Unsung Heroes of Jharkhand Movement

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Unsung Heroes of

JHARKHAND MOVEMENTS (Story of Exploitation, Struggle & Martysm)

By Anuj Kumar Sinha

Foreword This is a document. Future historians, political commentators or analysts would use this as a evidence base for their study. This is a very important document that has been written by a journalist. Generally, people are of the opinion that journalists write history in haste or they write histories everyday or that journalism is history written in haste. But this book will break the myth. This book will discuss about the firings in the tribal areas. This discussion did not take place only after hearing. Apart from some, all others areas mentioned in this book have been visited by Anuj himself. Years after the firing, things have been tested in these areas. He met the victims or their family and then wrote about them. This does not mention only about the firings in Jharkhand, but before the Jharkhand Movement, it concentrates on the details of the imaginations of a wide Jharkhand of the agitators. This also has the memoirs of the firings before independence. It also has the details of the firings just after the independence. It has the original reason of the firings and the details of the facts associated with it. After reading about these firings, we know about the dreams of these tribal areas, the environment made by these conflicts and also about their psyche. How were the people killed and how were their memories kept? This is also told by this book. Similarly, there are many bona fide facts associated with these firings, which were discussed ubiquitously. This book also has some rare photos associated with these firings. Before this, such approximately endangered bona fide photos associated with these firings have not been available together anywhere. There are many such bona fide reports, which would break the myth that only tribal fought for Jharkhand. Many people who came here to settle from Bihar, Bengal, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh were killed for Jharkhand. They accepted the constitutional provision of independent India that our house, our land is where we work. People like Ramdev Singh, Sadanand Jha, Basant Pathak and Durga Tiwari belonged to this category. Such people are mentioned, who played a breakthrough role in the Jharkhand Movement. In English, they are called as ‘unsung heroes’. They paid the price for how these people fought against usurers and coal mafia. These people may not

have been killed in the firing, but how their voice against sand mafia, coal mafia and ration mafia has affected, is what is documented in this book. In this book, the leaders of local conflicts in various places have also been discussed. Sidhu Tiyu’s, also regarded as displaceds’ messiah, functioning has also been described here. There are also details of the death of those associated with the movement because of the lack of treatment. In this section, many layers of the human mind are revealed. What reason, inspiration or energy is that that inspires one to sacrifice oneself for one’s theory, honour or destination? That gives us strength to sacrifice ourselves for our resolution. Along with this, the question also arises that with every such sacrifice there is a change, but for those reasons, words or ideals for which we have struggled and sacrificed are lives why are these dreams left incomplete as soon as we get the political power? It would be correct to say that in the fires of such movements and struggles, one does get political power. But as soon as power is achieved, all those people who sacrificed their lives for their resolution and honour are forgotten. This book is a compilation of details that tell us that after getting independence why the philosophy of Police and administration did not change. From misdemeanour towards women to different kinds of tortures meted out to the revolutionaries. Is there any way to develop tackling of movements and conflicts in a more civilized way and with a thoughtful mind? All these sections are not a mere compilation of events, but a document of thoughts of opinions of a particular geographic area. We must understand the thoughts involved in their every trial and order of strategy to make their area better and prosperous. This book’s another big contribution would be to introduce prudent governance and encourages bringing change by forming new policies. And encourage its progress. Those people that come from the background of movement, went on these strikes, fasts, demonstrations for every small reason, for their movement. This book also questions such people. After the sacrifice of so many dedicated people, who is going to be the heir of their imagination? We say they were right. But are we cautious and committed towards their dreams because of which they had sacrificed their lives? If yes, then why is this area or zone not being rejuvenated? Why is the politics constantly moving on negative grounds? May be there is a reason behind this. Today conflicts are easy, destroying is easy, fighting for a cause is easy. Blocking roadways

because of strikes have become common phenomena. There is no investigation. Anybody can start a movement for any reason. Nothing can harm him. Law provisions have become a joke. In such an environment, participating in conflicts is not a bigger challenge than creating something or forming a new society. The documents of conflicts that Anuj has compiled in his book, those pages completely shake us. But those dreams for which those people have sacrificed their lives, where are they? The way to make those dreams a reality is through the path of creation, honesty, better organization of work and solid resolution. Whenever we remember such conflicts, we must ask ourselves the question that why we are not accepting the challenge of creation. Nowadays, conflicts and destruction are easy but diligence is difficult. This book will inspire us to work with diligence and build a new society. Anuj is not one among those journalists who would see events with a neutral mind. He is one who lives according and is committed to the original values of journalism. The number of people like him has decreased now in the country and in society. After reading this book, the new generation of journalists will get the opportunity to know that meaningful journalism is possible. This book of Anuj is its evidence. —Harivansh

Author’s Note Immediately after Jharkhand state was formed, I thought of writing a book. All over the country, many books have been written about Jharkhand. Mostly, they mentioned the roles of Jharkhand’s history, political progress during the movement and agitators’ organizations. I wanted to write something different. I wanted to make such a document, after reading which, the current and future generations would know about the truth or basic reality of Jharkhand Movement. Also, I wanted that those people who participated in the movement and lost or sacrificed their lives to get a prominent place in history and the respect which they deserved. Justice would be done to them and their Kin. From a long time, (approximately 32 years), I have been in journalism, that too, in Jharkhand. I was born and brought up here, studied here. Later, when I decided to get into journalism, I chose Jharkhand. Thus, from the time I have understood to use my senses, I have only seen and understood Jharkhand. In which, the Jharkhand Movement was also included. I got the opportunity to see the Jharkhand movement from very close quarters. Before the state was formed, Jharkhand Movement not only gave intellectual support, but sometimes more than that. It is true that I openly supported Jharkhand Movement. I had close and personal relationships with leaders, party workers and student leaders, who participated in the Jharkhand Movement for a separate state. Thus, according to the outlook of obtaining news items about the Jharkhand Movement, my newspaper (the newspaper for whom I was working) and I profited. From time to time, I spoke with my friends in the Jharkhand Movement to know the framework of the movement. I used to contemplate and discuss. Whenever I would get a chance, I would give my clear opinion. During the Jharkhand Movement, many a times, my opinions did not match with those of the agitators. I never used to hesitate to go against something I did not agree with the agitators. Between 1987 and 1989, when the Jharkhand Movement was in full force, the violent AJSU movement was going on and the railway tracks were being burnt, then also I kept advising my agitator friends that blockades must happen but under no circumstances, must anyone die. Whatever message has to be given to the centre, we can do so by making small

damages to the tracks, but no traveller of any passenger train must be hurt in any way. Yet certain incidents occurred. Once, a nuisance happened in the name of movement and I was against it. In disagreement, I also published a report. The repercussion was that some hooligans who joined the movement exploded a van carrying the newspapers along with the driver. Even today, I am grieved by this incident. I believed that such incidents can sway us away from the movement. For a long time, I kept watching how an ordinary person of Jharkhand would revolt for a separate state without any personal greed or desire. They did not worry about their homes and families or how they would get their daughters married. They did not think about how and where their children would study. The condition of the passion was such that those who should have been studying in schools and colleges were out on the streets with their weapons. They would bear the thrashing by the Police. The agitators of the movement would be busy in their strikes and processions or building their political career, the price for which their families had to pay. Police would raid the houses of the agitators in search of them. And when they couldn’t find them, they would break and burn their houses, beat and arrest their parents or wives, torture them, send them to jail and in many cases, would do wicked deeds. Jharkhand agitators realised that the centre would listen only to those who would pick up weapons and get violent. After that, for some years the movement did become violent. They planned to advertise their movement all around the world. And this could happen only if a big incident happened. After AJSU, the activity progressed. While executing the incident, some lost their hands while the legs of some got paralysed. They were so badly thrashed by the Police that even after they got a separate state, the marks of which wouldn’t disappear from their backs. Many mothers lost their sons and many women became widows at a very young age during Police firing and other such incidents. Somehow they struggled and worked hard to raise their children. Some children were also killed during the Police firing. These kids who went to school never destroyed anything. They would go to see what the agitators were doing, only out of curiosity and later would get targeted. When a new state was formed, I did not see any place for such people who made such sacrifices or for their followers. When I would see a martyr’s wife holding her husband’s photo in her hand, many questions

would arise in my mind. I would wonder that her husband had sacrificed his life for the Jharkhand state, but how would she survive her entire life, how would she raise her small children. I would be saddened and kept thinking that something should be done. I had lot of respect for those heroes who received martyrdom or participated in the movement. When I saw that the state was formed after the death of those who struggled all their life for a separate because of lack of medication, I would feel very sad. Questions rose in my mind that when most of the ministers of the state had so much money that their future generations could live a comfortable life, the agitators on the other side were dying because of lack of treatment. There has always been respect for such heroes, so whenever I would get a chance in journalism, I would remember them with my pen and honour them. I have tried to remind the state in which theft and corruption are at their peaks, that it was formed by those thousands of people who gave up their lives. Remember their martyrdom, honour them. Those who spent all their lives in the movement must be given their rights. After being in journalism for several years in Hazaribagh and Ranchi, I was an editor in Jamshedpur. But the passion to write didn’t die. I visited every area. While working for the newspaper, I searched the entire Kolhan. Whether it was Saranda, Porahat or Kolhan jungles, I met the local tribals and enquired more about the movement. I heard stories from villages and jungles (forest) of Kolhan as they spoke the truth about the movement. Memorials of agitators of the villages in the jungles of Kolhan tell about their sacrifices. If we come out of Kolhan, we realise that even Koylanchal (Coal field) played a major role in the Jharkhand Movement. Long battles were fought in Dhanbad and its adjoining areas against mafia and exploiters torturing workers. These workers kept fighting against exploitation and were supporters of a Jharkhand state. More than hundred people, from Koylanchal only, received martyrdom during the movement. From the beginning itself, under the leadership of Shibu Soren, many agitators fought against the Mahajans in the areas of Tundi, Vishnugarh and Pirtanr. At many places in Dhanbad, Giridih, Hazaribagh and their adjoining areas, memorials of martyrs have been made. This is the proof that even in these areas, there has been bloodshed and only then, we got a separate state.

When I went there, I also met those who saw and sustained the torture of Police and Mahajans forty-fifty years ago. They only tell the true picture of Jharkhand Movement. Before Jharkhand was formed, the entire focus was on getting a separate state. So in those days, it was shown in many reporting that a separate state was essential, how the tribal people of these areas were neglected and faced injustice, Police torture and the death of people because of their firing. So their demand for a separate state was justified. But after 15 November, 2000, the day when the new state was formed, the focus of the reporting changed completely. A separate state of Jharkhand was everyone’s dream. A template was ready as to how our Jharkhand would be formed. It would be small, but green and happy. Those people would get a special place, who sacrificed their life for the state. Suddenly after the state was formed, we could see those faces which would make us anxious. Most of them were unknown, unrelated to Jharkhand. Those who belonged to Jharkhand also acted and thought in a changed manner. Rich people of other states would always be around the influential Ministers of Jharkhand. I would question myself if it was the same state for which leaders like Jaipal Singh Munda, N. E. Horo, Shibu Soren, Binod Bihari Mahto and A.K. Roy struggled. I also answered to the questions in my mind. It is my fault to search for those local faces that struggled for Jharkhand. How would we get those faces? Times have changed. A separate state has been formed. Those who got the opportunity, bagged it and became MLAs and Ministers. But apart from some exceptions, very few have probably remembered those who sacrificed. Although I was grieved by this, yet I had resolved that even though it takes time, the names of those who died for Jharkhand would be widespread. Where and when Policemen fired at the movement’s agitators, where and how many of them suffered and got killed would also be known. The motive behind this was that at least the future generations would know of those who fought for a separate state and remember them. With respect to this campaign, I first went to Kolhan and then to the villages and tribes of different areas of the state. That was a unique experience. In these places, there were memorials of those who hadn’t been mentioned anywhere. They were those leaders of the Jharkhand movement because of whose martyrdom, we got a separate state. Where they received martyrdom, only

people of those areas knew them. After speaking to some influential leaders of Jharkhand, we are told that a memorial mass would be made in memory of these martyrs in Ranchi or in any one of the associated places. Later, it would be developed as a tourist place. Whenever important people would come from different states or countries to Jharkhand, then a tour to this place would be included in their programme. I thought whether the government makes a memorial or not, it is also my responsibility to tell Jharkhand and the country how we got a separate state. This book is a part of that exercise. Journalism was different 30-40 years ago. Nonetheless news on Jharkhand movement was given less space in the newspapers. That is why reports on Police firing or other crimes were less seen in the newspapers at that time. Newspapers would be available in many parts of the state but less news on the Jharkhand Movement would be published. There were one or two newspapers that kept this movement alive. Media also didn’t do any justice with news related to Jharkhand Movement during 1970-80. This was the reason because of which most part of the state did not know what had happened during the movement. Even now, the conditions haven’t changed. People do not have much information about this. I got the opportunity to teach and train students and tribal youth of Ranchi and Jamshedpur who were learning journalism. I would generally ask if they were familiar with such and such firing incident or the leadership of any tribal leader. It used to surprise me that most of them were unaware. When even many active tribal leaders of Jharkhand politics could not say much about the movement, I realised how cut off we were becoming towards our own history. It would be dishonesty if the new generation is not told about the tough history of the Jharkhand Movement. It was also commented in the newspapers–Tribal youth get strayed. When these young people could not say anything about Kharsawan firing or Gua firing then they are bound to be concerned. Many a time, voices were raised that the government must give respectable jobs to dependents of Jharkhand martyrs and pension to the agitators. But where is the list? When people involved in this work do not have complete idea about martyrs or incidents, then there would be fear that injustice would happen to many martyrs. That is why I decided to gather as much information as I can about martyrs, fusillades and agitators with my own personal effort.

My effort has always been to go to the spot, talk to the people and prepare detailed studies of any available documents. In this effort, I tried to collect as many photographs as I could. But I encountered many difficulties too. Cameras were not available in forests and villages 35-40 years ago. A common agitator from a village wouldn’t go to a city to get his photograph clicked. Photographs of many martyrs could not be found as they never clicked photographs of themselves. We did get some scarce photographs. When I went for a tour of the spot, the people of many places looked at me as if I was some awkward animal from a zoo. This happened because after 35-40 years, when somebody goes to the spot of the fusillade and talks of such old incidents, such a notion is anticipated. I was in dilemma of how to start this book. A very long struggle happened for Jharkhand. The movement continued even before our independence. Our independence movement is full of the Jharkhand history. People like Baba Tilka Majhi, Sido-Kanhu, Birsa Munda, Budhu Bhagat even though fought against Britisheis, also fought against injustice. After the Indian independence, the Jharkhand Movement picked up pace. That is why I decided that I will start this book from the time when a separate Jharkhand state was first proposed. It was 1912, when for the first time a student of St. Columbus College in Hazaribagh, demanded for a separate Jharkhand state during a meeting. The detailed description of this incident is not available anywhere. In my book, I have mentioned about Police firing from the 1939 Simco firing. It was also decided that incidents only till 15 November, 2000 (Jharkhand state formation day) would be included. A question was also raised that which of the fusillades or murder of which agitators should be associated with the Jharkhand Movement. There may be controversy on a few. Logic could also be that such and such person was killed because of personal rivalry or such and such person has a criminal record. Such questions may rise. It is correct that along with the Jharkhand Movement, many other movements also continued. Their direct relation may not be with the demand for a separate state, but they were against injustice and exploitation. During this period, many such leaders were killed who fought for the rights of the workers. Such leaders were also fighting for a separate Jharkhand state. So such incidents were also included. May be some incidents would be questioned that they are not associated with the Jharkhand Movement. At first sight, they may seem

correct but if during any movement against injustice and exploitation, someone lost their life or there has been Police firing, then I have included such movements as part of the Jharkhand Movement. Efforts have been made to include all those or firing incidents on large crowds that happened between 1912 and 15 November, 2000. Originally, this document was made to accumulate all incidents that occurred during the Jharkhand Movement. During this time, many such incidents happened when Police arrested many innocents or set free many criminals. People opposed such acts and so fusillades happened. Such incidents have also been included. During the movement, in Kolhan, Police fired at those who were causing a lot of panic (Bharbharia firing). Thus, the tribal people were killed in large numbers. Even during the meeting for demanding a separate Kolhan state, Police started firing on the people. I agree that such a demand was inappropriate and was marked as a category of traitors. But because such misunderstanding of the tribes also got associated with the Jharkhand Movement, this book also mentions about such incidents. Jharkhand Movement continued for very long period. During that time, many incidents of firings and murder of agitators occurred. Even in distant jungles and villages such murders would happen. The only target that these agitators had was to obtain a separate state. So the records of many murders and Police firings had not been maintained. Thus our efforts have been to compile data about as many incidents of fusillades and agitators’ killings as possible. But even after our efforts, because of lack of information, some incidents might have been left out. This does not mean that this is the final list of martyrs and firings. This is a continuous effort and as and when we get details of such incidents we will try to include them in this book’s further editions. It is possible that these details written here may not tally with those in the government reports. It has been our effort to go to the spot and meet the witnesses and gather information that would take me closer to the truth. This book also mentions certain incidents that occurred in Odisha and West Bengal. When a separate state was being demanded then apart from Bihar, districts of Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal were also involved. But only Bihar was divided to form a separate Jharkhand state. In other states too, there were movements for a separate Jharkhand state, against exploitation, so such incidents have also been mentioned in this book. This book mentions about Police firing and the agitators killed by the

Police. The details of wherever Police fired against the agitators till the state was formed have been mentioned in this book. Where and when the bullets were fired, against whom and for what reasons (I have left some ordinary reasons), all such details have been are mentioned in this book. Such incidents have also been included where agitators were not killed by the Police but were killed by Mahajans-Mafia. The number of such incidents was more in Dhanbad where agitators of Jharkhand Movement fighting against injustice and exploitation towards the workers were killed by Mafia. Thousands of agitators fought for Jharkhand and went to prison. But due to lack of space I have not been able to discuss about those agitators in detail in this book. I understand that without mentioning about those agitators, this book would be incomplete. But their numbers are so many that giving details about all of them in this book is not possible. To form the Jharkhand state Jaipal Singh Munda, Shibu Soren, Binod Bihari Mahto, A.K. Roy, N.E. Horo, Nirmal Mahto, Dr Ram Dayal Munda, Bagun Sumbrui, B.P. Keshri, Pol Dayal, Shailendra Mahto, Arjun Munda, Suraj Mandal, Krishna Mardi, Stephen Marandi, Simon Marandi, Teklal Mahto, Hemlal Murmu, Mathura Mahto, Champai Soren, Gyan Ranjan, Shiva Mahto, Arjun Ram, Prabhakar Tirkey, Suraj Singh Besra, Bhuvaneshwar Mahto, Bahadur Oraon, Sudesh Mahto, Sudhir Mahto, Dulal Bhuiyan, Dr. Devsharan Bhagat, Sanjay Basu Mallik, Mumtaz Khan, Khalid Ahmed, Durga Soren, Abu Talib Ansari, Inder Singh Namdhari, Samresh Singh, Kamal Kishore Bhagat, Binod Bhagat, Ramdas Soren, Sunil Mahto, Vidyut Varan Mahto, Lobin Hembram, Mohan Karmkar, Sukhdeo Hembram, Dr. Tudu, Mora Munda, Sheikh Badruddin, Harishankar Mahto, Rajendera Mahto, Ramesh Hansda, Ramesh Gope, Rajendra Prasad, Anand Giddh, Praveen Prabhakar, Praveen Oraon, Chattan Singh, Bablu Murmu, Bhai Halen Kujur, Babulal Murmu, Sunil Fakira, Kanhu Samant, K.C. Mardi, Budhnath Soy, Deepak Birua, Dhan Singh Mundari, Vinod Pandey, Shailendera Bhattacharya, Kanhai Lal Mahali, Shekar Chand Hembram, Bheem Soren, Charu Mardi, Sheikh Shirauddin, Shankar Chand Hembram, Thakur Murmu, Jairam Tudu, Vimal Kachhap, Nirmal Bhattacharya, Damu Vanra, Astik Mahto, Xavier Dias, Lalit Mahto, Anil Mahto, Jhibra Oraon, Sarjit Mirdha, Birendra Bhagat, Mahavir Viswakarma, Sukhdeo Gope, Raja Ram Mahto, Dhaneshwar Bhagat, Sapore Tigga, Pushkar Mahto, Sanatan

