To silence the critics who are planning agitation against the state government’s decision of defining local based on 1932 Khatiyan land records survey, the State Government has issued notices to six people for opposing the declaration of Khatian of 1932. They have been accused of disturbing the peace. The notice has been issued under the signature of Ranchi SDO. These include six people including Pradeep Tiwari and Kailash Yadav. They have been ordered to fill a bond of Rs 50,000 in the SDM court by 10.30 am on September 19.
The six people who have been issued notices by Ranchi SDO include Pradeep Tiwari, Kailash Yadav, Ranjan Kumar, Navneet Kumar, Bittu Mishra and Ram Kumar Yadav. They are accused of speaking against the announcement of the implementation of Khatian of 1932 in Jharkhand. In view of the possibility of breach of peace, Ranchi SDO has issued a notice to them.
Kailash Yadav, who launched the Jharkhand Navnirman Manch on Sunday with the intention of launching a state wide agitation against the state government’s policy, said that he and five others including Pradeep Tiwari, Ranjan Kumar alias Chotu, Navneet Kumar, Bittu Mishra, and Ram Kumar Yadav, had been served notice under the said section. Yadav said that he could not appear at SDO Court today as is unwell, but he will appear on September 22.
Yadav also said that the government cannot silence his voice by issuing such notices as he will carry forward his agitation in the larger interest of the people. He also stated that his intention is not to disrupt the state on the issue but to raise the demand democratically as a citizen of Independent India.
He further said that several leaders including Saryu Roy, former chief minister Madhu Koda, Congress leaders Purnima Neeraj Singh, Dr Ajoy, Nationalist Congress leader Kamlesh Singh, former speaker Inder Singh Namdhari, and senior Congress leader KN Tripathy, among others, have raised their voices. The Jharkhand Navnirman Manch will contact all such people and bring them to a platform to protest against the 1932 Khatiyan policy.
The Hemant Soren-led Jharkhand government recently approved a bill that would make 1932 khatiyan —land records— the basis for a person being considered a “Jharkhandi”.
A person would be given a Jharkhand domicile —thus making him a Jharkhandi— if they or their ancestors are mentioned in the 1932 land records of the state. For the landless, the authority to issue domiciles would be vested with gram sabhas.
However, this is not the first time that any state government has decided to bring local policy. In 2002 then Chief Minister Babulal Marandi also introduced the 1932 local policy, however, Marandi was removed from his post midway.
At that time the state witnessed violent protests and Dhurwa as the epicentre of the protests. As many as three of the six people killed in the district were from Dhurwa. Entire Dhurwa, where people from all over the country had settled, had become a battlefield.