Thousands of tribals armed with traditional weapons rushed to the State Capital on Saturday to vent their anger against the BJP-led Government in the State.
They vociferously participated in ‘Adivasi Akrosh Maharally’ organised under the banner of ‘Jai Adivasi Yuva Shakti’ (JAYS), and criticised the BJP-led NDA Government in the State for promoting Kurmi and Teli communities at the cost of tribals.
State JAYS president Sanjay Pahan, while addressing a gathering at Harmu ground said that it has already been known that both the communities do not fulfill the criteria for being granted Scheduled Tribal status.
“A similar situation had arisen in 2002-03 which attracted widespread opposition from everywhere and a dharna was also staged at Raj Bhawan following which the then Tribal Research Institute Director Prakash Oraon had clearly interpreted that Kurmi community could not be incorporated into Scheduled Tribe as they were not tribals,” said Pahan.
After division of Jharkhand from Bihar, the tribals here became confident that their ‘Jal, Jungle and Jameen’ (water, forest and land) will remain safe, but the political leaders whom they voted for, backstabbed them, he alleged.
“Now, the tribals have united themselves and the political leaders should know that they will not succeed in their intentions,” said Pahan.
Earlier, tribal people were cheated by the politicians as they were not united, now the time has come to get united and decide cautiously which way to go, he added.
“We will definitely succeed in our battle, if needed we will knock Tribal Research Institute and other bodies to prove that Kurmis are not tribals,” said the JAYS president.
Executive president of Adivasi Jan Parishad Prem Shahi Munda also claimed that Kurmi community did not fulfill the guidelines of Government of India and hence cannot be incorporated into tribal community.
“Both the BJP and AJSU are upset and doing politics only for votes as they are cornered on the issues of domicile and land,” said Munda. They are trying to incorporate Kurmi and Teli communities into tribal fold only for political benefits, he added.
“The 42 MlAs from the ruling and Opposition sides who made their recommendations for incorporating Kurmi and Teli into Scheduled Caste never cared to take consent from our tribal community,” said Munda. The movement will continue till the government bends down before the tribal community. If the government did not agree to us, they will have to face the heat during 2019 elections, he warned. Another tribal leader Ajay Tirkey, president of Kendriya Sarna Samiti, said that the Government wants to finish the tribal community, but they will not succeed in their intentions.
“Calling ‘Patthalgadi an age old tradition, he also claimed that they have now become united and cannot be ditched by the political leaders,” said Tirkey.
The tribal meet, however, disrupted traffic on the one of the main arteries of the city – Harmu Road for about 4 hours causing inconvenience to commuters. Several office goers, school students and the common man remained stranded due to traffic jam on the road.