Soy, Man Singh Bodra and thousands other leaders-workers gave their priceless contribution. It is possible that the names of many other agitators may have been missed out. I am asking for their forgiveness as I could not mention them because of lack of space, information and memory. With lot of humility, I accept that even though I desired I could not give detailed description about all agitators in this book. If I ever get the opportunity, I will complete this work too. I have not given separate chapters about Jaipal Singh Munda, Shibu Soren, Binod Bihari Mahto, N.E. Horo, A. K. Rai. This is because they were the pillars of the Jharkhand Movement. These leaders led the entire movement. So somewhere or the other, they have been mentioned in every incident. I am grateful to the senior journalist Harivansh, who has always encouraged, directed and advised me to work on the Jharkhand Movement and write this book. Accepting my request, he wrote the foreword of this book and appreciated my work. This increased my confidence. I am grateful to my journalist friend Vinay Bhushan with whom I sat and formed this book, consulted him every day and completed my work. He maintained my enthusiasm. I am grateful to Shailendra Mahto (Jharkhand Movement leader and former MP of Jamshedpur) with whose help, I could gather information and collect many documents about old incidents. I am also grateful to such agitators like Bhuvaneshwar Mahto and Bahadur Oraon who helped me to go far and wide areas of Jharkhand in search for more information. I am grateful to Prabhakar Tirkey and Dr. Devsharan Bhagat who have helped me. I am grateful to my colleague, Anurag Kashyap (Dhanbad), who along with his entire team helped me very affectionately to search for the documents. I also received lot of help from my other collegue, Vijay Pathak, Sushil Bharti, Ranjit Prasad Singh and their team. I would not have been able to do this work if I were involved in household chores. My father Sri Surendra Prasad Sinha, mother Leela Sinha, my wife Anju and my children, Aditi and Aditya never asked my time for themselves or complained, so that I could be released from family responsibilities and took out time to complete such a big task. Even at the age of 80, my father to this day studies important articles and reports intensively from newspapers and magazines and collects them. His collection helped me a lot to compile data for this book. Thirty-two years

ago when I expressed my desire to join journalism, my father had fully supported me and increased my self-confidence. Lastly, I am also grateful to all those people who have helped me directly or indirectly to complete this work. —Anuj Kumar Sinha

The History of Struggle is Immensely Old The debate as to who first proposed that Jharkhand should be a separate state and when and where it was done has been a time-worn one. And it is a debate which has no clear answers. A large section of people believe that the first appeal for Jharkhand was made in 1912. However, much before this appeal, the tribals had started to struggle and raise their voices against exploitation. On 12 August, 1765, Shah Alam II handed over the Diwani of the states to the British. During these times, all states were unified. Hence, all districts coming under the Chota Nagpur constituency came under the British rule. Naturally, it was assumed that the king and landlords of Chota Nagpur would pay taxes to the British government. The condition of this state was different from that of the kings and landlords of Bengal and Bihar. The king and landlords of Chota Nagpur were an independent lot, yet when attacked by the Mughals, they had come to accept that they’d have to pay a nominal tax to the Mughals. In spite of this fact, the Mughals were never able to establish total hegemony over this territory. With the establishment of the British rule, the pressure over rulers and landlords to pay taxes increased. The common man was also burdened with taxes. It was at this juncture that the Adivasis started protesting. Since people in this region weren’t accustomed to being taxed, it was difficult to forcibly seize taxes from them, even for the kings. When the British coerced the rulers and the landlords to pay taxes, they used to take shelter in the hills of Chota Nagpur. Collecting taxes wasn’t an easy task for the British. Yet they continued putting pressure on the people. Atrocities were committed on those who refused to pay taxes. Their lands were confiscated and numerous prohibitions were imposed. Hatred and animosity against the British rule swelled in the hearts of the people. This created an atmosphere for revolt.

Shailendra Mahto, Suraj Mandal, Shibu Soren and Nirmal Mahto.

Within two years of establishment of the British rule, protests broke out in the region. In 1767, the king of Dhalbhum Jagannath and his army revolted

against the British ruler Ferguson. The battle continued until 1777. During the same time (1769-1805), Chuar revolt also broke out. In 1770, Chero Sardars started protesting against Captain Camac, in a protest that came to be known as Chero revolt. The bugle of protest was trilled by Chero the second time in 1810. The Bhogata revolt (1770-71) and Ghatwal revolt (1772-73) also broke out simultaneously. Under the able leadership of Tilka Majhi in 1793, the Santals started protesting against the British. They believed that since they had cleared the forests to prepare lands, they had rights over it. They also believed that the British had no right to interfere. Based on the aforementioned issues, the Bhumij of Manbhum revolted in 1798. Intense protests were launched in 1819-20 by the Munda tribals under the leadership of Rudu Konta. Kol revolt broke out in 1831-32 under the supervision of Sangrai-Bindrai Manaki and Budhu Bhagat. The people of these regions refused to accept defeat in the face of atrocity and exploitation. The British attempted to quell the protests, but locals retorted in similar ways. In 1834, under the leadership of Ganga Narayan, Bhumij revolted. In 1855, under the leadership of four brothers Sidhu, Kanhu, Chand and Bhairav great Santhal revolt started from Bhognadih of Santhal Pargana. Meanwhile, in 1854, Chota Nagpur Commissionary was formed. After Ricket’s report, South-West front west agency was finished and the entire Chota Nagpur was handed to the Lieutenant Governor of Bengal. Ordinary Diwani and royal courts were opened. A Commissioner was appointed under whom Lohardaga, Hazaribagh, Manbhum, Singhbhum, Sarguja, Jashpur, Koreya, Chang-Baker, Udaipur, Gangapur and Banaye were integral states. During this year, in the province of the Santals; Morgo Majhi and Veer Singh Majhi started protests against outsiders. From Chota Nagpur, Bankura, Purulia and Medinipur, Santhals shifted to Damin-i-koh. Later, Zamindars (Landlords) also reached there. Then began, the streak of exploitation. Santhals got agitated by this. A Santhal King named Morgo Majhi, who resided near Parsanath hills tried to demand a separate Santhal-Land; but in vain. In 1854, Veer Singh Majhi declared that he has received a divine power with which he could drive away the exploiters. He destroyed houses of all outsiders. This was tribal rebellion mode against the exploiters.

Rare Picture: Shibu Soren and Binod Bihari Mahto

Jharkhand did not stay behind in the revolt of 1857. Thakur Viswanath Shahdev, Pandey Ganapat Rai, Tikait Umraon Singh, Seikh Bhikhari, Nadir Ali, Jai Mangal Singh and Nilambar-Pitambar all started the rebellion against the British. In Chaibasa-Chakradharpur, King of Porahat, Arjun Singh had started an uprising. Thakur of Kharsawan, Jaggu Diwan, Dabru Manki, and Khari Tanti all supported him. During (1866-1867), Santhals revolted in Bamanghati province of Mayurbhanj. The reason for this was revenge against the execution of four Santhal leaders. These people had refused to supply rations and hence, were tied on an elephant and brought to Baripada. In the process of revolt; Santhals took soldiers of the king outside by force and assaulted them. The entire revolt was carried out by Bhunda Bhumij, Kartik Kol, Tolka Santhal, Chakra Kol and Bhagwan Das. The real effect of revolt was witnessed in dethroning of the king. The administrative responsibility of Bamanghati was given to Dr. Hayes. Santhals were given a status in-line to Police officers. With this they regained their lost glory. In 1880, Telanga Kharia kept the flames of rebellion alive. The battle which started in 1859 continued till 1895. Then came Birsa Munda, who revolted against the British from 1895 to 1900. This was a breakthrough battle. The battleground of Birsa Munda was from Khunti, Tamar to Bandgaon. In the conflict between the soldiers and Tana Bhagat community; the British were deprived of peace. The revolt for freedom had spread throughout the country. From deprived to the exploited, all of them believed for their welfare, tribals should have separate province of their own. By this time, Bengal was partitioned and Bihar had become a separate province. During partition, Odisha was treated as a province of Bihar. So for the first time, Jharkhand claimed for the status of a separate state. It is also believed that first demand for a separate Jharkhand was discussed in a special session held at St. Columbas College, Hazaribagh in (1911-1912). There was a session of students in Dhaka. A

participant of this session, J. Bartholman, an orphan came to St. Columbas. He started a Christian Students Union on the lines of Dhaka Students Union. The objective of the union was to financially help Christian and non-tribals. After finishing his Bachelors from college in 1915; Bartholman lost contact with college. He became a faculty in St. Paul School in Ranchi. Tribals believed that without unity, revolution cannot happen. Hence, the Students Union was renamed as Chota Nagpur Progressive Society. In 1928, they gave request to Simon Commission for a separate Jharkhand. Theble Oraon, Juel Lakra, Paul Dayal, Alphonse Kujur, Elias Topono, Veer Singh Munda and Bandi Oraon were the pioneer leaders who made this demand. The society slowly started assembling and working for the progress of tribals. They did not believe in clash and violence. Their sole objective was social and financial progress of the tribals, and progress of Chota Nagpur province. Missionaries had made their entry amidst this. Their impact could be seen in field of education. They began awakening students with education. Since they were literate; the leadership of this Jharkhand Movement was taken by Christian tribal. By now there was a split in Unnati Samaj; Theble Oraon and Paul Dayal started Kisan Sabha.

A.K. Roy: Co-founder of JMM

As per Provincial Legislative Acts under Government of India Act 1935, Bihar had elections to legislative council in 1937. Ministry in Bihar was constituted by Congress, and there was not a single Congress leader from Chota Nagpur at this time. Hence, people felt that they were being excluded. After this, on May 30-31, 1938, there was a joint session of Unnati Samaj, Catholic Sabha and Kisan Sabha. This resulted in the formation of Adivasi Mahasabha, whose intention was unification of Santhal Pargana and Chota Nagpur regions to form Jharkhand. Theodore Surin was the President and Paul Dayal was the Secretary of this session.

When the demand to separate Jharkhand from Bihar came in 1938, Governor, Sir MG Hallet waved off this idea terming it unthinkable. The Sentinel had mentioned this on 6 August, 1938. Rebels were not affected by the statement of Governor Hallet and they proceeded with their decision. At this time, the Adivasi Mahasabha was suffering due to lack of an efficient leadership. The solution for this came in 1939. Jaipal Singh had returned from Britain and was serving as Minister in Bikaner state. In the process of going to Patna, he halted at Ranchi. Here, the members of Adivasi Mahasabha met him and invited him to be a part of their struggle. This meeting was held in Hindpiri in Ranchi, which was presided by Jaipal Singh. He gave a word to them that he will return and will carry out the struggle along with them. He kept his word. On 20 January, 1939, a grand meeting of Adivasi Mahasabha was conducted. In this meeting, Jaipal Singh was chosen to preside over the tribal group. In Chota Nagpur, the faith of people towards Congress had started diminishing. The High Command was extremely worried about this. Amidst this, Subhash Chandra Bose had come to Jamshedpur, but he too spurned the request for a Chota Nagpur-Santhal Pargana Province. In 1940 Ramgarh Congress, Jaipal Singh met Bose and discussed the need for a separate Jharkhand. Subhash Chandra Bose replied that such requests will have affect on our freedom struggle. And hence, he requested Jaipal Singh to remain complacent regarding this for the time being. On the advice of Bose, Jaipal agreed to it and there was no more discussion in Ramgarh Session regarding this demand. Congress named the main entry point of Ramgarh Session (1940) in the memorial of Birsa Munda in an attempt to re-establish their relations with the land. By this time, Jaipal Singh had emerged as the greatest leaders among the tribals. Between 31 December, 1949 and 1 January, 1950, a congregation of the tribal group was held at Karandih Ground (Jamshedpur). The inevitability of a democratic platform to continue their activities was the idea born here. Hence, the Adivasi Mahasabha took re-birth in form of Jharkhand Party. In the first legislative election of 1952, they emerged as the largest opposition party. This was indeed the result of a charismatic leadership of Jaipal Singh. Jharkhand Party had begun calling the shots in entire Chota NagpurSanthal Pargana Province. They showed their mettle by winning 32 seats in the first assembly election. Till then, there was a belief that the demand for

a separate Jharkhand was merely an exaction of the tribal group. However, non-tribal members came together to strengthen this demand. Freedom fighter and member of Parliament from Hazaribagh, Ram Narayan Singh also supported the demand and voiced his support in the Sansad (Parliament). In order to hasten the claim, Chota Nagpur Sanyukta Sangh was formed. Khudiram Mahto, Prof. Jessi Howard, Nageshwar Prasad, Ramnarayan Khalkho, Gopaldas Munjal, Lal Ambika Nath Sahdev, Sarayu Bhagat, Lal Fanindranath Sahdev, Kesharmal Agarwal, Vindeshwari Prasad Gupta, Pushkar Samant, Jhaman Singh, Satyadev Sahu, Devakinandan Prasad and S K Roy were present at the meeting. When Dr. Rajendra Prasad came to Ranchi on 7 March, 1953, the congregation members sent their memorandum with him, in which they had mentioned their demand. Although Rajendra Prasad put a word to the delegates, all the demands were rejected. In 22 April, 1954, States Reorganization Committee (SRC) was in Bihar Legislature. At this time, legislators of Chota Nagpur and Santhal Pargana re-send their request for a separate state. Siddhu Hembram (Kolhan), Sushil Kumar Bage (Kolebira), Harman Lakra (Bero), Shubhnath Devgam (Manoharpur), Sukhdev Majhi (Chakradharpur), Lucas Munda (Khunti), Jitu Kisku (Maheshpur), Junus Surin (Basia), William Hembram (Sikaripara), Kailas Prasad (Jugsalai-Potka), Jetha Kisku (Rajmahal), Supai Murmu (Ramgarh), Shartughan Besra (Jamtara), Ramcharan Kisku (Pakur Damin), Haripad Singh (Jugsalai), Babulal Tuddu (Godda), Devi Soren (Dumka), Jagannath Mahto Kurmi (Sonahatu), Paul Dayal (Ranchi), Ghani Ram Santhal (Ghatsila-Baharagora 2), Ujjindra Lal Ho (Kharsawan), Dev Charan Majhi (Chainpur), Baliya Bhagat (Sisai), Mukund Ram Tanti (Ghatsila Bharagora 1), Sukhru Oraon (Gumla), Ankura Ho (Jamda), Alfred Oraon (Simdega), Chunka Hembram (Poraiyahat-Jarmundi), Bhaiya Ram Munda (Tamar), Surendranath Birua (Manjhari) and Ingness Kujur (Lohardaga) were the signees. Apart from them, MLC Gokul Maharaja and Parliamentarian Jaipal Singh also signed this request. States Reorganization Committee came again to Ranchi on 2 February, 1955. Hriday Nath Kunjru and K.M. Paniker were members of this committee. The Chairman Faizal Ali did not come. The team inspected Khunti, Chakradharpur, Chaibasa, Saraikela, Jamshedpur, Purulia, and Dhanbad. The team returned to Ranchi on 5 February, where they were

again given the request letter. This time, Jaipal Singh had to stay in Ranchi so that he could speak about a separate state with the Reorganization Committee. However, Congress manoeuvred a shrewd plan at this time, where then Chief Minister of Bihar Srikrishna Singh, KB Sahay and Vinodanand Jha sent message to Jaipal Singh that Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru was expecting him. Jaipal Singh went to Delhi only to realize the grand deception. At this time, the States Reorganization Committee was in search of Jaipal Singh but he was in Delhi. In his absence, when Sushil Kumar Bage, Theodor Bodra and Jagannath Mahto Kurmi tried to speak to committee; it was straight out rejected, saying they wished to speak only to Jaipal Singh. The committee, thus returned. There is no difference of opinion in the fact that had Jaipal Singh been there at Ranchi on that day, Jharkhand would have had achieved statehood long back. Congress knew the potential of Jaipal Singh. Hence, Nehru sent a message to Jaipal Singh in 1963 that if Jharkhand Party merges with Congress, doors for a separate statehood might open again. Jaipal Singh failed to comprehend the deception under the camouflage and he made a proclamation to merge Jharkhand Party with the Congress on 20 June, 1963. The importance of this tactics can be clearly understood from the presence of then Chief Minister of Bihar Vinodanand Jha, Odisha Chief Minister, Biju Patnaik and Praful Sen Ghosh in the process. Jaipal Singh was made a member of Bihar Cabinet. This merger was a huge setback for those who fought for a separate statehood. Many felt that Jaipal Singh had sold their Jharkhand Movement to Congress. Seven years after the merger, on 13 March, 1970, in a meeting in Bahubazar, Ranchi; Jaipal Singh openly acknowledged that the merger was the worst decision of his life. Merger obviously had a negative impact on the movement, there were many in the party against this merger. N E Horo, Bagun Sumbrui, along with some other leaders had decided along with few other party members to somehow keep the flame of struggle burning. Rebels against the merger called for a grand convention called for a meeting in Birmitrapur of Sundergarh district in Odisha from 27-29 September, 1963. Entire Jharkhand region (except Chota Nagpur-Santhal Pargana entire Odisha, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal took part in the convention). Party was

reorganized, in which Lal Harinath Sahdev was the President. Amidst this, election was conducted in Bihar Legislature in 1967.

