People's Democracy

 Go Back, Togadia!

 Militant Protest In Jharkhand

 D D Ramanandan

DESPITE the strong police security, about 2,000 leaders, functionaries and supporters of the Left parties staged a militant protest rally at Ranchi against Parveen Togadia’s entry into the city on September 5. Cadres of the CPI(M), CPI, CPI(ML), RSP and Marxist Coordination Committee assembled at the Hinoo Chowk near the entry road of the airport to tell Togadia, the VHP rabble rouser, to go back. The rally was addressed by CPI(M) state secretary J S Majumdar, CPI state secretary Bhubaneswar Prasad Mehta, CPI(ML) Central Committee member Mahendra Singh and others. The entire area was decorated with red flags, banners and placards.

On this occasion, the entire Ranchi city was converted into a police camp with 3,000 RAF, CRPF, Jharkhand Armed Police and other forces. Before the actual protest took place at the airport, the police tried its best to arrest the demonstrators elsewhere in the city.

At around 12.30 p m, the police began to arrest the leaders of Left parties and rally participants. But the participants broke off the police cordon and came out into the streets in a massive procession that moved through the city’s main thoroughfares. In between, police cordons were broken off at three places. The procession then converted into a massive meeting at Albert Ekka Chowk; it was addressed again by the Left parties’ leaders.

After the arrests the police had made and after the procession had left the Hinoo Chowk, Bajrang Dal hoodlums attacked the meeting’s venue at the chowk, and tried to remove the red flags and demolish the pandal of the meeting. This brought the CPI(M), CPI and CPI(ML) cadres into a clash with the hoodlums to protect the flags. The RAF then intervened and cordoned off the area.

Some time later, about 300 workers of the Congress party also reached the Hinoo Chowk, and the police arrested them also. They too broke off the police cordon and came out in a procession. Following that, about 150 persons from the JMM also came out to stage a rally at the Hinoo Chowk, and were arrested. About 60 persons from the RJD and many others from smaller groups and parties also reached the same chowk and were arrested. Later information received indicated that about 1,500 Congress, RJD and JMM supporters and leaders were arrested at Birsa Chowk in their separate rallies. In all, about 5,000 people were arrested.

What is intriguing is that about 600 persons of the BJP, Bajrang Dal, VHP and other Sangh Parivar activists brought out a procession in official and unofficial vehicles, carrying swords and other arms. But they were given protection and escorted by the police to the airport for receiving Togadia.

When Togadia reached the Ranchi airport, hundreds of armed policemen and administration officials escorted him from the airport. The police and the administration behaved in a totally partisan way for this ‘extra-constitutional centre of power.’ Togadia was escorted to a businessman’s house in the local Sukhla Colony to have lunch along with BJP functionaries and ministers. It will be noted that this businessman Chandrakant Rajpat’s residence at Sukhla Colony and simultaneously his business establishments at Mumbai and Kolkata were raided by income tax authorities in February last.

In Jharkhand, the Left parties, namely the CPI(M), CPI, CPI(ML), RSP and Marxist Coordination Committee, had also called for observing an anti-communal day throughout the state on September 5. Responding to the call, rallies, dharnas, demonstrations and public meetings were organised at Gomani and Barharwa in Sahebganj district, at Deoghar, Jamtara, Dhanbad, Koderma, Hazaribagh, Jamshedpur and Ramgarh, at Bhurkunda in Hazaribagh district, Gomia in Bokaro district and Karmatand in Jamtara district. Thousands of functionaries, workers and supporters of the sponsoring parties joined in this observance.

In short, it was the BJP’s flop show all along.

On the Togadia issue, the BJP stood isolated in Jharkhand. On September 5, while all opposition parties and groups came out into the street against communalism, the BJP could gather only about 600 persons for Togadia’s reception. On the other hand, parties of the ruling alliance like the Samata Party and JD(U) remained completely silent. The second important aspect was that Togadia could enter Ranchi only with the help of police and armed forces. His supporters were not in a position to receive him without help and support from the police and administration in this BJP-ruled state.