Tana Bhagats refused to withdraw their agitation on the third consecutive day despite State finance minister Rameshwar Oraon acting as special emissary tried to reach out to them to persuade them to move out of the railway track that has disrupted the rail service.
“I am in touch with them through local leaders of the Congress party and I am trying to convince them that the State Government is serious about their demand. The Government has requested them to call-off their agitation,” the minister informed The Pioneer. Oraon said that the party has formed three-men committee of Sukhair Bhagat, Shivshankar Tana Bhagat and Muneshwar Oraon, which will submit a report regarding demands of Tana Bhagats, who are the followers of the philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi.
From Wednesday evening Tana Bhagats started their agitation and they blocked the railway track at Tori in Chandwa in Latehar district.
The agitation was called by a local outfit of Tana Bhagat which has been opposing mining on the land earlier owned by their forefathers. In 2017 also Tana Bhagats had held demonstrations for their demand. But they had not disrupted the rail line. Tori rail line connects Palamu to Ranchi and other places.
On Thursday, the railway had to terminate New Delhi-Ranchi Rajdhani Express at Daltonganj railway station. Passengers were taken to Ranchi by buses.“Due to the lockdown only Rajdhani express is operational otherwise the situation could have been worse. Routes of goods trains as well as Rajdhani Express have been changed.
We are in constant touch with district administration so that track is cleared,” said a senior official of Dhanbad rail division. Latehar falls in Dhanbad rail division. Sources in Latehar district administration said that on Thursday evening Latehar MLA Baidyanath Ram along with officials of district administration came to meet protesters.
“They are not ready to come to Ranchi for negotiation. They are not ready to trust anybody. They want assurance from the Governor that too in writing,” said an official of district administration. The district administration can’t think of using force to remove them from the track owing to the background of Tana Bhagats, who are in the true sense followers of Mahatma Gandhi.
Their demands are not as simple as it looks. They demand a ban on mining besides they want their land to be returned which were confiscated during the British period. “It dates back to 1914 when Tana Bhagats refused to pay land tax to the British government on the call of Mahatma Gandhi. Their land was confiscated and auctioned. Now, it is difficult to revoke old settlements and orders. Right after independence an act was passed for restoration of their land.