N.E. Horo

On 28 December, 1967, All India Jharkhand Party was constituted. Bagun Sumbrui became its President and N.E. Horo, Secretary General. Bagun rose as a strong leader in Kolhan. Soon, he started a vigorous movement against the Dikus (Outsiders). Hul Jharkhand Party was also formed simultaneously. On 9 June, 1967 Lalit Kujur started the Birsa Seva Dal. This was a violent organization headed by Lalit Kujur (Engineer). Birsa Seva Dal wanted to show its strength. They showed their scowl by incessant firings in Cheeri and Chainpur the next year. Elections took place amidst this in 1971. Bagun Sumbrui and N.E. Horo who were together until now, split up. NE became a Parliamentarian from Khunti constituency, and on 12 March, 1973 along with his supporters advocated for separate Jharkhand in Delhi. Memorandum was submitted to the then—Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi. Two years later on 16 April, 1975 under the conduct of N.E. Horo, the Jharkhand promoters protested again. When the protestors moved towards the Parliament, they were arrested. They were detained in Police Station for hours. This way the demand for Jharkhand reverberated in Delhi. The advocators for a separate Jharkhand believed that till they have a powerful organizational support, then their quest will be a Herculean task. There were various individual protests happening against exploitation, contracting and other social malice. One among these protestors was a young engineer A.K. Roy. On witnessing exploitation of workers, he resigned his job and joined the movement. Since 1965 itself, he was voicing against exploitation in Koyalanchal under the banner of MarxistCommunist Party. Binod Bihari was also involved with MarxistCommunist. But when he felt that the Party will not vouch for a separate state, he left the Party. On 6 April, 1969, in Simhadeeh in Topchanchi sub-

province, he formed a social organization named Shivaji Samaj. Its work sphere extended beyond Dhanbad to Hazaribagh, Bokaro and Giridih. By then, Shibu Soren had risen as a leader. After his father’s death, Soren had come out of the sphere and had started protesting against the exploiters. Shibu Soren was young and in order to make the society aware, educated and free from social malice, he started Sonot Santhal Samaj. He also started “Reap the Grains”, movement in exploiters’ lands. A.K. Roy, Binod Bihari Mahto, and Shibu Soren were independently conducting different movements in different areas. It was during this time that Shibu Soren met Mahto. It was decided in Dhanbad that they will carry the battle forward together. On 4 February, 1972, Soren, Mahto and Roy were assembled in Binod Bihari Mahto’s house. In this sitting, it was decided to merge Sonot Sanathal Samaj and Shivaji Samaj to form Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM). Approximately one year before, Bangladesh had become independent and Bangladeshi Liberation Front had played an immense role in its liberation. It was on these grounds that Jharkhand Mukti Morcha took its name with Binod Bihari Mahto as President, Shibu Soren as General Secretary and with the support of A.K. Roy. By 1967, leftists had started congregating workers of Koyalanchal. The workers have been exhausted with loan sharks and private financers. These loan sharks levied excruciatingly high recovery rates of 400-600% as interest. To collect this, they were posted in payment counters or in the streets. Any worker who gets in his vicious trap never gets out. Before 1967, Abdul Bari and Sadhan Gupta had made an attempt to congregate workers but they had to face the goons of these loan sharks. Abdul Bari was murdered and Sadhan Gupta was jailed under false allegations. He spent the rest of his life in prison. Situations started changing post-1967. Comrade A.K. Roy had left his job for upliftment of workers. He took the leadership of Bihar Colliery Workers Union and started uniting them. The stories of exploitation of coal workers, suppression by the goons, the inability of worker to voice his complaints and the blind eye turned by company towards these atrocities was common till then. It was in these situations A.K. Roy came up to fight for workers. The red and green flag for a separate Jharkhand was fixed. When workers started demanding their rights, protesting against exploitation, the landlords

sent their goons to finish them off. Police forces sided with the landlords. Because of this Koyalanchal witnessed death of many proletariat leaders. Many companies started establishments in Dhanbad and Bokaro. Bokaro Steel Plant, Panchet Dam, Maithan Dam, Sindri Industries etc. were established and citizens were displaced on a large-scale without proper compensatory measures. The battle of Displaced was carried out by Binod Bihari Mahto. After coming together with Roy and Mahto, Shibu Soren started an open agitation against the landlords in Dhanbad, Giridih and Hazaribagh. Progressive work was carried in creative mode using ideas like community farming, animal husbandry and night schools. The actual battle started with the “Reap the Grain”, movement. Landlords had illegally acquired the land from tribal and forced them to work under them as tenants. Soren called for thousands of tribal from Tundi, Palma, Topchanchi, Bagodar, Dumri, Bermo, Peertanr etc. to come together in the struggle. People came on foot from 30-40 km away. The slogans raised were “Reapers shall harvest”, “Traffickers don’t own the land”, “Drive away the exploiters”, “Get back our lands” and such. The impact of these people and the movement became clearly visible. When the grains were ready for harvest in October, tribal women moved into field in Dumri, Katras, Tundi, Ramgarh, Gola, Petarwar, Nirsa, Govindpur, Beliyatanr, Navadih, Bokaro, Baghmara, Chas, Topchanchi, Chandankiyari etc. and started reaping the harvest. Men stood outside the fields with bows and arrows. The beating of drums accompanied them. Exploiters did not have the guts to interfere or to stop them. In some places, Police was called and there was a rift between Police and the protestors. Many were killed. Cases were registered against Shibu Soren and Binod Bihari Mahto. Soren moved towards Parsanath Mountains and lead the movement from there. When emergency was proclaimed on 25 June, 1975, there were numerous arrests throughout the nation. Binod Bihari Mahto was also arrested and sent to jail. There were cases against Shibu Soren on account of the movement. The Police were in constant search for him. In order to avoid arrest, he escaped to the Parsanath Mountains and continued his activities from there. The Police were unsuccessful in capturing him. In those days, administration was in the hands of Congress and there were only a few Congressmen who vouched for a separate Jharkhand.

Gyanranjan was among those who had link with Soren. It was becoming difficult for Soren in carrying out the movement inside the forest. At this time then Depuy Commissioner of Dhanbad, K. B. Saxena convinced Shibu Soren for surrender. Soren agreed and after some months he surrendered. He was sent to the Dhanbad jail. Binod Bihari Mahto did not want Soren to surrender. There arose differences among both. In the elections, post emergency in 1977, Indira Gandhi suffered a big defeat. For the first time, India had a non-Congress government with Janata Party coming into power. Morarji Desai was appointed the Prime Minister. On 2 July, 1977, N.E. Horo met with Morarji Desai. An interesting incident was reported in this meeting. In the meeting, Morarji Desai promised N.E. Horo of a formula that would keep everybody happy to an extent that there will no longer be demands for a separate Jharkhand. Upon further interrogation by Horo; he was given a reply that more financial aid will be showered on their region. Mr. Horo had, on that occasion, implied that there were no accounts on amount spent till now and there was no progress irrespective of the money that has been spent. The assurance Morarji gave was that the Bihar government will be given a strict warning on what they could lose out if they neglected Jharkhand region. Horo compared this ironic act as to entrusting a goats security with the tiger. This statement was a remainder as to how much people of Jharkhand had lost confidence in Bihar government. In the subsequent elections, Shibu Soren contested from Tundi. Shaktinath Mahto was launched against him by Binod Bihari Mahto. The seats in Jharkhand were allocated thus. Neither Soren nor Mahto (Shakti) could win. The election was won by Janata Party candidate Satyanarayan Dudhani. On 25 February, 1978, Soren and Mahto reconciled again. Sitaram Shastri played the major role in reuniting them. In the beginning, the movement led by Soren and Mahto was limited to Dhanbad, Hazaribagh and Giridih. In 1978 (After defeat in assembly election from Tundi), Soren headed towards Santhal region and saved the tribals from clutches of moneylenders and exploiters. Soren and Mahto felt that the demand for a separate Jharkhand can be successful only when their organisation has a stronghold of the entire Jharkhand. In those days, Santhal was under leadership of Soren, Giridih and Dhanbad under Binod Bihari Mahto and Hazaribagh under Teklal Mahato. In Singhbhum, the work was

carried by Bagun Sumbrui, Devendra Majhi and N.E. Horo. However, due to his adherence to Janata Party, in the 1977 election, many leaders showed indifference against Sumbrui and walked out. N.E. Horo went to Kolhan amidst this in 1978, and declared an open revolt. Revolution started in the forests of Kolhan. Devendra Majhi, Shailendra Mahto, Machhua Gagrai, Sula Purty, Lal Singh Munda, Bhuvaneshwar Mahto, Bahadur Oraon all joined this revolution. Teak trees had started taking place of Sal and there were immense protests against these. There was a rampage deforestation and destruction of nurseries. The movement was spread from Porahat to Saranda. The intensity of the revolt made Bihar Government appoint fullfledged Police forces in Kolhan. CRPF were also posted. The revolutionaries, in order to prevent the movement of Police and to create blockade, continued felling off the trees on the roads. And the Police removed it incessantly and chased them. Hence, the chase between Police and rebels continued. On 6 November, 1978 in a Police firing in Ichahatu, Maheshwar Jamuda was killed. The chain of attacks had begun. Police killed three civilians in Serengada. Firing became a daily routine in Kolhan. The revolutionaries were continuously engaged in struggle and protest. They regularly tried a playoff with Police forces. On 8 September, 1980 in Gua, Police killed eight tribals inside a hospital complex. The entire nation discussed about this and this incident. This intensified the pace of movement in Kolhan. And this made Jharkhand Mukti Morcha stronger in Singhbhum. There, Shibu Soren had already made Santhal Pargana his workground. He won the 1980 elections from Dumka and became the first Parliamentarian from Jharkhand Mukti Morcha. Meanwhile, controversies happened between him and Binod Bihari Mahto and they drifted apart. A.K. Roy also left. In 1984, in the place of Binod Bihari Mahto, Shibu Soren appointed Nirmal Mahto as the President and himself, the General Secretary of JMM. Nirmal Mahto perceived that to fight for Jharkhand with just the support of JMM will be difficult. For this, a stronger movement was required and it was decided to form a student’s union of JMM. On 22 June, 1986 on the lines of All Assam Students Union, All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) was formed. Prabhakar Tirkey was made the President and Suraj Singh Besra became the General Secretary. Within a short span of time AJSU started showing its impact. Nirmal Mahto had a plan that all

leaders and workers of AJSU should be trained in guerrilla warfare like the revolutionaries of Assam, Bodoland and Gorkhaland. He sent AJSU leaders to Assam and Gorkhaland. On 8 August, 1987, Nirmal Mahto was murdered in Jamshedpur. At that time, he was the Central President of JMM. In an emergency sitting, Shibu Soren was made the President and Shailendra Mahto the General Secretary. The murder of Nirmal Mahto took Jharkhand by storm. For the first time, AJSU showed its mettle. The entire nation witnessed episodes of capture and violence which was inexperienced before. The pace with which JMM took off after this, they could pressurize Central Government to negotiate. At this time, it was decided that all those fighting for Jharkhand should come on a single platform. In September, 1987, a meeting was convened in Ramgarh where fifty-three different organisations joined together to form Jharkhand Samanvay Samiti (JSS). B.P. Kesari became its co-ordinator. The Jharkhand Movement got more strength in Agra Conference 1988, when Bharatiya Janata Party advocated a separate Vananchal state. Inder Singh Namdhari kept this demand which was backed by Murali Manohar Joshi. BJP declared its open support at Ranchi on 23 November, 1988. The demand of Inder Singh Namdhari and Samresh Singh had come before this official party support. Here, AJSU was becoming mightier and its impact was visible. On 20-21 May, 1988, When the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi came to Jagannathpur (Singhbhum), AJSU declared a strike in protest which affected Rajiv Gandhi’s programme. AJSU had become extremely involved in violent activities by 1989. Their activities included firing, seizing, damaging, blowing up of railway lines and other extreme forms of atrocities that the Home Minister Buta Singh called them for a talk in Delhi on 15-16 May, 1989. Suraj Singh Besra, Prabhakar Tirkey, Devsharan Bhagat, Harishankar Mahto, Anand Giddh all took part in this talk held at Delhi. Within four days, Buta Singh came to Ranchi and declared that there can no longer be a discussion on separate Jharkhand. From this, it was clear that the compromise talk was a deceitful tactic to disintegrate the Jharkhand Movement. Under B.S. Lali, a committee was formed by Center on the Jharkhand issue. Committee declared findings in favour of Jharkhand. Attempt for compromise talks continued amidst these. Chief Minister of Bihar, Satyendra Narayan Singh called the revolutionaries for a

compromise talk through general invitation. Charges of violent and frantic revolutionary methods were imposed on AJSU leaders. This lead to a phase change in AJSU movement from the 1990s. AJSU leaders carried out a Unified Jharkhand Padyatra. They crossed 600 km in 15 days. Entire villages were linked with the movement. Padyatra culminated on 14 April, 1990 at Ranchi. Singhbhum witnessed various incidents due to the movement. In 1986, apart from Nirmal Mahto, CCA was imposed on Shailendra Mahto, Vidyut Mahto, Ratilal Mahto, Sunil Mahto and Inderjeet Mahto. Ratilal and Mansharam Mahto were caught and sent to jail for a year. Those who weren’t caught were declared to be banished. Due to blockade charges, Vidyut Mahto, Sunil Mahto, Ratilal Mahto, Sharad Mahto, Inderjeet Mahto, Dhano Murmu had an encounter with Police in Chota Gamaharia for one and half hours. Police arrested Sunil Mahto after this. Police wanted to encounter Sunil Mahto but he escaped from the jeep at Kharkai Bridge, and took treatment at the abode of Baijnath Mahto. Sunil Mahto became a Parliamentarian after formation of the province. Naxalites murdered him later near Ghatsila. There were cases against Ramdas Soren in light of the agitation. He was considered to be the most violent leaders of all. Even sedition charges were imposed against him. Another leader Champai Soren (Jharkhand tiger) had come under Police custody but soon escaped.

Sudhir Mahto, Shibu Soren, Arjun Munda and Champai Soren.

The activities of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha had become more vigorous. The voice of Jharkhand echoed in the nation. JMM got the result of this image in 1989 and 1991 elections. In 1991, JMM won six seats in parliament election. In many phases of the movement, there arose situations where JMM had to ally with Congress. There was lot of leaders in Congress who were close to Shibu Soren. One among them was Gyanranjan. Gyanranjan himself advocated separate Jharkhand. At a time when none of the Congress members even came to voice support for separate Jharkhand,

he held a grand meeting in Morabadi Grounds at Ranchi on 31 July, 1991 to openly declare his support. When the violence on the issue of separate Jharkhand became intolerable in1989, Home Minister Buta Singh called AJSU leaders to Delhi for a compromise meeting. On 2 December, 1991, he proclaimed a statement that the central government was not against separate Jharkhand but they were helpless. He gave a reason that till Bihar, Odisha, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh don’t give consent to this demand, it cannot be taken forward. The greatest chaos arose on 8 September, 1992, with the statement of then Home Minister, Shankar Rao Chauhan in Pune when he said that no more progressive movements could help Jharkhand. The only way out was a separate state or a Union Territory. This statement brought changes in the attitude of Congress leaders and slowly the road for a separate state was becoming clearer. The role played by William Lagoon and Joseph Lagoon also weren’t any less. Joseph was involved in the movement for saving the forests. Police along with the mafia sent him to jail. On the day he was released, he was murdered near the SDO Bungalow. A few days earlier, a similar attack was unleashed on Shambu Mahto of Jharkhand United Movement near Devi River. A bullet struck his chest, but he escaped. William Lagoon also had a long history of struggle to his name. Initially, he was with the forces and later turned into a rioter with a demand for a separate Jharkhand. He was arrested several times. He was one of the most important leaders from Jaldega and had a large influence in the area. Karpuri Thakur had gone to Jaldega on his request. Later, on account of conspiracy, he too, became a memory. The role of Kolhan was becoming more important in the Jharkhand Movement. The movement for JMM in Jagdishpur was led by Champai Soren, Ramdas Soren, Arjun Munda, Vidyut Mahto, Sunil Mahto, Mohan Karamkar etc. Arjun Munda and Ramdas Soren was arrested for attacks on petrol pump and sent to jail. They stayed in jail for three days and this Arjun Munda, later became the Chief Minister of Jharkhand state. Apart from JMM, Jharkhand Party there was numerous groups that fought for a separate Jharkhand. Vikas Parishad by Rajendra Shahid Hassan and Rajkumar Sahu had involved people at the grass root levels with this struggle. Jharkhand Majdoor Kisan Party had by now emerged as a very powerful player. There was a massive Rally on Morabadi Maidan on 14 September, 1992 which was addressed by Holi Ram Terang of Assam

Demand Committee. Mahendra Singh, Hira Gope, Purna Mahto, Guni Oraon, Jatru Oraon, Khudiram Munda–all addressed this historical rally. Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao sent Rajesh Pilot to Jharkhand to participate in JMM’s people Summit on 16 August, 1994. He proclaimed on Morabadi Maidan that Prime Minister wanted to bring changes to Jharkhand’s condition. It was also declared that if Lalu Prasad doesn’t constitute a council by a month, the Central Government would be forced to do that on its own. This was a big step taken by the Congress. A few months earlier, JMM had only been the saviour of Rao Government. After this incident, on 6 August, 1995, an independent Jharkhand council was formed with Shibu Soren as its Chairman. On 9 August, 1995, Shibu Soren had taken oath. This was the first step in creation for a separate state. On 20 December, 1999 on the streets of Delhi, JMM took a procession and gave demand request to then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. He gave consolatory affirmation statement. The same Lalu Prasad who had earlier denied a separate Jharkhand claiming it will be a failure on grounds of Assam, now started making way for creation of a separate state. Owing to political pressure, the Legislature passed the bill for creation of a new state on 25 April, 2000. Chief Minister was Rabri Devi. NDA Government was in power. The Prime Minister was Atal Bihari Vajpayee. He had already given his consent for separate state. Hence the bill was passed smoothly in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. And the dream of Jharkhand came true. When the bill was being passed in Rajya Sabha, Shibu Soren was with NDA. He expected that he would be made the first Chief Minister of Jharkhand, but BJP was not ready for this. Shibu Soren tried to show his strength at Ranchi with a massive support, but in vain. He was out of NDA. On Birsa Jayanti, 15 November, 2000 at midnight, Babu Lal Marandi of BJP took oath as the first Chief Minister of Jharkhand. q

Part—1 Police Firing Even

before India attained its independent status, the demand for Jharkhand as a different state had surfaced. The inhabitants of Chota Nagpur-Santhal Pargana found themselves uncomfortable. Once upon a time, Bihar, Bengal and Odisha used to be one single state. But, after the partition of Bengal, Bihar emerged as an independent state, followed by the state of Odisha. And because of this, when the demand for the state of Jharkhand came to scene, people included Bihar, Bengal and Odisha as anecdotes. Whenever a voice was raised by the local Tribals against the atrocity relevant in the area, efforts were made to shut them up immediately. And these were undertaken by the Police by the orders of the high powers. Many Police firings took place during the Jharkhand Movement. In this section, details of Simko Police firing has been given. After Independence, the incidents of Police firing aggravated, killing a large number of people in Kharsawan. This was followed by the firings in Odisha’s Rairangpur and Gunduriya, the mentions of which are present here. In-between, fusillades also took place in Mihijam, Cheeri and Chainpur. In Giridih, the Policemen launched fire against the villagers revolting against the Mahajan. In 1978, during the Forest Movement, the Police again resorted to firing to suppress the rebels. Among these, the fusillades of Gua, Tiruldih, Serengada and Jayda are prominent. The Police force also killed a former soldier and the leader of the displaced, Gangaram Kalundia, and a former soldier Bidarnag at Kolhan. In 1985, the Police was the cause of the death of Fr. Anthony Murmu, Ex. Member of Parliament along with 15 other local Tribals. All of these incidents have found mention here. Dhanbad-Bokaro has also been witness to the death of a large number of people due to Police firing, among which the Kargali fusillade is most prominent. With the aid of eyewitnesses, the effort has been made to convey the information relating to the incident with utmost truth and clarity.

