People's Democracy

  The Boiling Political Cauldron of Jharkhand

  D D Ramanandan

FORMER Jharkhand chief minister Babulal Marandi and present chief minister Arjun Munda are two faces of the same coin: the BJP coin. In other words, in case of an electoral toss, what the BJP wants is to win, whichever face is up.

In July last year, a violent agitation took place on the so-called domicile issue in which six persons were killed, several others were injured and properties burnt. The trouble started when Marandi government announced the appointment of 7,000 policemen. A controversy arose when applications for recruitment of policemen carried a rider with them --- the 1932 land survey records were made compulsory for the applicants. This led to a protest by the later-day settlers and many others who did not have the 1932 land survey records. There was then a counter agitation in support of the 1932 land survey records, in which the landlord sections were vocal. It then took the bigger dimension of a general domicile issue, with Marandi insisting on the 1932 land survey records as the basis of Jharkhandi identity. The issue went to the Ranchi High Court and a 5-member special bench was constituted. By this time the Marandi shifted the government's position, stating that there was no domicile policy of the state government; it was only a local inhabitant policy. The special bench of the Ranchi High Court struck down the land survey records as the basis for identification of local inhabitants. However, in its domicile judgement, the High Court stated that the state government could give priority in jobs to local inhabitants, and for that the state government should formulate its local inhabitant policy without the said land survey records as the basis.

Much water has flown down the Hundru falls since then. The recruitment of policemen was stayed, Marandi was removed from the post of chief minister and Arjun Munda took the chair.

BJP GAME PLAN BECOMES CLEAR

While Marandi was trying to create a vote bank for the BJP by fomenting regionalism among the tribals and other early settlers including landlord sections in Jharkhand, Arjun Munda took an 180-degree about-turn. This May, the Arjun Munda government announced recruitment of 10,000 trained primary teachers and for that the Jharkhand Public Service Commission was given the responsibility of calling for applications, holding examinations and effect selections. Applications were asked from all over the country. Thousands of trained unemployed primary teachers from Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and other parts of the country reached Jharkhand to appear in the concerned examinations. This was politically opposed by opposition political parties and many other organizations, in a democratic manner. On the other hand, a few regional parties and organisations announced their physical opposition and, as a part of this programme they announced a Jharkhand bandh on May 26 and 27. They mostly mobilised the tribals, including children and women, to physically resist at some examination centers, which led to some clashes with the police. Some violence also took place, created by anti-socials. In the police firing, one 10 years old innocent child and a girl were killed and several others injured.

The BJP's game plan became clear subsequently. This is a part of the BJP's bigger game plan of saffronisation of education in Jharkhand. While primary teachers are district level appointments, there remain about 10,300 trained unemployed primary teachers in Jharkhand, most of whom are tribals and other local inhabitants. Though the Ranchi High Court ­judgement gave an opportunity to the state government to give priority in jobs to local inhabitants, the Arjun Munda government called for applicantions from all over the country and the examination was conducted centrally by the Jharkhand Public Service Commission, headed by a Sangh Parivar appointee. Not only that, the answer papers were to be examined centrally, at Saraswati Vidhya Mandir, Dhurwa. As a result, thousands of RSS cadres, coming from different parts of the country including Jharkhand, are expected to be recruited as primary teachers.

ATTACKS ON TRIBALS

Simultaneously a propaganda campaign has been launched and cases have been filed against Christian missionaries, targeting the Christian minorities for allegedly organising violence. A similar propaganda campaign was run in July last year by Kailashpati Mishra, now a governor, that Christian missionaries supplied alcohol, mobile phones, etc, in organising violence. The BJP and Sangh Parivar also launched a campaign against the tribals, stating that they were all Hindus and were forcibly converted into Christians. Due to the tribal’s past struggles against the British rule and agitations in post-independence period, the Jharkhand tribals could not be saffronised by the BJP as they were in Gujarat and at some other places. That is why there is a systematic attack on the tribals and Christian missionaries and Christian minorities  ---to divide the tribals on the basis of religion. A member of the State Minority Commission went so far as to suggest that tribals be categorised  as Hindus, Christians and urban educated tribals, additionally suggesting that the benefits for tribals should be provided only to Hindu tribals. The tribals in Jharkhand are under serious attack by the Sangh Parivar and the BJP government. It is for that purpose that thousands of RSS cadres, as primary teachers on government's payroll, will be working among the tribals. That is the reason why the Arjun Munda government was adamant to hold examinations for primary teachers’ appointment under any circumstances. Now the Arjun Munda government has announced recruitment of secondary teachers as the priority issue, for which examinations will be conducted by the Jharkhand Public Service Commission.            .

The BJP is also pursuing its agenda for the coming Lok Sabha elections. It is trying to present the Arjun Munda government as job-giver while the opposition parties are being blamed for creating hurdles in the way of new recruitments. There is no doubt that job has been an important issue for the unemployed youth in Jharkhand. But the BJP’s propaganda barrage is also a cover-up exercise regarding the huge job loss which is taking place. In fact, this was one of the major issues for which the Left parties gave a call for Jharkhand Bandh on May 21, simultaneously with the all-India strike of the workers, to which people responded spontaneously and magnificently. About 1.9 lakh direct and about 5 lakh contract and indirect jobs have been killed in Jharkhand since its formation. This massive job loss is an offshoot of the central government’s and state government’s policies that are facilitating the closure of industries, mines, offices, and large scale privatisation. Jharkhand is the worst hit by job losses and its economy shattered due to the central government's policy. The picture became still clearer when the Planning Commission slashed down allotment of fund to one third of Rs 7,000 crore of earlier allotment due to the failure of the state government in mobilising the matching amount in every field due to the shattered economy, high level corruption and absence of foresight. It is these failures and job loss that are being covered up by massive propaganda about new recruitments by the BJP-led government in Jharkhand.

The BJP-led Arjun Munda government is in a hurry for the coming Lok Sabha elections and maybe for a mid-term poll to Jharkhand state assembly as the NDA government in the state is under strain due to inner conflicts. That is the reason why the Arjun Munda government is ignoring all political views and opposition, the High Court directions and the political process which began last year. The High Court, as said, gave a direction to the state government to formulate its own local inhabitant policy and gave some suggestions in this regard. The all-party assembly group meeting discussed these issues and came to a unanimous understanding. It appointed a committee of the members of the legislature, and directed it to create a framework by consensus, solicit views from others and find out a solution within the framework of the constitution, law and High Court directions. After the formation of the committee, however, the BJP-led government ignored this political process, ignored the High Court directions and suggestions, ignored all opposition views and agitation, and went ahead with the recruitment of primary teachers while using force to silence the critics.

It is in this background that the Left parties demarcated themselves from some agitationist groups, met the governor and unitedly campaigned against the saffronisation of education, against the massive job loss in Jharkhand and for a solution to such a contentious issue as the local inhabitant policy through a political process.

The battleline on electoral front is being drawn in Jharkhand. The BJP is gripped with desperation due to the growing anger among the people against the central and state governments. The opposition to the BJP's misrule is strong. Yet, the opportunism on part of bourgeois-landlord opposition parties, national and regional, has failed to create confidence among the people. United, the Left is a formidable force. But it is not in a position yet to give a political direction to the state. A consistent united battle against opportunism and regionalism will determine as to whether the BJP-led government in the state can be defeated on all fronts.