not mentioned in it.“We are preparing their list,” said Prabhakar.Reacting to the AJSU’s demand, former DIG of police B.K. Singh observed thatthe Jharkhand government must not concede the demand because it can open theproverbial Pandora’s box. “Then even a man facing the charge of murdercan come out tomorrow claiming he was an agitationist and that he be granted clemency.”But, in case the NDA government, which has a wafer thin majority of 41 MLAs in the 81-member Jharkhand Assembly, is constituted with the support ofShailender Mahato, the AJSU’s clamouring cannot be wished away either. Mahato’s logic is: “If the men who fought for the country’s independence got recognition as freedom fighters, why can’t men who shed blood and sweat, even spent their youth fighting for a separate Jharkhand make a plea for withdrawal of cases.”