Killing of 40 Tribals Simco Firing: 25 April, 1939 Right before the Second World War, the Police launched fire on the Tribals during a gathering in Simko, killing as many as 40 Tribals. This event dates back to 25 April, 1939. Although the country had not yet achieved independence from the British, but after the Provincial Election of 1937, the Congress was in power. The British had all the power and Governors were present in every Province. The political reigns were in the hands of the British. In those days, Hare Krishna Mehtab used to be the Chief Minister.

Memorial at Simco

Whether this fusillade can be related to the Freedom Movement, or the farmers’ Movement or the Jharkhand Movement has been quite debatable. The Tribals consider this fusillade as a part of the Jharkhand Movement because the Tribal General Assembly had taught them to fight against atrocity and injustice. These Tribals had come together to appeal for the compensation of taxes due to inflation. The Tribal General Assembly had spread quite radically and the entire Tribal society had been connected with it. Whilst the entire country was busy in the Freedom Movement, the Tribals of this area were revolting against the forced collection of taxes. The state of Odisha was born after the partition of Bihar. After this, under the leadership of Vilas Mukherjee, the work of Land Endowment was concluded. After the new endowment, the tax was aggravated. The rights enjoyed by the Tribals also came to an end. Actually, this entire area was under the state of Bihar and being a Tribal concentrated area, the Chota Nagpur Tenancy Act was applicable here. But, drawing the reference of the separation from Bihar, the Tribals of this area were robbed of the benefits they gained from the CNT Act.

Nirmal Munda

The Simco area, in the Gangpur state, is situated on the Jharkhand-Odisha border. (At that time it was Bihar-Odisha border). Rani Janki was handling the kingship. Sanyasi Naydu was her Chief Secretary and A. D. Cristian was the Diwan. Suddenly, when the tax amounts reached a new high, the Tribals planned a revolt under the leadership of Nirmal Munda. Moreover, there was a terrible famine those days. The farmers (Tribals) demanded that the benefits which they enjoyed under the Chota Nagpur Tenancy Act be resumed, the rights be also revived and the increased tax rates be scrapped. The Tribals from 36 mouza had gathered to demand their rights. They had also expressed their opposition to the Viceroy which disappointed the Gangpur royal family. A team was made under the leadership of Nirmal Munda for the protest. This team consisted of a number of Tribal leaders. These protestors had straight away declared to the Viceroy that if their demands were not fulfilled, conditions would worsen. During this, a news was conveyed to the Tribals–that their demands pitched to the Viceroy had been accepted by Gangpur state and the Queen herself would be coming to declare that. It was 25 April, 1939. People from 36 mouza had gathered with a procession of drums in front of Nirmal Munda’s house. The Tribals were very excited because the declaration of the acceptance of their demands would soon take place. Suddenly, the scenario changed entirely. The Police reached the scene and surrounded the entire village. Political agent Jyofton Vifo reached and started looking for Nirmal Munda, making efforts to enter his house. His head collided with the door, hurting his head and his cap fell. This angered Vifo and he immediately ordered firing, which continued for long. According to official records, 40 Tribals were killed in the firing, but the actual number was surely higher than that. The fact that whether the firing was ordered out of fury or it was pre-planned could not be revealed.

After the firing, the bodies were stacked on the vehicles and attempts were made to dispose of them in the Birmitrapur lime field, but were eventually buried in Babhanmara after the management didn’t give permission. A memorial was built at the place where fusillade took place. Every year the martyrs are remembered on the same day. After the Simco fusillade, Nirmal Munda was arrested and put in jail. The Court awarded lifetime imprisonment to him in accusation of treason. In 1945, he was freed of the accusation and released from jail. After the Independence, he remained a member of the Odisha State Assembly from 1957 to 1961. He was chosen the Legislator by the Jharkhand Party. On 2 January, 1973 he faced death. During his lifetime, he had maintained a diary which is witness to many significant events of his time. In his diary, he had written that when the taxes were increased, the leader of Aghariya community had been brave enough to revolt. He was sentenced to leave the state. He was not able to go home for 12 long years. He had also revealed in his diary that whichever letter was written to the Viceroy had vanished from the mail itself and reverted to the royal family. This is the reason why many times, the letters used to be sent to the Viceroy from Ranchi. On behalf of the Tribals, Jaipal singh was himself handling the strike. There is a mention of an interesting event in his diary. The Queen of Gangpur had gone to meet the Viceroy. The timing given to the Queen to meet the Viceroy collided with the timing given to Jaipal Singh. The Queen was indifferent to Jaipal Singh. While talking to the Viceroy, the Queen had said that till Jaipal Singh was not arrested, the movement in Gangpur would not come to an end. She was unaware of the fact that Jaipal Singh was also present there. The Viceroy said that Jaipal Singh was there right in front of her and if she is brave enough to arrest him, she could. The Queen was embarrassed. The diary also reveals how the Queen had sent money to Jaipal Singh’s wife, directing her to keep him out of the movement. Nonetheless, her effort failed and Jaipal Singh denied to abandon his support for the Tribals. A fusillade so massive could not be reported. Nirmal Munda’s wife, S Dang voluntarily donated 1.5 acres of land for a memorial to be built in 1994-95. Every year, on 25 April, thousands of people gather at Simco to commemorate their heroes. q

Another Jallianwala Bagh Incident Kharsawan Firing: 1 January, 1948 It is beyond one’s imagination that an incident as brutal and grotesque as the Jallianwala Bagh could take place in an independent India, but, it did. Just after four months of attaining Independence on 1 January, 1948 when the entire country was celebrating its freedom from the British, the Odisha military fired indiscriminately on a 50 thousand strong crowd of Tribals in Kharsawan bazaar. When the firing ceased, the entire bazaar ground was filtered with the bodies of agitators. This was the first ever massive fusillade of independent India. How many people actually died in this brutal fusillade is still unknown. After the incident, the Odisha Government declared the death of only 35 Tribals in this incident. The Tribal leader kept repeating that 1000 Tribals had lost their lives, but according to P. K. Dev, more than 2000 Tribals had died. The fusillade took place in a place called Kharsawan, 65 kilometres away from the city of Jamshedpur.

Sadhu Charan Birua, who was injured in 1948

Not many documents relating to this incident are available. But some of the people who were shot at that day are still alive after 55 years since the fusillade took place. After talking them, they were identified as Sadhu Charan Birua and Dashrath Majhi. Both of these men were part of the gathering at Kharsawan on 1 January, 1948 when the fusillade took place. They were also shot at but they survived it. The description these two men provided of that day was spine-chilling. Sadhu Charan Birua himself was shot by bullets multiple times. The pain did not even let him know about the bullet that hit his arm. Very interesting fact is that after 54 years of being

shot, when his arm was paining, the bullet slowly started to come out of the wound, only then it was taken out. Fifty-five years after the Kharsawan fusillade, I went about to search for the victims of the fusillade to talk to them and to discover as much as possible about the historic incident. This very effort took me to a place called Pokharia, under the Manjhari Police Station in West Singbhum. That was the place where Sadhu Charan Birua lived. I met a man, every bone of his rib cage could be counted. I saw him in the act of cooking small fish over a straw fire on his farm. Even after so many years had passed, he still vividly remembered the entire incident. He had saved his life by lying down. Dashrath Majhi was also present in this gathering itself. The bullet passed through his body, ripping his insides. A resident of Bhurkuli, Saraikela, Dashrath Majhi used to be a labourer in Jamshedpur those days. On hearing that even Jaipal Singh Munda would be present in the gathering at Kharsawan, he made up his mind to be a part of it. And ventured to a place where he eventually got shot. In order to collect as much information as possible, I conversed with these two survivors, took a look at the documents present with Kharsawan royal family, talked to them and studied a few more documents. After that, the entire image of the incident was clear to me. The core reason of this fusillade was to revolt against the fusion of Kharsawan with Odisha. Tribals were against the fusion. They wanted to stay in Jharkhand (former Bihar) itself. But due to the pressure created by the Centre, an agreement was made to fuse Saraikela along with Kharsawan with Odisha. The agreement was to be applicable from 1 January, 1948 and the transfer of power was also to take place. A leader from Jharkhand, Jaipal Singh Munda invited all the Tribals to come to Kharsawan and protest against the fusion with Odisha. It was on his call that more than 50 thousands Tribals came together in the gathering in Kharsawan. To take part, the tribals from Jamshedpur, Simdega, Khunti, Tamar, Chaibasa, and far away places had gathered with their ancestral weapons in Kharsawan. The weekly bazaar took place on the same day. The excitement of the tribals for the gathering was so immense that some of them had packed their food and carrying their belongings on their back had started their journey for Kharsawan on foot from their native distant villages. Even women and elderly people were present there. The places which enjoyed train services, people had come by

trains from there. The people gathered in the assembly were not fully aware of the fusion process. All they had in mind was Mr. Jaipal’s invitation to reach Kharsawan. At this time, Jaipal Singh Munda was the most powerful and influential leader of the tribals of the entire state. The people were very excited to see him. In fact, when the news spread that Jaipal Singh Munda would also be present in the gathering, a lot of people came just to see him.\

Kharshawa Shahid Sthal

The Odisha Government was very circumspective. They were determined to prevent the assembly from taking place. The soldiers of Odisha Military Force had spread themselves all over Kharsawan, making it resemble a Police camp. Even though the tribals had gathered to protest the fusion, everyone’s eyes were looking for Jaipal Singh Munda. For some reason, he could not make it to the assembly. And so, there was no such influential leader who could command the crowd. In spite of that, some leaders did take the front. The decree that stated the opposition to the fusion of Kharsawan with Odisha was taken to the palace and submitted to the King. The King had listened to the pleas of the tribal with utmost concern and expressed his helplessness, conveying that there was nothing that he could do about the particular matter. The Odisha state had the reigns in its hands as the fusion process had been completed. Now, the Kharsawan states were under the rule of the Odisha Government. The tribals, comprehending the situation, left the palace without causing any ruckus. The agitators moved to the bazaar again, they gathered together and expressed their opinions. Few of the agitators were very furious and the crowd had also increased substantially by then. Jaipal Singh’s absence had started to test the patience of the agitators and there was no one who could bring them back in control. The Police had gathered the entire area and was blocking the crowd from moving forward. The Odisha Military Police, taking advantage of the situation, started firing on the crowd. There was no opportunity for anyone to use their weapons. As it is, the tribals did not have the answer for the incessant stain-gun firing by the Police. The people were constantly getting shot at. The people who had laid down on the

ground just after the firing were the ones who were fortunate enough to save their lives. By the time the firing stopped, the entire ground was littered with dead bodies. There was a well close to the spot and the Odisha Police soon started disposing the dead bodies in it. After even the well was brimming with dead bodies, the Police carried the rest of them on the wagons to the jungle. While some were just mercilessly thrown on the ground, few were buried. The Police was even brutal enough to burn a few dead bodies to ash so that the real count of dead bodies is not revealed. The worst condition was that of the unconscious. It was winter season. A few unconscious people kept lying there in the cold, shivering. Hunger and thirst crept on them: they were not even sent for treatment that day. The Bihar Government proposed to the Odisha Government that it wanted to send medical teams for the treatment of the victims but there were no discussions on that. Doctors from Chaibasa and Jamshedpur reached Kharsawan and started treating the injured.

Statesman 3.1.1948

One of the bullets fired by the Policemen hit Dashrath Majhi. Recounting his stories, Dashrath Majhi tells how he laid under a tree like a corpse, encountering how the Police carried the dead bodies to dispose of them. He didn’t have the courage to get up and run away. The bullet hit him in the interiors of his body, which made it impossible for him to walk. Later, he was dragged to Kharsawan Police Station, from where he was sent to Saraikela for treatment. When the treatment in Saraikela did not suffice, he was taken to Cuttack, where the treatment continued for three long months.

He could return home only after he was cured. Even Sadhu Charan Birua used to visit this land of the martyrs till his faculties assisted him, reciting the fusillade incident. He recounts that there was a heavy crowd on that day, making it difficult to count the number of footfalls. They kept on advancing, and so did he, not knowing to go. Suddenly, the Odisha Police started firing. He saw a mango tree close by and laid saved himself by lying down behind it. He saw seven soldiers firing brutally with their stainguns. As long as he hid behind the tree, no bullet hit him. Many people were lying around him; it was hard to tell who was alive and who had lost his life. When the firing stopped, Sadhu advanced to collect the bag which carried his money. As soon as he bent to pick up the bag, staingun firing commenced again; this was when he was shot. No sooner had the firing stopped that he fled from there, caught the train to Sini and further to Jamshedpur city, where he underwent treatment. The bullet shot made him disabled and couldn’t do any work for the rest of his life. He left for his village after the completion of the treatment. He got married after eight years, approximately. Having a joint family helped as his brothers used to take care of him. Later, his wife took over that responsibility. Sutri Birua, his wife, looked after every household work and the children as well. Sadhu Birua’s story doesn’t end here. Another story that he recounts is something that people might find hard to believe at first. After all, how is it possible for anyone to believe that a bullet that was lodged in his arm, stayed there for 54 long years! He only felt it once he reached old age. On 1 January, 1948, during the Kharsawan Police firing, one of the bullets hit his palm. The bullet was taken out while cutting his finger off. After that, his right hand proved of no help to him. The pain was so much that he did not realize that he’d been shot. Due to old age when the body became thin, and flesh decreased and only bones remained, then there was swelling with pain in the arms. At first, he did not take much heed of it, just let it be. Gradually, the bullet started coming out by itself. When most of the bullet came out of the flesh, then he was surprised. At first, he got scared as to what was coming out of the bone. Then, he came to the city of Jamshedpur with his son. He went to a doctor and the bullet was removed. The bullet that hit him on 1 January, 1948 was removed from his body on 13 August, 2002. That means that the bullet was

stuck in his body for 54 years, 7 months and 12 days. After the operation, the good man had kept this bullet with himself. This was the first major shooting episode in the country since independence. This caused a big uproar in the country. During those days, politicians from Bihar had a big hold on national politics. The leaders from Bihar did not want the Kharsawan states to merge into the state of Odisha. So, after the shooting episode, even the leaders from Bihar expressed their sharp criticism. Because of this incident the merging of SaraikelaKharsawan state was put on hold. Later, despite complete objection from Odisha, both the states were included in Bihar. Repeatedly, this question was raised as to where was Jaipal Singh Munda that day? Why had he not gone to Kharsawan? Ten days after this incident, i.e. on 11 January, 1948, Jaipal Singh Munda gave complete information about the incident to other people at the grand meeting at Chaibasa. Jaipal Singh Munda made a relief fund for the relatives of those killed and injured in the Kharsawan shooting episode on that day itself. Actually, Jaipal Singh Munda had passed a proposal to include apart from Saraikela-Kharsawan, Sarguja, Jashpur, Udaipur, Koriya, Changbhakar, Bonai, Gangpur and Bamra into Bihar or any impartial government.

Dasharath Manjhi

There are very few documents available throughout the country about the number of martyrs. One among them is the book, ‘Memoir of a Bygone Era’, by a former Member of Parliament and King, P. K. Dev. It is mentioned in the book that at the merging of Kharsawan with Odisha, the Odisha Military Police had fired at the tribal people, whereat more than 2000 people were killed. (See chapter 6, The People’s Movement Against

the Merger of States, page 123). There are similarities seen in P. K. Dev’s book and the statements of eyewitnesses. The then government of Odisha had confirmed the death of only 35 tribal persons at the Police firing. The English daily published from Kolkata, The Statesman had published on the third day after the incident (1. 1. 1948), i.e. on 3 January, 1948 Headline was – 35 Tribals killed in Kharsawan. It is mentioned in this report that the Police had engaged in firing at the 30,000 strong crowd of tribal people (the actual crowd was more than this), who were opposing the merger of Kharsawan with Odisha. A tribunal was formed to investigate the firing episode, however, nobody knows where the report of this investigation is. The story behind the firing incident is also not any less interesting. After the country attained freedom, the princely states were merging into the union. The Nizam of Hyderabad was giving trouble, which the then-Home Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel dealt with firmly. The princely states were divided into three groups. These were–A, B and C. The big states were under the ‘A’ category. The medium states were under the ‘B’ category and small states were under ‘C’. The Kharsawan states were small so they were grouped under the ‘C’ category. The Saraikela and Kharsawan states had more number of Odiya speaking people and on this basis, it was decided that these two states be merged with Odisha state instead of Bihar. During those days, there was bedlam in Kashmir. So, the instructions were such that those states which do not comply in a straightforward manner be dealt with severely. On 20 November, 1947 there was a meeting at V. P. Menon’s residence at New Delhi. The then-Premier of Odisha, Hare Kishan Mehtab and the then Regional Commissioner of Sambalpur were also present there. Menon was intimated about the conclusion of that meeting. It was decided in the meeting as to how to deal with the problems arising out of the merger. Sri Menon mentions this in his book, ‘The Odisha and the Chhattisgarh States.’ The Kharsawan firing episode was directly related to the merging of this state into Odisha. The environment in Odisha in those days was tense because of the merger issue. The situation was getting worse. There was a fear that this would have an effect on the other states. Both Sardar Patel and Menon were concerned. It was decided that the process of merger be done in Odisha itself. Initially, only Menon was to take part in the meeting at Cuttack, but it was later decided that Sardar Patel would himself participate in it. Sardar

Patel was known for his tough decisions. His taking part meant that the merger process would be peaceful at any cost. At the meeting held on 13th and 14th December, 1947 Sardar Patel had said that, my suggestion should be considered as a friendly suggestion. Even then if you do not agree, and when you go to Delhi as the situation worsens, it would have been very late by then. After this statement by Sardar, all the kings had decided to merge. At the Cuttack meeting, the desire of the representatives from Bihar region to participate was expressed since in this merger a part of Bihar was being lost. Menon, in his book, ‘The Odisha and Chhattisgarh States’, has written about the role of the Kharsawan King in the merger. The Kharsawan King had said in the meeting that his state is surrounded by the district of Singhbhum in Bihar and the tribal people had wished that they be merged with their own province. On hearing the king, Menon had said that let the process of merger be completed first. Then after talking to the people it would be decided whether they wish to remain with Odisha or with Bihar. Menon himself was in-charge of the merger process. At the Cuttack meeting, the King of Kharsawan had raised the demand of the tribal people for Kharsawan to be merged into Bihar. He had set the tribal people’s demand with backing too. For the Kharsawan states, King Ramchandar Singhdeo had put in his signature. He also had Yuvraj Pradip Chandra Singhdeo with him. As per the merger process, power was to be transferred on 1 January, 1948. Meanwhile, the agitation against the merger had started. Jaipal Singh Munda was the popular leader of the Jharkhand region in those days. He had opposed the merger of Kharsawan with Odisha. He was farsighted. He knew that if Kharsawan was merged into Bihar, it would be a part of Jharkhand on the day when Jharkhand state would be formed. If that did not happen and Kharsawan was merged into Odisha, then it would be impossible to make it a part of Jharkhand again. And that what is happened. When Jharkhand state was formed separating from Bihar, SaraikelaKharsawan was a part of it. But those regions of Odisha, Bengal and Madhya Pradesh that were demanding to be a part of Jharkhand were not included. What happened to Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar, Sambalpur and Sundargarh districts would have happened to Saraikela-Kharsawan. The tribal people of these districts had also fought a lot for the state of

