The long haul to statehood

With this, the demand for an Adivasi homeland was put into cold storage fornearly a decade. Although the Jharkhand party was revived, dissentersemerged on the scene, like N.E. Horo led by Munda followers Bagun Sumbraiand K.C. Hembrom by the Hos.

The movement was infused with a new radicalism when Santhal leader ShibuSoren formed the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) in league with the MarxistCo-ordination Committee in 1972. In the early years, the JMM, under Soren’sleadership, brought industrial and minning workers, mainly non-Adivasisbelonging to the Dalit and backward communities such as Surdis, Doms, Dusadhand Kurmi-Mahtos, into its fold.

However, Soren’s association with the late Congress MP, Gyanranjan, broughthim close to then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in New Delhi andself-proclaimed Naxalite Suraj Mandalin Godda, and he won the Dumka LokSabha seat in 1978.

Irked by Soren’s association with the Congress, some young turks in the JMMbanded together in Jamshedpur in 1986 and set up the All Jharkhand Students’Union. This did nothing to stunt the JMM’s growth in the 1991 Lok Sabhaelection, JMM, for the first time, won six seats.

However, the movement went nowhere till 1986. That year, anotherforeign-educated scholar emerged Ram Dayal Munda, who reignited themovement by unifying splinter groups among the Adivasis. Under his guidance,the Jharkhand Coordination Committee (JCC) was constituted in June 1987,comprising 48 organisations and groups including the JMM factions.

Due to Munda, Soren, Mandal and AJSU leaders like Surya Singh Besra andPrabhakar Tirkey briefly shared a political platform. But the JMM pulled outof the JCC as it felt that `the collective leadership was a farce’.

The JMM, AJSU and JPP successfully orchestrated bandhs and economicblockades in 1988-89. In the interim, the BJP came out with its demand for aseparate `Vananchal’ state comprising 18 districts of South Bihar, arguingthat the demand for greater Jharkhand was `not practical.’

In response, Buta Singh, the then Home Minister asked Ram Dayal Munda, thethen Ranchi University Vice Chancellor, to prepare a report on Jharkhand.Munda handed in his report in September 1988, advising the Home Ministry togrant `autonomy’ to greater Jharkhand. In August 1989, the Union HomeMinistry formed the Committee on Jharkhand Matters (CoJM) to look into theissue. In September 1989, the COJM submitted its report proposing threealternatives the formation of greater Jharkhand, a Union Territory or aJharkhand general council.

In 1995, the Jharkhand Area Autonomous Council (JAAC) was set up after atripartite agreement was signed by the Union government represented by thethen Minister of State for Home Rajesh Pilot, the Bihar governmentrepresented by then Chief Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav and Jharkhand leaderslike Soren, Munda, Mandal, Besra and Tirkey.

Horo did not sign this agreement. He dubbed the JAAC as a `fraud’ and stuckto his demand for an Adivasi homeland. So did the AJSU and the JPP.

Today, even as Jharkand has been created, not all are celebrating. “What wehave got is a truncated Jharkhand and not the Adivasi homeland we had foughtfor,” says Horo who lost his assembly seat to the BJP’s Kocha Munda in1999.

Even Ram Dayal Munda, President of the Jharkhand Vikas Party which does nothave a single MLA in its fold, is not satisfied. “If something is betterthan nothing, then Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand are welcome. But the Adivasipeople in Orissa and West Bengal will continue to agitate for councils likethe JAAC,” said Munda.

Soren, who is trying his best to become Jharkhand’s first Chief Minister,has also not given up the homeland demand altogether. “With the creation ofJharkhand and Chhattisgarh, our demand to have their Adivasi inhabited areasincorporated in the greater Jharkhand has lost meaning. Now, we will agitatefor autonomous councils for these areas,” said Soren.

Given their strength of MLAs and MPs, neither the JP, JPP-AJSU, JMM nor theJVP are significant. But each of these outfits enjoys support among theAdivasi, Dalits and backward communities in the homeland region.

In this area, the main exploiters are the Sahukars (money lenders),landlords, forest mafia and industrialists and businessmen who have usurpedland of the adivasis, polluted the rivers and plundered the forests. Thesenon-Adivasis are identified as `Dikkus’ (outsiders). Although many of themhave joined Jharkhand outfits, the conflict of interests among the Adivasisand Dikkus remains.

Admits Munda: “The first priority of Jharkhand and Chhattisgargh should beto take a policy decision on the three Js: Jal (water), Jangal (forest) aurJamin (land).”

Over 60 per cent of the one crore Adivasi population in Jharkhand isilliterate, and every year, thousands of men and women migrate in search oflivelihood. None of the Jharkhand parties, including the JP and the JMM, hasever done anything to generate employment. This has enabled the Left ultrasto gain a foothold in Palamu, Lohardaga, Gumla, Arhwa, Hazaribagh, Chatra,Bkaro, Ranchi and Giridih.

Similarly, despite making fiery speeches against deforestation, nobody hasopposed those uprooting the forests and running sawmills in every nook andcorner of Jharkhand. Said Mandal, “As JAAC Vice Chairperson, I tried to banthe saw mills. But the Patna never accepted it. The leadership of the newstate should clamp a blanket ban on the saw mills.”

None of the three BJP MPs Karia Munda, Dukha Bhagat and Babu Lal Marandi,who are in the race for chief ministership has publicly addressed theseissues. “We know the issues of the people much better than any Jharkhandis.We believe in doing and not merely harping about them,” claimed Bhagat.

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