Jharkhand. Several people were killed in the firing that took place in Gunduria and Rairangpur in Odisha, but when the state of Jharkhand was formed this region was omitted from it. The tribal people of Odisha who had fought for the state of Jharkhand were not benefitted by it. Dr. Rajendra Prasad, who was from Bihar, was the President of the Congress Party. Sri Krishna Singh was also quite an influential and powerful leader. Jaipal Singh Munda had the support of these leaders. These leaders who were linked directly to Bihar were in agreement with the demands of the tribal people. The reasoning behind this was different for both the leaders. They wanted to merge Saraikela-Kharsawan into Bihar at any cost. They did not want to lose it. Jaipal Singh Munda was thinking a step ahead. He had kept in mind, the future formation of the state of Jharkhand as well. Keeping all this in mind Jaipal Singh Munda had decided to oppose the impending transfer of power on the 1st of January, 1948 with all his might. It was in this opposition congregation that thousands of tribal people had to sacrifice their lives. The royal families were worried after the firing incident. It was frequently insinuated that the firing took place at the behest of the royal families. The royal family had told about its pain. He said that when the merger was decided the King had given his signature under pressure, and that after this nothing was in his hands. They were neither the King nor the Prince. Whatever they were, they were only commonman. They had no power. Very much like an ordinary citizen. Gradually, people came to know of the truth. A martyr’s memorial was built in the Kharsawan Market area after the firing incident. There on the 1st of January every year, people come in large numbers. The martyr’s memorial at Kharsawan is also a central place in the Jharkhand political scene. Arjun Munda renovated the martyr’s memorial at Kharsawan. Munda became the Chief Minister of Jharkhand while representing this region. This martyr’s place has got a political significance also. When the campaign for a separate state of Jharkhand was going on, the General Secretary of AJSU, Suraj Singh Besra took an unexpected and historic step. He had been elected legislator from Ghatshila. He had said in the Assembly that for a Jharkhand state the legislator should resign from his post. In keeping with his word, Besra went to Kharsawan on the 1st of January, saluted the martyrs, and resigned from the post of legislator

deeming the martyrs as witnesses; and he also burnt all of his certificates (including the originals). This was a great sacrifice for the state of Jharkhand by Besra. It has been several years since the firing. Several committees were made, investigations carried out, but no report came out. The world knows about the villain of the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre, General Dyer, but the General Dyer behind the Kharsawan massacre hasn’t been unmasked, even today. q

Firing at the Displaced Mihijam Firing: 1 January, 1949 On 1 January, 1949, there was a firing at the displaced at Mihijam by the Bengal Police in which five tribal were killed. When the firing incident took place, Mihijam was a part of Bengal. Later, it was included in Bihar. Today, this Mihijam is a part of Jamtara in Santhal Pargana. In those days, work of Mihijam Loco Building Works was going on there. Due to this, 15-16 slums were affected. 99% of the population in these slums was of tribal people. The tribal people were demanding that they be resettled and given land and houses before being displaced. Despite repeated requests made to the government, the demands of the tribal people were rejected. The tribal people were angry because of this. Meanwhile, the administration removed two slums (Durgadeeh slum) by force. The residents of that place were given some money and displaced from there. This amount was so less that with this these tribal people could not even buy land elsewhere. They were told that the money they had received was enough and that they could buy land wherever they wanted with that money. The lands that belonged to those tribal people who were not vacating were blocked up; to destroy their ripe paddy crops the fields were inundated with water. The work was forcibly started there in the presence of the Police. The tribal people there had objected to this. The situation was so bad that the then Chief Minister B. C. Roy had to visit that place. Seeing the opposition of the tribal people the administration had taken full measures. For this, sufficient number of Police force and weapons were arranged. On 1 January, 1949 at 7:30 am, around 300 soldiers of the Police force were brought there. Before that, a vehicle loaded with lathis was brought there. Towards the east of the slum, on the banks of the Aniy river near the well, road was being built. There 20-25 Policemen were stationed. At first, it was told that till a decision is made no work would start. But as soon as the Police arrived there, the work was started suddenly. Hundreds of labourers were employed in the breaking of the soil. When the Santhals opposed to this and wanted to stop the work, they were fired with tear-gas shell. When one person fell unconscious due to the gas, he was shot at.

After this, there was chaos and panic there. Police started firing at the crowd of displaced people. Five people were killed in this firing. Their names are–1. Jisri Marandi, 2. Babulal, 3. Virje Marandi, 4. Munsu Murmu, and 5. Marang Murmu. After the firing incident, on 2 January, at 3 or 4 o’ clock, Police surrounded the slum in large numbers. Twenty-five people from these slums were arrested. Among them were even children. Then, the traditional weapons of the tribal people were removed from their houses. Among the weapons were bows and arrows, axes, etc. The Police’s plan was that they could prove with the help of these weapons that in the encounter that had happened during the day the tribal people had used these weapons. Fearing the Police the young people from the village fled to the jungle. Later, in a letter written by Phogda Marandi to the General Secretary of the Tribal Mahasabha describing the incident, the story of Police atrocities was told. Today, times have changed. Mihijam has changed. But even the people of Mihijam are unaware that behind the equality of rights with which the tribal people currently live there, lies the martyrdom of five tribal people. q

When They Asked for the Land Rights, They Got Bullets Cheeri Firing: 2 June, 1968 Cheeri village is located on the Ranchi-Lohardaga road. In this village where there is a heavy concentration of tribal people, on 2 June, 1968 the Police fired at a gathering of the tribal people in which six people were killed. They were–Samuel Tirkey, Khuita Oraon, Johan Kujur, Khadia Oraon, Etva Oraon and Joora Oraon.

Eye-witness: Matha Oraon.

This Police firing happened when a crowd of tribal people were advancing to retrieve the land from the capture of the tradesmen. The business of stealing the land of the tribal people was there even then, and there was opposition to this also. A similar case was related to Bhola Sahu. Bhola Sahu was a local tradesman. He was accused of capturing land belonging to the tribal people. An eyewitness to the firing incident, Matha Oraon has discussed about this issue in detail. Karak resident Ludoo Oraon had gifted Bhola Sahu of Jeema village three dismil of land in Cheeri Chowk. In the years 1966-67, there were no shops in Cheeri Chowk. The

villagers had to walk to Kudu to buy their day-to-day needs. Considering this problem, Ludoo Oraon had given Bhola Sahu land to open his shop. Bhola Sahu opened his grocery store and also built his house on that land. As 1967 approached Bhola Sahu’s greed multiplied. Along with the three dismil land that he got as a gift, he also started grabbing nearby land. Bhola Sahu captured almost one acre of land cheating the tribal people. He started the business of lending money on interest. The interest rates were high. Whoever took loan got trapped. Instead of the indebted money, he started taking the land of the tribal people, and also made them cut their crops. Because of this, there was anger among the villagers against him, but nobody could say anything. In 1967, Birsa Seva Dal was formed. Birsa Seva Dal was a fiery forceful organization. This gave the tribal people strength. The movement for a separate state was going on anyway. Since the Jharkhand Party had merged with the Congress, there had been no powerful organization for the people involved in the movement. Birsa Seva Dal had started to be viewed as an alternative. Birsa Seva Dal also understood that if the organization did not stray, then in the future Birsa Seva Dal would only lead the society of Jharkhand. In order to create an identity for itself, Birsa Seva Dal had undertaken a speedy and effective movement even if only for a short time. Birsa Seva Dal was an aggressive organization that did not hesitate to use force. That only the tribal people wished for a separate state of Jharkhand and the others were against a separate state was the opinion in those days. According to this theory, when the Birsa Seva Dal was formed, only tribal people were allowed to be its members. And this indeed happened. When the people of Cheeri felt that Bhola Sahu was grabbing the land belonging to the tribal people and they were unable to do anything about it, the tribal people even went to Court against Bhola Sahu. Local tribal people had also become members of Birsa Seva Dal. The people whose lands, Bhola Sahu had captured asked for the cooperation of Birsa Seva Dal in getting the land back. Birsa Seva Dal started the campaign to give the land back to the tribal people from Bhola Sahu. In the month of January in 1968, a college student and leader of Birsa Seva Dal, Lalu Oraon reached Cheeri Chowk. Despite an arbitral, Bhola Sahu was not willing to return the land. He wished to expand his territory even more. In 1968, Bhola Sahu even

started digging a well and building a new house. Birsa Seva Dal got wind of this. On 2 June, 1968, Birsa Seva Dal called a Panchayat of the Ryots (this included those also whose lands had been acquired), of a dozen villages in Cheeri Chowk. The Panchayat started at 6:00 AM in the morning on 2 June, 1968. Bhola Sahu did not attend the Panchayat. At 10 o’ clock, all the people who had attended the Panchayat reached near Bhola Sahu’s house and started demolishing the house under construction. The Police was informed about this. Bhola Sahu had good relations with the Police and he was being benefitted by it since long before. Bhola Sahu had this playing in his mind that in the presence of the Police the agitators would lose their moral strength and would step back. But the agitators were not the ones to bow down. There was straw kept in front of Bhola Sahu’s house. Meanwhile, someone among the crowd talked of setting fire there. On hearing this, people of Birsa Seva Dal set the straw on fire. Due to this, panic spread. At that time, some youngsters advanced towards Bhola Sahu’s house despite the presence of the Police. The Police was there to defend Bhola Sahu. The villagers were as it is agitated and they set a part of Bhola Sahu’s house on fire. After the setting of fire, Bhola Sahu’s son, Madan Sahu climbed onto the shed of the house and started firing in the air. The Police was around. The Police and the agitated villagers clashed with each other. The Magistrate present there ordered the Police soldiers to fire. Six people were killed in the Police firing. Among them were three college students, Samuel Tirkey (Guddi Baghi), Khuita Oraon (Kadhak) and Khadia Oraon (Kadhak). Three farmers, Joora Oraon (Cheeri Badhkatoli), Johan Kujur (Kadhak) and Etva Oraon (Cheeri) were also killed. During the time of the Cheeri firing, Rameshwar Nath was the DC. He tried to justify the Police firing by saying that had it not been for the Police firing, the tribal people would have killed Bhola Sahu and the eight people who lived in his house. The firing had its impact on the whole state. The then Chief Minister, Bhola Prasad Shastri had to visit Ranchi and announce setting up of an inquiry commission. The report of this commission was never to be heard of again. q

Guruji’s Haunt was Targeted Palma Firing: 23 March, 1972 Palma in Tundi block is that historical place from where Shibu Soren started his movement against tradesmen and usurers in Tundi. Shibu Soren had started to mobilize people in the north-west region of Dhanbad district and the eastern region of Giridih district. Palma village was part of both Dhanbad and Giridih districts. A portion of this village falls under the Pirtanr block of Giridih district. Some parts of this fall under Tundi of Dhanbad. Shibu Soren had opened his Ashram in Palma itself.

Memorial at Palma.

People can never forget that day of 23 March, 1972 when the Police had killed Amulya Sen, Ratilal Murmu, Sagar Soren and Bali Miyan. When Shibu Soren had started his campaign against tradesmen and usurers, all of them were with him. Sukhlal Turi is a witness to this incident. In those days, Sukhlal Turi used to live with Shibu Soren. Those were the days when there were rounds of meetings in the village against the tradesmen. Shibu Soren used to mobilize the people to fight against such elements firmly. There was a meeting in the village on 23 March as well. The meetings were convened at secret locations so that the Police would not know about them. But somehow the Police got wind this time. There were 300-400 agitators. Shibu Soren was not present in the meeting that day. The Police arrived as soon as they got the news. There were 8-10 Policemen. On seeing

the Police, the agitators went helter-skelter. The Police started firing. The agitators also fired a few arrows. But they could do nothing much in front of the Police firing. Wherever they got the chance, the agitators fled and hid. Then, the Police followed them. Wherever the Police saw the agitators in the village, they shot bullets. A total of four people lost their lives. After the Police left, the bodies of all four were brought to Palma. The bodies were kept in one place. Later, a martyrs’ altar was constructed at that very place. Every year on 23rd March, a fair is held there. The fair is organized by the villagers themselves. A ground has also been developed there in the name of Shaheed Sagar. Every year, a sports competition is held there in his memory. q

Shower of Bullets on Labourers Kargali Firing: 3 March, 1973 Kargali is located at a distance of 2 km from Bermo. Here, on 3 March, 1973, the Police fired 44 rounds of bullets on a crowd of labourers and villagers who were demonstrating, in which 17 labourers were killed. These labourers and villagers were organising a demonstration against keeping the Angwali mines out of the ambit of nationalization.

Kargali Guest House: Firing spot.

In 1972, on the night of Diwali at 12:30 pm, the President of India had passed the ordinance to nationalize Non-coking Coal in the coal industry. Within half an hour of releasing the ordinance, the custodian (representative of the President) had arrived at all the projects (coal mines) in the coalfields. The custodian also reached at the Pyori Dhori mines in the Dhori area at that time. This was a private mines. At the time of nationalization, Indira Gandhi was Prime Minister and J. J. Kumar Jaimangalam was the Coal Minister. After the nationalization, the custodian reached at almost all the projects that night itself. There, at the colliery, whatever property was seen was seized. The next morning, when the attendance clerk (the contractor’s attendance clerk) came to take attendance, the custodian seized the attendance roster and said that whosoever’s name was written on the roster have all become government-employed labourers.

Eye Witness: Priest Nanhu Tiwari

Angwali and Pichhri mines were a part of Pyori Dhori before nationalization. The custodian while seizing the attendance roster of Pyori Dhori proclaimed that all the labourers had become government labourers. However, as there was no information regarding Angwali mines, there was no declaration of its nationalization at that time. The people even informed the custodian that one part, Pyori Dhori had been acquired but another part, the Angwali mines had not been acquired. Then, the custodian arrived at Angwali mines and seized the accounts there. Then, it was also declared to be nationalized. Meanwhile, a few political leaders from Bermo led the custodian to believe, in the presence of the management in Kargali rest house, that he had been given wrong information about Angwali mines. The custodian reversed his decision and declared that Angwali mines would be kept out of the ambit of nationalization. When the custodian declared that Angwali mines would not be nationalized, then again this quarry came under the control of a private mine owner; and C. D. Singh and K. P. Singh of Bermo itself started running these mines after one or two months of nationalization. Before running the mines, both of them came to Angwali and made preparations for the puja at the mining location. When news of this reached the villagers and the quarry workers, they went to the quarry and expressed their anger by throwing away the plate and prasad of the puja. After this there was an emergency meeting in the village in which 5000 villagers took part enthusiastically. The villagers and the quarry workers took a decision by consensus that they would conduct a strike against the custodian and the management of Bokaro-Kargali for keeping this quarry out of the ambit of nationalization. As per the decision taken at the meeting, 5000-7000 people marched towards Kargali in protest at the decision taken by the custodian and the Kargali management. This was led by a lot of people including Janki Mishra, Md. Ekramuddin, Baneshwar Mishra, Damodar Bhagat, all from Angwali village with Kanhaiyya Singh, a leader from INTUC. The crowd raised slogans against the management on reaching the office of the Kargali General Manager. After this, the management invited Janki Mishra from the villagers to the rest house for talks. The Police arrested Mishra in deceit and took him to Bermo Police station in their jeep. When the villagers outside

the guest house came to know about this, they raised a hue and cry against this action of the management.

Eye Witness: Kadedin Sao.

The Police started lathi charge. There was a woman named Tetri Kameen standing at the gate with an innocent child in her lap, and he got soaked in blood by the Police’s lathi. It was after this, that the villagers were provoked and they started throwing stones at the Police. The situation had become much too worse by then. As soon as the villagers started pelting stones, the inspector as well as the force started firing at the villagers indiscriminately. Many villagers as well as hawkers selling wares at the Kargali gate got shot with bullets. Many students of the Rambilas High School and even people walking past that area were not spared. They were also shot at. That the Police were unruly, is evident from the fact that even a seventh grader, Prahlad was struck by a bullet. He was returning home from his school. When two workers hid in the bushes to escape from the Police, they were taken out from there and shot at. The bodies of the dead workers were not even handed over to their families. The Police themselves cremated the bodies so that there would be no outcry. The firing went on from 11 o’ clock before noon till afternoon 1 o’clock. There was chaos all around. In this firing, 17 people were killed including Angwali residents Vasudev Nayak, Roshan Rajvar, Gautam Mahto, Chotan Nayak, resident of Kasmar Savitri Devi’s husband, and Prahlad, a student of Rambilas High School. However, the administration officially confirmed the deaths of only seven people. One person named Md. Ekramuddin ran and informed the INTUC leader Ramadhar Singh (Malik Babu) about the firing. He in turn talked to the administration and got the firing stopped. Nanhu Tiwari, the priest of the Kargali Shiv Temple was also present at the scene when the firing was on. The 95 year old priest later told that one of the bullets fired by the Police had hit the temple as well. Originally from

Mirzapur in Banaras, Kadedin Sao had been selling black gram and black gram powder in Kargali since the last 50-60 years. He was present at the scene that day. As per his saying, he immediately shut down his shop and hid in the nearby quarters to save his life. He still remembers how in Police firing school student, Prahlad was killed. The Police was firing relentlessly and one of the bullets also hit the Peepal tree near the railway gate. The MP from Giridih, Chaplendu Bhattacharya (Congress), Bermo’s MLA, Bindeshwari Dubey (Congress), SP Giridih, R.R.Prasad, Police Station-In-Charge-Bermo, Chandra Mohan Prasad, General ManagerBokaro-Kargali, N.Chandra were present in the area when the firing by the Police had taken place. The Kargali area had been under the NCDC (National Coal Development Corporation) that time. It changed NCDC to Coal Mines Authority (CMA) after nationalization in 1973. It later changed to CCL. The Police then accused Janaki Mishra for the incident. The case on him lingered till the 80’s. Later, he was acquitted from the Giridih Court. He was bailed by Bindeshwari Dubey and Kanhaiya Singh during the case. The impact of the incident was quite prominent. Angwali and Pichhri Colliery were also nationalized as a result of the incident. More than a thousand people were awarded Government Jobs. INTUC Leader, Bindeshwari Dubey raged on GM Kargali, N. Chandra to such an extent that he could not sustain the disrespect and had a cardiac arrest. He eventually died. q

The War Against the Moneylenders Kudko Firing: April, 1974 The Kudko incident was discussed all over the country. Shibu Soren, the leader of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha was also one of the accused in this incident. This episode continued even after the formation of the state, Jharkhand. The agitators had already killed three moneylenders in Kudko by April, 1974. The next day was quite disheartening for the rebels as three of their members were killed in the conflict between the Police and the agitators. The FIR filed by Bahadur Singh on 15 April, 1975 had Shibu Soren’s name as well.

Memorial at Kudko

Kudko comes under District Giridih, in Pirtanr area. Shibu Soren had been under hiding in this area itself and working on the plans and strategies to be followed. He along with his friend, Binod Bihari Mahto started educating the natives and was also involved in generating awareness amongst the people and started campaigns against the moneylenders. The impact of the initiatives was soon visible to all. There was a time when these moneylenders tortured the people and they could not utter a word for fear of death being pronounced on them. But the movements and agitations along with the awareness generated had instilled confidence in the people and encouraged them to stand up and rebel against the moneylenders. But the truth remained that the Police always supported the moneylenders. It started firing on the agitators the moment it got the opportunity. A similar such incident had taken place in Kudko when three agitators had to pay by their lives. The village Kudko is near Palma. Palma is the place where Shibu Soren had his Ashram. Those were the days when the moneylenders had terrorized the residents of the neighbouring villages. It was on 15 April, 1974 when residents of the village had organized a meeting against the

moneylenders. Strategies were planned as to how to get rid of the interesttakers. The villagers concluded that the moneylenders–Chudo Singh, Khirodhar Rai and Budhan Rai used to exploit them and intentionally killed their cattle to deprive them of their source of income and that they should be taught a lesson. Then came the D-Day when the villagers with bows and arrows surrounded the houses of these moneylenders and battered them to death. The agitators were in large number, hence, the so-called supporters of the moneylenders did not protest to the actions of the agitators. Head of the village, Rameswar Ram finally informed the Police of the murder by the agitators. It was only after that the Police arrived. The villagers assembled at the place as soon as they heard of the Police. The villagers were already disappointed by the Police being bias towards the moneylenders, so now they started taking their revenge on the Police. They started attacking by arrows. The BDO who had accompanied the Police got hurt in the attack. When the Police could sense that it did not have an escape route, it started firing at the villagers. This caused the loss of Dhasu Rai, Sonara Tudu and Gopal Mahto. Bahadur Singh filed the FIR on behalf of the moneylenders and accused Shibu Soren and eight others in the case. The charge-sheet against Shibu Soren was done in 1978. Fortunately all eight were acquitted in 1986. Shibu Soren was acquitted on 15 June, 2010 in the Court of the Additional District Magistrate on the pretext of lack of proper evidence. The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha used to organize the fair as a tribute to the martyrs every year. However the event has been discontinued since the last few years. But the villagers still organize the fair for the martyrs at their own levels. q

Martyrdom of the Supporters of Teklal Vishnugarh Firing: 23 April, 1974 Vishnugarh is situated at a distance of about 30 km from Hazaribagh. The moneylenders and the interesttakers had terrorized the area in 1974. This led to rage amongst the people. Teklal Mahto led the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha in this area after its establishment. Teklal was famous for being involved against injustice from his college days. His ancestral home was also in Vishnugarh. Teklal was totally involved in the Jharkhand Movement soon after he completed his studies. He had organized a mass event in Vishnugarh and had invited Shibu Soren and Binod Bihari Mahto to it. This had further encouraged the villagers and had instilled confidence in them to fight the moneylenders.

Memorial of Sadhu, Shanichar and Sainath Mahto at Hirkhoiya.

There were many moneylenders and interesttakers in and around Vishnugarh. Basudev Tiwari, Devendra Tiwari, Kaila Miyan and Amrit Mahto were some of the moneylenders who were torturing the villagers. But the impact of the movement let by Shibu Soren against the moneylenders was also visible in Vishnugarh. It was decided by the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha that steps would be taken to end the activities of the moneylenders.

Shaheed Sadhu Mahto’s Wife.

The agitators organized the Jan Adalat in front of the houses of Basudev Tiwari and Juhur Miyan in Galhobaar on 23 April, 1974 in order to teach the moneylenders. Thousands of people participated in this Jan Adalat. The agitators announced death sentence to these moneylenders in the Jan Adalat itself. Juhur Miyan was battered in the same Jan Adalat itself. He later succumbed to the injuries. Chulhan Singh, the Police staff went on to inform the situation to the Teklal Mahto in Chano the moment in came to know about the death of Juhur Miyan. By then, the news had also reached the Administration and the CRPF was immediately sent to the site to control the agitators. The agitators were on the move to some other moneylender’s place. They were equipped with the traditional weapons. The CRPF soldiers were also going to the same destination as were the agitators. The agitators and the Police came face-toface at the Hirkhoiya forests. The agitators shot arrows at the Police vehicles and one of their soldiers was injured by that. The battle between the Police and the agitators started at the Hirkhoiya square itself. The CRPF soldiers immediately started firing on the agitators. President of JMM of Kharaki Panchyat, Sadhu Mahto, Secretary Sainath Mahto and Treasurer Shanichar Mahto got martyrdom. They were between the ages of 39-45 years then. The three were farmers and had been actively involved in the Jharkhand Movement before the incident took place. The Police filed complaints against many people. Sixteen people associated with JMM were arrested. Teklal Mahto, Jeevadhan Mahto, Keshu Mahto, Vijay Mahto, Neelkanth Mahto, Ramdhani Mandal, Banwari Sudhi, Lakho Mahto, Nunuched Mahto, Kujlal Mahto, Deglal Mahto, Narayan Mahto, Dashrath Mahto, Shiva Mahto and Pokhan Teli were arrested and imprisoned in this case. Cases like murder and disloyalty against the country were filed against them. They were also accused of

having a parallel government functioning under their leadership. The district court of Hazaribagh announced life imprisonment against the arrested people. They were however acquitted in 1985 by the High Court. q

Firing on Displaced on Hunger Strike Jayda Firing: 30 April, 1978 Construction work on the Chandil Dam was to start as per the Subarnarekha project in Singhbhum. The process of acquisition of land was in progress. Almost 75 thousand people in and around 30 villages of Chandil were being displaced. People were not willing to leave their land and migrate and relocate in new places. They had been staying there over generations. Besides, the compensation being given to them was also quite less. So, they were voicing against the order and wanted the State Government to know about the issue.

Ghanshyam Mahto

The issue had taken a new turn since 26 March, 1978. Almost one lakh villagers from the three divisions–Chandil, Nimdih and Ichagarh reached the Chandil Division office. Forward Block had also organized a rally against the Subarnarekha project in which so many people were being displaced. The rally was in the Chandil-Chadlengi route which was four km long. People were equipped with their traditional weapons. This can be considered a historical rally which saw the women participation also in large numbers. The rally later took the shape of a public meeting. It was decided in the meeting that the farmers and Raiyats would be on hunger strike against the Subarnarekha project from 23 April. They had seven main demands. The farmers were of the opinion that once they agree to leave their land and their villages and the dam constructed, then no one would listen to them. Hence, the villagers were interested to having a meeting where they could talk about the issues face-to-face.

Finally, the day arrived. It was 23 April (1978). The villagers wanted to have their hunger strike at Jayda. This place is on the Ranchi-Jamshedpur route on NH-33. The Subarnarekha River flows besides the famous ancient Shiva Temple in Jayda. The devotees have immense faith here. It is believed that the Pandavas had come to this area during their exile period during the Mahabharata times. It was here that Arjun had established the Shivlinga himself and worshipped the Lord. This was also the primary reason for choosing the place as there was the belief that the hunger strike would definitely be fruitful if the villagers take the blessings of Lord Shiva before starting the hunger strike. The PWD Dak bungalow was chosen for the hunger strike. The villagers were quite excited for participating in the hunger strike. They had started assembling near the temple early in the morning. After bathing in the river and seeking the blessings of the Lord, the strike was started. At first, the administration did not pay attention to the strike. It had thought that the people would be there on strike for a day or two and then would depart after getting tired. But it did not happen that way. The strike got much support from the neighbouring villages. Gradually, the crowd at the place increased with women and children participation. The excitement amongst the people also increased. Later, the Administration also thought that the strike needs to be ended before it takes a much bigger shape. The administration started stooping agitators from participating in the strike from 28 April. The supporters from the neighbouring areas were also stopped from entering the strike area. The agitators also rebelled against these acts of the Administration. News had spread that the Deputy Commissioner would be coming to the site and talking to the agitators. Chandil or the place of strike, Jayda was in the district Singhbhum at that time. The headquarters were at Chaibasa which was situated very far off from the strike area. DC and SP came to the village but instead of visiting the strike place and the villagers, they remained at the Chandil Dak

Bungalow only. They spent the entire evening there and went to Jayda Dak Bungalow the next day. The site of the strike was hardly 100 meters away from the Dak Bungalow. The agitators were still at the site of the strike. Ghanshyam Mahto the leader of the Forward Block had been leading the strike. He was also the MLA. The officer had sent the message for Mahto to meet him at the bungalow. He discussed with his friends and other members if he should go to the Dak Bungalow to meet the officer. Finally, it was decided that he would not be going to meet the DC, rather the officer should come down to meet him. The officer did not visit the site even after he was asked by the agitators. K.P. Singh was also present there. K.P. Singh was executive magistrate. The officer asked him to talk to Ghanshyam Mahto and pursue him to come to the Dak Bungalow. K.P. Singh acted accordingly. He went to the scene with some Police Officers. However, Mahto took this as if he was to be arrested. In order to escape the arrest, Mahto ran into the deep forest and could not be found by anyone. In the meantime, some 200 Police personnel with lathis and 40 Police personnel with weapons attacked the scene of the strike. They destroyed the tents used for the strikes and captured whoever was caught by them and put them in the jeep. Many of the agitators were also beaten by the Police. Eighty year old Vimalendu Das Gupta who had supported the Salt Satyagrah by Gandhiji was also present at the site. The Police did not have mercy on him either and put him in the truck as well. The arrested agitators were then sent to Saraikela sub-jail. Many of the rebels were arrested after this. People from the neighbouring villages assembled at the site of the strike on 30 April. By 11 o’ clock, almost 8 thousand people had assembled there. Six hundred of them were women. There was children participation as well. The villagers decided that if the Police had arrested the first lot of agitators, then the second lot would come forward and carry out the strike. The area had been destroyed by the Police, hence, the tents were supposed to be recreated. So, the villagers went to the woods to collect bamboos and other necessary things for the tents. But K.P. Singh came to the spot again and told Ghanshyam Mahto that they cannot restart the agitation. The attitude shown by the Magistrate K.P. Singh lit the fire and Mahto said that

he would start the agitation again at any cost. As it is the villagers were very unhappy by the arrests made the day before. The work for the roof of the tent started using the bamboos collected from the forest. Now, the administration had grown more active and tear gas shells was released by the orders of K.P. Singh. The people got scattered to escape the tear gas. But as soon as the impact decreased, two of the agitating youths got up the tent and started tying it up again. The cruel Police shot both the youth. Both of them fell on the ground and died. Then, the Police turned to the crowd and started firing at the crowd. People ran helter-skelter and tried to hide in the forests and ran up to the hills. But the Police still ran after them to fired shots at them. The Police again fired shots at them. The Police personnel also hit people by the rifles. Four people died in this firing. They were Lora Majhi (Village–Keshargarharia), Bhalu Majhi (Village–Auria), Budhu Mahto (Village–Ruani) and an unknown person who could not be identified. The people injured in this encounter: Amol Gope (father–Nandu Gope, Deyapur Village, Nimdih); Babulal Kumhar (father–Radha Kumhar, Village–Bhalukocha, Chandil); Jagannath Majhi (Village–Keshargarharia, Chandil); Srikand Kumar (Village–Sobarabadhi, Purulia). The torture on the displaced did not stop even after the firing. There arose chaos in the entire state after this. An investigating team went to the site on the suggestion of the Chief Minister. This team consisted of the MLAs– Govardhan Nayak, Kade Majhi, Branjo Hansda, Devilal Marti Soy. The team arrived at the place and went to the nearby villages to understand and analyse the real issue. They needed to know the demands of the villagers. The results were shocking. Firstly, the demands of the villagers were not very high and could be fulfilled easily. The villagers wanted that the compensation for their land should be 5000 rupees per acre. It can be observed that the displaced farmers were being given very less amount as compensation. The farmers were also demanding that they should be relocated at the common place and in group rather than in small separated sections. They also wanted to be employed in the construction of the Dam with reasonable rates of labour. They also had demanded that they should be given the contract for small outsourced tasks rather than outsiders. They also wanted to be given the preference of employment in the other small factories being set up in the

site of the Dam. The project office should be at Chandil and the suspension of the corrupt officers of the project, were amongst the other demands of the villagers. None of the demands presented by the villagers formed enough reason for firing. Dhananjay Mahto had been the MLC of the area. He had raised the issue in the Assembly as well. But as the issue took an ugly turn, the dislocated farmers then asked for scrapping down the Subarnarekha project itself. No Dam in the area. Now the farmers did not agree to let go their land as well. They now put in new demands for the working out of the scheme like the construction of the road and the railway station. But as the issue took a wrong turn, the displaced farmers had to carry out the hunger strike and the firing took place in the area. But when the issue calmed down, then some other incident took place which would never have been exposed had the team not reached there. The villagers disclosed to the investigating team that two days after the firing i.e. on 2 May, the Police had again beaten a youth to death. This incident was however under covers and could not be highlighted properly. R.N. Singh had been posted as the Police Officer in Saraikela in those days. He had gone on a visit to Ghoraleegh village on 2 May, 1978. All of a sudden, the watchman started beating Shivlal Majhi, Rasbihari Mahto, Budheswar Sameej, Budhu Bhumij, Jagrun Mahto, Shashidhar Mahto, Gouripad Mahto, Shatrughan Mahto and Ghasi Mahto without any reason. The same time Radha Kumar in Bhalukocha village under the Chandil Police Station was hit by the rifle’s edge which led to his death. Later, rumours were spread that he was a TB patient and had died for the same reason. R.N. Singh terrorized the area even after the firing. He used to hit whoever he felt like. The villagers had run here and there after the Police firing and since then had not organized any event or meeting in public. R.N. Singh had frightened the villagers so that they do not complain against him. When the District Magistrate had visited, R.N. Singh had proudly said that the villagers have been terrorized and that all the issues are solved. The investigating team was not permitted to visit many villages. The vehicle provided to them was not properly fuelled and the team was told that it could not go further as there was insufficient fuel. This had been done purposefully in order to dissuade the team from going to the villages and interacting with people. (The report presented by the MLAs mentions

these facts). Some of the Magistrates in Jayda had their hands in bandages. The team was told that the Magistrates were injured by the displaced farmers. But the team did not believe these stories and went ahead with their investigations. The investigating team concluded that had there been more caution taken by the administration, the firing could have been avoided and people could have been saved. The Magistrate who had ordered the firing, K.P. Singh was questioned and his past was found to be shady. He had ordered firing in other contexts as well like in Khirma and Mujjapur. The same way the Police & Magistrate went ahead and ordered the indiscriminate firing during the Jharkhand Movement. The incident of Jayda was just an example. q

The First Martyr of the Jungle Movement Ichahatu Firing: 6 November, 1978 The village Ichahatu exists in the Western Singhbhum part of the Goilkera Block. The stone memorial of Maheswar Jamuda finds its place in this village that is surrounded by deep forests. The stone memorial had mention about the martyrdom while demanding for a separate state–Jharkhand. This was the same place where the Police had carried out the firing activity during the Jungle Movement on 6 November, 1978. Maheswar Jamuda had attained martyrdom in this firing. The firing episode has special importance in the history of Jharkhand as those were the days when the Jungle Movement was at its peak and Maheswar Jamuda had been the first martyr (in Kolhan) in this struggle. The Leader of the Jharkhand Party, N.E. Horo had called for this Movement (Direct Action) on 15 August, 1978.

Memorial of Maheshwar Jamuda in Ichahatu.

I visited the village of Maheswar Jamuda in May, 2003, 25 years after the firing had taken place. His wife Lagdu aged about 55-60 years seemed to have outgrown her age. She looked in her 80s. She lived in a hut. A few kids were playing nearby. She did not understand my Hindi. The residents in the area converse in ‘Ho’ language which was beyond my understanding. I had Bhuvaneswar Mahto who knew this tribal language. He helped me with the translation of my questions in ‘Ho’ language. Lagdu had also replied to my questions in ‘Ho’ language. Lagdu started laughing aloud

when she heard my question in ‘Ho’ language from Bhuvaneswar Mahato. She said, “Why have you brought this person who wants to know about the happenings that had occurred 25 years ago? The incident is quite old”. Then she became serious. She narrated in ‘Ho’–25 sirmayate jaiyo ko sansad, vidayak ondo sarkari maaraang sayob lekan ho ko nelte kako hujualena chi aayin goya kanayi chi jidah kanayi. Aayan honbudi ko asulo tanah kochi kage. (English translation: In the last 25 years, no MLA, MP or Government official paid any visit to us to know how we are surviving and how our children are living). She then told us that she had many hurdles in taking care of her children. The younger son was still a toddler when her husband achieved martyrdom. Now all the three sons, Ramrai Jamuda, Budhram Jamuda and Gopal Jamuda were married and had their kids as well who were playing by her side. Both her daughters were also got married. Lagdu also narrated her woes after her husband sacrificed his life for the separate state. She said that no one came forward with a helping hand. She had mortgaged the small patch of land that she had. She could give only the jangali fruits and raw vegetables available like Tapioca that grew in the forest to her children to eat. She used to sell wood for a living. But now, she was at peace. Her grief for her husband would always be there. But she was more disappointed that no high official came down to meet her or to lessen her sorrow. She, however, felt miserable that she could not afford to educate any of her sons. This was the condition of the widow of the first martyr of the Jungle Movement.

Maheshwar Jamuda’s Wife Lagdu

The Ichahatu Firing has its place in the history as this had been the first firing incident in the Jungle Movement. The firing had taken place on 6 November, 1978 but the background was being set since some months ago. There used to be a weekly market at Goilkera. The traders had to pay taxes

on the items sold by them there. The villagers had opposed this. One contractor had taken on task of collecting the taxes from the traders on behalf of the Government for an amount of Rs. 10,000. On 3 November, one of the tribal women who had come to sell vegetables refused to pay the desired taxes. The then SDO, R.D. Ojha called a public meeting for the traders and residents of the neighbouring villages immediately. He explained that the traders, though small would have to pay the taxes at any cost. This was the rule set up by the State Government. But the people present there refused to pay the taxes. The SDO himself, in anger, hit a few people with lathis. The Police was also present there and they started beating a few people. Many people were injured. This included women too. Fourteen people including the Mukhia (Head) of Aresa and Serengada were arrested. In the lathi charge by the SDO and the Police, Salome Purty (30 years), Berna Purty (27 years) and S. Chhekha (78 years) were injured. When the Police were beating Salome Purty, her child Joseph Purty was in her lap. The Police did not show any compassion even to this innocent child. Due to this incident, the local people were displeased with the Police. This had an effect even on nearby villages. There was also protest against the decision to plant teak instead of Sal trees there. The Mundas (Traditional head) of Ichahatu called a meeting of local tribal people in protest against the policies of the Bihar Van Vikas Nigam. The meeting was to discuss this issue. The purpose was to unify the neighbouring villages on this issue and not to allow the planting of teak instead of Sal trees. This meeting was called in a field 3 km from the jungle of Santra. People were coming to attend this meeting from the morning itself. Maheshwar Jamuda was from a neighbouring village. He also reached there. Maheshwar was not a senior leader of the forest campaign or the Jharkhand campaign. He was a very simple villager. Like any other ordinary Jharkhandi, it was his dream to have a separate Jharkhand state. When he heard the news that Sal trees were being brought down and teak was going to be planted in its place, he also got angry. Later, when the call came from the Mundas, he too went there. He used to live in the village of Jugdi near Nungri in the forest area of Kolhan. His village was not too far. He fed his family by tilling the bit of land that he owned. He used to live peacefully with his wife, Lagdu, three sons, Ramrai Jamuda, Budhram Jamuda, and Gopal Jamuda, and two daughters.

The tribal people were angry because their holy tree Sal was being cut down. The tribal people have a faith with the Sal tree. They worship the Sal tree. In tribal society, teak cannot take the place of Sal. For this reason, the meeting was called in protest. The Police had got information about this meeting. The Police had filed cases against many villagers in the incident that took place at Goilkera Hat (Village market) on 3 November. The Police were also conducting raids in order to arrest them. The meeting was called in Ichahatu to discuss all these matters. The leaders of the forest campaign were trying to make the meeting of 6 November a success. The message had spread to many villages. The message was sent that come what may, teak would not be allowed to be planted. Wherever the forest department attempted, the nursery would be destroyed and forest cut down. The BDO of Goilkera was himself a tribal person. He along with the officer incharge was present in Ichahatu on the night of 5 November, so that they could get information minute by minute. The day of 6 November, 1978 had dawned. The meeting was to take place. Villagers from neighbouring villages were arriving at Ichahatu carrying with them traditional weapons (bow-arrow). It was around 11 o’clock. The Block Development Officer, Circle Officer, and the officer incharge of Goilkera had reached near the meeting place. There were Policemen in large numbers with them. Dango Marla was the Munda of Ichahatu. Government officers had threatened Dango Marla and said that Section 144 had been imposed. You cannot hold a meeting. If you are insistent, then a curfew would be imposed. Munda was in a problem, hearing the threatening of the administration. At the time when the government officials were threatening, peace was there. There was no disorder. But as soon as the Police got down from the jeep in large numbers, people began to scatter here and there. Situation began to get tensed. Policemen were scared that the villagers would attack using bows and arrows. After talks between the BDO and the officer incharge with Munda, it was announced that the meeting would not happen. People began to leave. The BDO also left. People were slowly leaving for their homes. Meanwhile, the BDO and the officer incharge returned with full force. They also had a few officers from the forest department with them. At once, the Policemen asked the crowd to disperse. Even before all the people could move away, the Police started firing. There was neither a warning, nor a lathi charge or tear gas, straightaway firing.

Maheshwar Jamuda was hit by a bullet. He became a martyr there itself. The Police fired on. Antu Marla and Bera Marla of Kasijova were also hit by bullets and were grievously injured. But they survived. Nobody could understand as to why the Police fired bullets. The Police took the body of Maheshwar Jamuda who was killed in the firing and went to Chaibasa. They had also taken an unconscious Antu Marla with them. The Police had arrested whoever they saw on the way. A total of nine people were arrested. The news of Maheshwar Jamuda’s death was told to his wife by the guard. The whole family was thrust into a pile of sorrow. There was no earning member in the family. The children were small. But his wife did not give up. She herself tilled whatever little land they had, sold leaves, and raised her children and married off her daughters. The villagers decided that at the sight of martyrdom, a memorial for the martyr, Maheshwar Jamuda would be erected. And it was erected. Today too, this memorial stands there as a historic symbol of this firing incident. q

Shailendra Mahto had an Escape Serengada Firing: 25 November, 1978 Serengada village is located at a distance of 27 km from Goilkera block headquarters in west Singhbhum district. This village, surrounded on four sides by Sal trees, is situated at the banks of the river Koyal. Next to the village, there is a hillock. The Bihar Van Vikas Nigam was planting teak in place of Sal trees on this hillock. From a geographic point of view, Serengada was a safe place for the Jharkhand agitators. The Police did not wish to go there. The Jharkhand agitators used to plan their strategies from the neighbouring villages of Serengada. The agitators got full support from the villagers. The Police could hardly go to these villages because of their situation in the midst of thick forests and the lack of proper roads. The Police had reached Serengada on 25 November, 1978. The Police had spotted Shailendra Mahto, an agitator whom they were searching for many days, in a small hotel. The Police had arrested him. The villagers had surrounded the Police and released Shailendra Mahto from the clutches of the Police. After this the Police started firing in which three villagers were killed. This happened on 25 November, 1978. It was a Saturday. The weekly market used to be put on in Serengada on Saturdays. People from nearby villages used to come to Serengada itself to buy their daily needs. The Police were very cautious because the Police firing at Ichahatu in Goilkera block had taken place only 19 days before. The Police had information that a few agitators were present in this area. It was possible that someone might be spotted at the weekly market. Keeping this in mind, the circle officer Suleiman Soreng and the officer incharge, Ramashankar Singh reached Serengada in a truck (number BRS 3640) with a few Policemen. There was a middle school nearby. The CO and Policemen were sitting in the porch of the five-roomed school and keeping an eye on the market. The Police were searching for someone. A month before in October, a number of small incidents had taken place in that area. The villagers had decided that under no circumstances would teak be allowed to be planted in place of Sal trees. The nursery would be destroyed. After that in many places, teak was supplanted also. Many big trees were cut down. It was after this that Police activity increased along the

Goilkera-Serengada route. The Police were searching for Devendra Majhi, Machhua Gagrai and Shailendra Mahto. It was these people who were disbursing information about the campaign to all the villagers. On 1 October and 8 October in Goilkera, hundreds of trees were chopped and roads blocked. The Police had information that all this was being done under the directions of a young agitator, Shailendra Mahto, so they wanted to catch him at any cost. Even Shailendra Mahto knew that the Police was on the hunt for him. But he did not know that the Police had reached Serengada market. During those days, his hideout was in Serengada and the villages around it.

Memorial at Serengada.

Dayamani: Widow of Somnath.

Shailendra Mahto was unaware of the Police’s preparations. He had reached the market and was sipping tea in a hotel with a few of his friends. By then, the Police had been informed that Shailendra was around. The Police reached the hotel and asked him to go with them. Both the CO and the officer incharge identified Shailendra Mahto. On reaching the school building, Shailendra Mahto was told that he was being arrested. There was a large crowd in the market. People were engrossed in their respective work. Nobody noticed that Shailendra Mahto was arrested by the Police. The Police was also not seen in the melee. They were all assembled in the school’s porch.

Truck Driver Chandrasekhar.

Indian Nation 27.11.1978

Meanwhile, the Police heard a loud noise. On moving a few meters ahead, the Policemen saw that the village announcer (dakua), Boas Lomanga was announcing something. Dakua is that person of the village who gives out information in a loud voice, while beating a drum. He gets money in return for this service. At that time, Lomanga was giving out this information that, here Section 144 had been imposed and so no one was permitted to hold a meeting. The chowkidar of the village had paid him money to spread this news. Along with this announcement, he was also announcing that the next day, i.e. on 26 November, there would be a meeting in Jota village in which MPs Bagun Sumbrui and Ratnakar Nayak would be addressing. Policemen caught Lomanga and took him to the Inspector. There, the Policemen beat him with lathis saying that when Section 144 was imposed, why was he beating a drum and making announcements. After this, the Policemen let him go. Lomanga returned to the market running and told the villagers that the Police had beat him.

Shailendra Mahto

On hearing the news of the dakua’s thrashing the villagers got agitated. Meanwhile, someone informed the villagers that the Police had also arrested Shailendra Mahto and were keeping him in the school building. What was bound to happen then? People got agitated. Around 2:30 thousands of people assembled near the school. They surrounded the Police. They had bows and arrows, tangis, axes and other traditional weapons. The crowd included women too. Among them there were two sisters from Katingakel village, Rahil Dang and Ajarmani Lugoon. When the Police aimed a rifle at Shailendra Mahto in order to threaten the villagers, these sisters showed remarkable agility. They threw stones at the Police suddenly. Then they jumped in front of them. By the time the Police steadied, the two sisters had pointed the rifle upwards. This was done so quickly that the Police could not understand what was happening. There was a lot of pushing and huffing taking place in the crowd. Taking advantage of the situation, Shailendra Mahto fled from the clutches of the Police and entered into the crowd, and made his escape from there. Now, the mob’s anger was at its pinnacle. In the meantime, someone informed that it was the chowkidar, Sudarshan Toti who brought the Police. As soon as they heard this, the villagers dragged Sudarshan and attacked him with tangis and left him half-dead. The CO (who was also the Magistrate) ordered the Police to fire. Soldier Vishwanath Thakur fired four rounds. The villagers attacked the firing soldiers and injured them. The situation had gone bad. Meanwhile, the driver of the truck that brought the Police, Chandrashekhar Tripathi was manhandled by the villagers. People beat and injured him also. He had been trapped inside the school building by the villagers along with the Police so that they would not flee away. He

was a local youth. He tore down the door and came out somehow, and wanted to leave in the truck when the villagers spotted him. What was to happen then; the villagers pounded on him. The villagers were now on top of the situation. Then, the Police adopted a stern attitude. Two soldiers named David Tirkey and Harvansh Pandey shot three bullets each at the villagers. The Police were shooting bullets all around. The villagers were now stepping back. The crowd was beginning to scatter. When the Police firing stopped, there were three dead bodies lying there. The bodies of Somnath Lomga of Serengada, Dukhiya Lomga of Tenda village and Lupa Budh were lying there. These three had become martyrs. Seventy year old Maghi Munda who was returning after buying tomatoes was also shot at and injured by the Police. Somnath Lomga who was killed in this firing had married Dayamini Lomga only six months before. She became a widow in just six months. The Policemen wanted to clear off the area as quickly as possible. The villagers knew that they would return in the truck, so they had reached the truck with traditional weapons. The Police knew that if the truck was blown off then they would all be killed. There would be no means to run away. The villagers had at once assembled at the Serengada-Goilkera route. They even tried to cut down a tree and block the road. When the Police were returning, the villagers attacked them, but the CO and the Policemen escaped by firing again and reached a safe place. After the Serengada firing incident, lawsuits (case number 06178, date 25.11.78, Sections 148, 149, 188, 307, 324, 337, 225, 379, 511, 332, 323), were filed against Shailendra Mahto (Setahaka village, Chakradharpur Police station), Thomas Bhuian (Katingakel), Boas Munda (Serengada), Mage Lomga (Serengada), Mogo Munda (Tamsai), Yukub Munda (Serengada), Golai Munda (Tenda), Goyra Munda (Rayam), Lesh Barjo (Hattua), Kushal Barjo (Rayam), Birsa Munda (Tenda), Jojo Manuel (Katingakel), Bada Thomas (Katingakel), Abhiram Honhaga, Choto Soma Lomga (Serengada), Dharadu Lomga (Serengada), Lupa Budh (Tomdel), Somnath Lomga (Serengada), and Dukhiya Honhaga (Tenda).

Indian Nation 11.3.1979

After this firing incident, there was widespread searching in the entire area. Shailendra Mahto had escaped from the clutches of the Police. The Police could not catch him for up to seven months since. On 26 June, 1979, when he was standing in Chaibasa bus stand to go to Jamshedpur, Policemen came in plain clothes and arrested him. Shailendra Mahto was going to Ranchi via Jamshedpur for anticipatory bail. The Police brought him to the Chaibasa Police station after arrest. Superintendent of Police Rameshwar Oraon had come there. After interrogation, Rameshwar Oraon had sent Shailendra Mahto to Chaibasa. In this entire episode, Rameshwar Oraon supported Shailendra Mahato indirectly and did not give the Police a chance to thrash him. After the announcement of direct action by N.E. Horo, Shailendra Mahto and his team had surrounded the office of the Chaibasa DC. During this, the DC, V.K. Singh was not allowed to enter the office through the main door. It was after this that a warrant was issued against him. It was in connection with this warrant that he was arrested from Serengada. Later, this very Shailendra Mahto became the General Secretary of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha. Then, he became Member of Parliament from Jamshedpur twice. Every year, on 25 November in Serengada, people assemble in memory of the martyrs and pay tribute to them. Police atrocities did not decrease even after this incident. Whenever they got the chance, the Police used to catch the villagers, beat them and even engaged in firing. The Police wanted to suppress the movement at any cost. In this manner, there were many other firing incidents apart from Ichahatu and Serengada. Not only in Kolhan, even in east Singhbhum, the Police did not leave any stone unturned to suppress the movement. When the Police

terror atrocities had increased in Singhbhum, then a PUCL team arrived from Delhi on a fact finding mission. This team consisted of Daleep S. Swami from Delhi University, senior journalist Suman Dubey, a research student from JNU, George Mathew, IIT Delhi’s spokesman, Anjan Ghosh, spokesman from Kirorimal College of Delhi, Aravind Ghosh, and Supreme Court advocate, Ashok Kumar Panda. This team visited Ichahatu, Serengada and all those areas where Police atrocities were taking place and met people. During those days, the CPI was running a campaign against low wages in and around Bahragora. There was an attack on the members of the PUCL team when they went to Bahragora. The Police and the thugs of the zamindar beat the PUCL members with lathis and rifle butts. This incident occurred on 7 March, 1979. There was an outcry in the entire country on this attack. When the team met Lok Nayak Jayprakash Narayan and complained about this, he had criticized the attitude of the Police. This incident is enough to prove that the Police were going to any extent to suppress the movement. In Singhbhum, the PUCL had compiled a report named DAMAN which tells the story of the Police oppression. q

Dragged Out of the Hospital and Riddled with Bullets Gua Firing: 8 September, 1980 History may seldom have experienced such an incident where the Policemen shot brutally at the injured agitators in the hospital premises itself. But this incident did occur in the west Singbhum district of Jharkhand in a place named Gua. The fusillade dates back to 8 September, 1980, when the Police first shot at the agitators in the Gua bazaar. The tribals who were severely injured by this ruthless act of the Police went to the Gua hospital to seek treatment. The soldiers of the Bihar Military Police (BMP) killed eight tribals in a line, in front of a tree. A few hours before this incident, there was a conflict between the agitators and the Police in Gua itself, which lead to the death of four BMP soldiers and three agitators. An F.I.R. was filed in the Gua Police Station regarding the same. Case no. 9, dated, 8. 9. 1980. Sections 147 / 148 / 149 / 302 / 307 / 332 / 336 / 114 / 324 / 379 / 188. In this fusillade, Mr. Sukhdev Hembram would also have been murdered had he not crossed a wall and hidden in the house of a doctor during the Police firing in the hospital.

Gua Hospital

This fusillade, a rather significant one, changed the direction of agitations in Jharkhand. And so, after 25 years of the incident, I decided to visit the villages located in the midst of Saranda and Gua, the inhabitants of which were the victims. After this, the kin of the martyrs had to be found. The undertaking was not easy. It could only be possible when someone, who had the knowledge about every detail of these incidents, was accompanying me. And so, I took Bhuvneshwar Mahto and Bahadur Oraon along. Twentyfive years ago, these two were also the eyewitnesses (Mahto was arrested) as well as real hero of Gua fusillade. The intention was to make them revisit the time before 25 years and listen to their version of the event. In detail. Though Bhuvneshwar Mahto was arrested before Police firing, Bahadur Oraon escaped from the Police Custody with the help of people. I reached Gua with Bhuvneshwar Mahto and Bahadur Babu. After the firing incident Bahadur Oraon was going to Gua for the first time. After long 25 years, a lot had changed. We went to the place where the firing had taken place. We visited aerodrome, school and the Police station trying to relive those memories. Bahadur Babu and Mahto both talked about the incidents as if it happened yesterday. They were heavily laden with memories.

Bhuvneshwar Mahto

Gua was that part of Singhbhum where forest movement had been happening since 1978. The demands were being raised for a separate state. The administration wanted to suppress this movement at every stage. As the movement started gaining strength, Police influence also increased. In order to suppress the movement in Ichahatu and Serengada Police started firing.

Bahadur Oraon and Bhuvneshwar Mahto.

Though four people died in these both incidents, it did not deter the villagers from their quest. They would assemble at one word, from their leader. They had their own obligations. Along with demand for separate Jharkhand, they had other problems which impacted their day-to-day affairs. These issues were related to their life and death. Water coming from iron ore mines was spoiling the fields. The officials procrastinated in giving salary to mine workers in Gua. Police atrocities were on rise in the nearby villages. Due to forest movement in Gua, 35 villagers and in Goilkera, 159 were arrested. People were angry because of this too. The leaders believed that on 8 September, they will conduct a massive meeting to show their strength. In order to make this movement a success in Chakradharpur, Bhuvneshwar Mahto, Sula Purthy, Sukhdeo Hembram, Bahadur Oraon, Devendra Majhi, Shailendra Mahto, Mora Munda, Machhua Gagrai, and Lal Singh Munda started travelling around in various villages. The administration was also ready with their strategy. LRDC Francis Dean was appointed the Magistrate. In order to assist him, an officer from Noamundi, A. Temta, SDPO B. Tirki were sent.

At that time, L. Kujur who till then, was appointed as Magistrate in Gua, alerted his senior officials that the agitators had a secret meeting and had planned to attack Gua station and range officer. People were to assemble in Chaibasa, Chakradharpur, Sonua, Goilkera and Manoharpur. Police had already taken measures to counter this. Administration already had their eyes on trains from Chakradharpur, Sonua, Goilkera and Manoharpur. Buses were also under watch. However, the tribals successfully gimmicked Police and came by foot the day before. They assembled with their traditional weapons. Their excitement was such that most of them had walked 40-50 km on foot. It was outside the capability of the Police to stop these people. Bhuvneshwar Mahto and Bahadur Oraon were on side of

agitators from Chakradharpur. It was decided by the leaders that they will meet at the aerodrome for protest. (In spite of being a small town Gua had an aerodrome). It was 2:30 pm and villagers had assembled with pickaxes and other traditional weaponry. The agitators had started raising slogans. The administration wanted to serve a memo then and there. Agitators did not oppose this. The three conditions put forward were–releasing the innocent prisoners of 1978, the payment of the accurate wage of the land as taken up by the company, the local people should be offered with permanent jobs and finally Jharkhand should form a separate state itself. After putting forward all the conditions, the agitators moved in a procession towards Gua Hat, which was almost 1 km away from the place spoken about. The protesters’ exhibition of power and firmness was strong enough to keep away the Police. Few of the main leaders were namely, Bhuvneshwar Mahto, Bahadur Oraon, Sukhdeo Hembram. It was not possible for Devendra Majhi and Shailendra Mahto to attend the event due to some reason. The procession of the protestors had eventually reached Gua Hat followed by the team of Police. However, the distance between the two was of only 50 meters. A small stage was created at the place of the meeting and the leaders who could not join the event previously, had already reached the place. Peace was being maintained by the public and the whole meeting was going on quite well. Baishakhu Gope who was the local leader had presented a aggressive speech, essentially attacking the system. The meeting was just on the verge of ending, when the Police started arresting the leaders. Bhuvneshwar Mahto, a college student, was the first one to be arrested followed by Baishakhu Gope. On one side, the Police were pulling Bhuvneswar into the van while on the other hand, all the protestors tried to set him free from the hands of the Police. The Police announced the prevailing session of Act 144 and asked all the leaders to surrender or they were to be arrested. The place had a common entrance and exit. The Police had already jammed the entrance. A few leaders started convincing their fellow members to put an end to the meeting as they suspected a possible firing by the Police squad. However, others were more eager to continue the meeting out of arrogance. Bahadur Babu announced on stage asking that whether the public agreed to his surrender to the Police and the obvious reply was a ‘No’. This was the time

when the direct confrontation between the Police and the protestors began to take place. The crowd became absolutely uncontrollable and started fighting. BMP started attacking the protestors with tear gas shells. However, the locals were armed with bow and arrows. All of a sudden, there was a loud gunshot and everyone had hid themselves and started attacking.

Memorial at Salai

A few of the tribals were very close to the BMP soldiers. They attacked them with axes. The soldiers answered it with bullets, and the protestors shot arrows. Three protestors died on the spot because of the Police firing. The protestors shot arrows like rain. Some of the soldiers’ faces were slashed. Eyes were poked out. Two soldiers and a junior Police officer Jogender Thakur died there itself. Thakur was injured by the arrows. He was sent to Jamshedpur for treatment, but died on the way. In the confrontation at Gua Hat, there was not a single soldier left without arrows piercing his body. The others fled. It was the first time when the Police fired 30 rounds there. Then another 20 rounds were fired. Two soldiers were killed when they were retreating. When the clash ended, Six corpses lay on the ground. Three of them were of the protestors and the other three were of the soldiers. Two soldiers were missing their rifles. There was an obvious huge amount of casualties. However, the Police had already reached Gua thana with Bhuvneshwar Mahto and Baishakhu Gope. In the Police firing, a large number of agitators were hurt. They were taken to Gua hospital for treatment. Ishwar Sardar was a volunteer who took injured protestors to hospitals. He was indeed a brave man. In spite of knowing the dangers involved, he took them to hospital. When he was taking care of his wounded comrades, the Police and soldiers reached the

spot. The Jawans (Police) had been called from Jamda. From station to hospital, the jawans were firing relentlessly. Violence and chaos was spread throughout. The entire locality was shut down. Jawans told the agitators who had come for the treatment to keep their weapons outside if they wanted treatment. People were terrified. Eight agitators who came forward to treat the wounded were arrested by the Police. Jawans from BMP had also reached there. One of them proclaimed that his brother was killed by the agitators, hence they should be killed. They started beating the agitators with rifles. Police also wanted revenge. They sent the eight volunteer tribals outside and started firing. There was an employee, named Behra Balmuchu. He told villagers in Jojoguttu that Police made eight injured stand in a line and fired at them. People who lost their lives in this firing were–Ishwar Sardar (Kairom), Ramo Laguri (Churgi), Chando Laguri (Churgi), Rango Surin (Kumbia), Baghi Devgam (Jojoguttu), Jeetu Surin (Jojoguttu), Chaitanya Champia (Baihatu), Churi Hansda (Hatnaburu), Jura Purty (Bundu) and Gonda Honhoga (Kolaiburu). After firing, the violence took a new turn. Police were in extreme anger and frustration that they wanted to encounter Bhuvneshwar Mahto and Baishakhu Gope. BMP jawans stopped all vehicles on the road to search for Bhuvneshwar Mahto and Baishakhu Gope. The vehicle in which they were being carried was driven by a tribal man. He took the vehicle past BMP jawans. Bhuvneshwar Mahto later recollected that had he not done it that day perhaps there would have been an encounter. Arrested agitators got help from many places which helped them save their lives. Rameshwar Oraon (who later became a parliamentarian from Lohardaga) was an SP in Singhbhum. He was a resident of Palamu (Jharkhand). He also helped two arrested youths. When Police got down at revolt to assault Bhuvneshwar Mahto, Rameshwar Oraon came to the rescue. In order to pacify the Police, he slapped Bhuvneshwar Mahto and shouted at him. This was a ploy on his part to soothe the Police forces so that Bhuvneshwar Mahto’s life can be saved. He told the soldiers that if they acted rashly and killed Mahto, they will be punished severely by the law. They would all be hanged for sure. He somehow managed to take their attention away from Mahto. Later, after retirement, when he became the parliamentarian, he once accepted during a telephonic conversation that he had helped agitators at that time. He never wanted any violence against the

tribals. Immediately after the incident, he had gone to Gua. He advised Police forces to maintain control and told them that these were originally tribal lands seized by the Britishers. He also told that now the tribals are trying to get back lands by clearing forests and asked the forces to stay away from them. After this he returned to Chaibasa. Bhuvneshwar Mahto escaped on the way. But Chaibasa Police forces continued search for him. When he was finally locked at Chaibasa Police station, BMP jawans demanded the key from Officer-in-charge. He refused stating reason that if a fight broke out between them, who would take responsibility. In reality, the Officer-in-charge was also a tribal. Later, Bhuvneshwar Mahto and Baishakhu Gope were sent to jail, thereby saving them from tortures. Mahto always accepted the fact that had it not been Rameshwar Oraon, he would have lost his life long ago. The way Rameshwar Oraon helped tribals, his gestures were also clearly in their support. Administration felt that the attitude of SP towards Jharkhand Movement was warm. Hence, it was ordered to change him from the post. Randhir Varma was a strong charismatic IPS officer and he was made the new SP. He later attained martyrdom while fighting dacoits in Dhanbad. Not just SP, even SDO was changed. Kapoor was made the new SDO. Both ran a campaign of getting hold of the agitators and collecting the looted rifles. Meanwhile, the Police arrested around 1100 people from Chaibasa, Chakradharpur, Sonua, Goilkera and Manoharpur and sent them to Hazaribagh jail. In those days, the Police would come to the neighbouring villages and beat up any youth whom they got a hold of. Fed up with the Police torture, the villagers took the looted rifles and threw them outside the village. The Police had arrested Bhuvneshwar and Baishaku Gope and took them to Chaibasa, but they did not get hold of Bahadur Oraon. He had escaped along with the local agitators. Crossing a mountain and river they reached Jojoguttu village at night. Luckily Ram Sundi gave them shelter at his home to stay the night. Early morning, Lalu Soren along with three youth crossed the mountain and reached Bahadur Oraon to Jora. They gave him thirty rupees for fare. They also gave him corn. From there, Bahadur Babu escaped towards a safe place. After the Gua firing, the Bihar government had taken a ridiculous decision. They sent notifications restricting the use of bows and arrows.

According to the notice if anyone (tribals too) wanted bow and arrows, they would compulsorily have to get a licence form the Deputy Commissioner, Circle Officer or an authorized officer. One had to take a license the way one had to for a licensed pistol, gun or rifle. The government considered bow and arrow as a weapon and applied this restriction. There was a strong opposition against this decision taken by the Bihar Chief Minister, Dr. Jaganath Mishra. Bow and arrow has a cultural and social significance in the tribal society. Large population of the tribals lived in jungles and villages. They used bow and arrows to fight against wild animals and enemies. Sido-Kanhu, Baba Tilka Majhi, Birsa Munda and other tribal freedom fighters had fought against the British with bows and arrows. But even then, the British did not restrict the use of bows and arrows. What even the British did not do was done by the Bihar government. When the tribals raised their voices from across the country against this, the Chief Minister saved himself by saying that the restriction will not cover social and cultural events, but only during rallies. Shibu Soren had become an MP by then. He brought up the topic in the Lok Sabha. After Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s intervention, the restriction on bow and arrow was removed by the Bihar government. Twenty-five years after the incident, when Bahadur Babu was with me in Gua, he insisted on going to Jojoguttu village. Somehow, we reached there. Two people of that village, Bagi Devgam and Jitu Soren were martyrs in the Gua firing. This village is situated in the middle of Saranda jungle, near hilly lowland. One can reach this village via Sandal turn and Baihatu turn. It’s about 27 km from Gua via road. The Koyna River falls midway. There was no bridge across the river in those days. One had to swim across the river to reach the village. We stopped the vehicle outside the village and then, crossed the river by foot. The water was below the knee, so it was not very difficult. Somehow, we reached the village. This village is known for its martyrs. The Police had tortured and demolished this village the most. The Police had beaten Laxman Soren so badly that his hands and legs swelled up. The villagers got relief only after the rifles were found. We met the relatives of the martyrs. Martyr Jitu Soren’s only son Bagi Soren lived in the village with his wife. We also met the victim of the firing, Bagi Devgam’s three sons and the eldest daughter-in-law. They all

complained that since nobody even paid attention towards the development of their village, they did not expect anybody to help them either. Meanwhile, Bahadur Babu insisted on meeting Lalu Soren. Lalu Soren was the same young man who saved Bahadur Babu’s life and reached him to Odisha. The villagers agreed that Lalu Soren lived in the same village, but it was not possible to meet him now. Seeing his excitement and sentiments, one could make out that Bahadur Babu would not return to Chaibasa unless he met Lalu Soren. We asked the villagers what Lalu Soren looked like. Bahadur Babu himself did not remember how he looked. How could he? Twenty-five years had passed. That young man must be 50 years now. On the way outside the village, we stopped a villager riding a cycle who looked like in his 50’s. We asked if he knew Lalu Soren. Before we finished the question, he interrupted and refused. We were all strangers to that man. So, he started going ahead without another word. As he went away, I said– If you ever meet Lalu Soren, tell him that Bahadur Oraon is searching for him. As soon as he heard the name Bahadur Oraon, he stopped suddenly. He got down from the cycle and came forward. This time his expression had changed. He asked–Which one of you is Bahadur Oraon? When I pointed towards Bahadur Babu, that man embraced him. He started crying. It looked very strange. He started saying–“I am Lalu Soren, it’s me. Bahadur Babu, where were you all these days? After the firing we all hoped that you would come again, but you didn’t. You became an MLA (Bahadur Babu had become an MLA from Chakradarpur), you still didn’t come, you didn’t pay us any attention.” Both Lalu Soren and Bahadur Babu were crying. After wiping their tears, Bahadur Babu told Lalu Soren–“I wanted to see the house where I was born again, where I was kept hidden from the Police”. Lalu Soren took all of us to a field. Paddy was sown. He stood at one place. Bahadur Babu asked–“I don’t want to see a field, I want to see the house where I spent the night”. Lalu Soren said–“This is the place where you spent the night. It was a mud house. It fell down. Now, there’s nothing”. Bahadur Babu bent down and took a handful of earth, applied it on his forehead and bowed down. It was a strange sight. It was an example of love and gratitude towards each other. “Come again, Bahadur Babu”, he said and Lalu Soren went homewards. We all returned.

After the firing, all the bodies were sent for postmortem to Chaibasa. There was curfew in Gua from 9 pm of 8 September till 5 pm of 9 September. Because of the Police torture, nobody went to take the martyrs bodies. The bodies remained in Chaibasa till 9 September for the relatives to claim, but nobody did because they were scared of the Police. Later, the administration buried the bodies. The Police accepted in the report that they fired a total of 68 rounds. Of these, 58 rounds were shot at Gua Hat and 10 rounds were shot at Gua hospital. The Police continued their torture after the firing. They beat Dr. Mahto so badly that he went insane. After the incident, it was decided that a memorial would be built in the memory of the Gua activists. Krishna Mardi built the memorial for the martyrs. Every year on 8 September, thousands of people gather in the memory of the martyrs from Salai and Gua. Devendra Majhi had set a memorial stone in Salai as a memory of the Gua martyrs. A memorial has been built there now. The martyrs are remembered there too. q

The Police Fired in Fear Gujisimal Firing: 9 November, 1980 Santhal Pargana played an important role in the Jharkhand Movement. The Police fired in many places and the Policemen tortured a lot. After running campaigns against the moneylenders in the areas of Hazaribagh-Giridih and Dhanbad, Shibu Soren took the Movement to Santhal. That is the reason that all the main incidents in Santhal happened after 1977. After losing in the Tundi Assembly, Shibu Soren left for Santhal Pargana. He spread his movement in Dumka and neighbouring areas. When he got the support of the people there, he stood against the moneylenders. It was during this time that the firing took place.

Theodore Marandi

Gujisimal village is situated in Dumka. It was the centre of the Movement in the Santhal region. It was in this village that the Police opened fire on 9 November, 1980 and three people were killed. The basis of this incident occurred on 8 November. That day a meeting was called by the Peace Committee in the Shikaripara Police station, where leaders and workers of different parties were invited. A young man named Theodore Marandi of the JMM from Mondayam was also invited. After the meeting, he was waiting for the bus with the others. The Police called him then and kept him waiting for a long time at the Police station. When he did not return, Kalam Hembram from Sitasal reached the Police station where he was also kept and the next day, both were sent to jail. As soon as the villagers got the news that the Police had arrested Theodore Marandi and Kalam Hembram after the Peace Committee meeting, they became angry. As a protest, on the morning of the second

day, 9 November, 1980 hundreds of villagers blocked the road and demanded their release. Since the roads were blocked since morning, there was long line of vehicles. Ramchandra Majhi was an eyewitness to this incident. He was practicing law then. He was first with Shibu Soren in the JMM. He says that in those days Vijay Bharat bus ran between Dumka and Shivandi. Even that bus was stuck in the traffic jam. There were some bullock carts in front of it, which the Police got rid of. It was getting late. Inspector Umakant Mishra reached there and hit the bus driver with a ruler and told him to move ahead. As soon as the driver started the bus, two boys came in front and stopped the bus. The Inspector hit one of the boys on the head with the ruler which caused his head to bleed. As soon as the other boy saw his friend bleeding from the head, he angrily attacked the Inspector with an arrow. The Inspector fell down. The Police ran and in the midst of the chaos sat in the vehicle and went fast towards Dumka. There was a line of vehicles on the road. Both, the Police and activists, started hiding. Meanwhile, a Policeman said–“If we do not fire, we will be killed”. Then, the firing started. Three people were killed, but nobody died on the spot. The bodies were found at a distance. The dead included Dinga Kisku (Panjanbona), Pradhan Murmu (Gujisimal) and Nandlal Hansda (Mundayam). After this firing, the entire region ran a strong campaign against the Police. Theodore and Kalam Hembram were released from jail after four months. After this tragedy, Theodore got a job in the Railways. He had passed his ITI. He was working in Kolkata. He had come home then. The villagers complained to him and said–“You are having a good time, you have a job. It was our people who got killed”. He was so hurt by what the villagers said that he immediately decided to give his resignation letter. He then did not go to work in the Railways. q

Shot at Whim Baipi Firing: 24 November 1980 During the Jharkhand movement, the Police vent its rage on innocent people. The Baipi Firing is one perfect example of that. Not just in Baipi, the Police shot out of rage at innocent people all over Jharkhand without even receiving orders from higher officials. If someone, who was being searched, was not found, someone else was killed. The innocents were targeted. If the Jharkhand Movement be recalled, whomever the Police went searching for in badges in the village were hidden in the jungle. The Policemen were in fury and in such a moment, innocent Diu Kora was found on the streets, and so the Police shot at him as well. A similar incident happened in Gua as well. The Baipi incident resembled it. The Police fired at two men bathing their cows and buffaloes in a pond. Tikud Laguri was killed due to Police firing. This is what is called the Baipi fusillade.

Soniajojo

The incident took place on 24 November 1980 after the Gua fusillade (8 September, 1980). The Police had decided to settle the strenuous and stiff attitude of the agitators. Within a month, on 7 October, 1980, the Police started crossfire against the agitators at Kasijova. Within a few days, the Police also unleashed havoc in Baipi. Post Gua firing, the Police were on constant search for the agitators. They were searching for Bahadur Oraon, Bhuvneshwar Mahto and Sula Purty in Chakradharpur. The agitators planned their warfare strategies in remote villages. They blocked all the roads to these villages. The trees were cut and fell on the roads, so that Police vehicle could not cross the site.

There was a road from Chakradharpur to Saitha. It passes through Baipi. Police got message that these roads were also blocked by agitators. In those days BDO of Chakradharpur was Ram Bahadur and CO was K.P. Singh. These people came for patrolling along with CRPF, Bihar Police in the Ulluguttu-Baipi-Saitha road. When they turned to Baipi, they found that the road was blocked. As soon as the forces came up, the villagers blocked them. The Police had to retreat due to the rebellion. Though the youth scattered after some time, they had their eyes on Police movements in the village. They knew that the Police will take revenge. Police got the message that Sania Jojo of Baipi, Siddhu Jamuda of Dharamsai and Lalit Hembram of Sarjamahatu were involved in strategy making. Later, the Police barged into Sania Jojo’s house to arrest him. BDO and CO were also there along with them. But he could not be found. The Police was uncontrollably frustrated and they seized all materials in the house. They also misbehaved with the ladies in the house. Women, men and children surrounded the Police and hence, they were forced to run away. The Police was in anger. They had failed in arresting Sania Jojo. The villagers were assembled together. Hence, they assumed that easiest way out now would be to escape. In spite of the heavy presence of Police forces, their geographic knowledge was weak, while agitators had mastered the art of camouflage fighting. Police saw two youngsters on the way, bathing cows and buffaloes. These men were Tikud Laguri and Lula Bodra. Police targeted these innocent folks and fired at them. Both were injured severely with Tikud Laguri bleeding from his abdomen, while Lula Bodra (son of Nao Bodra) was shot on his thigh. The pond adjacent to which the Police fired was just some distance away from the village. The sound of the bullets and cries of the two young men gathered people from the village. The villagers were armed with traditional weaponry which made the Police flee. The Magistrate himself stated that the BMP fired 11 rounds and the CRPF fired four rounds on the agitators. Tikud Laguri, shot by the Police, lost his life on 25 November. He was a resident of Dorba Village. Later, the villagers gathered there and performed his last rites after which his ashes were buried near the pond. q

The Conspiracy of Swatantra Kolhan Rashtra Kuira Firing: 26 October, 1981 Goilkera is a block in the west Singhbhum. Kuira is a village in Goilkera itself. Kolhan Raksha Sangh was supposed to make announcement of the Independent Kolhan after holding assembly in Kuira. The Police wanted to prevent this at any cost. There was a conflict between the villagers and the Police regarding this. S.P. Randheer Verma was saved by an inch from an arrow attack. The Police fired in which, a youth named Siddhu Kora was victimized. The firing which took place on 26 November, 1981 is known as the Kuira firing. On 30 July, 1984, Honorable Home Minister, Ramdulari Sinha accepted that a separatist movement was being fanned in the Chaibasa area in Bihar.

K.C. Hembram

Randhir Verma

Along with the Jharkhand Movement, the Kolhan Raksha Sangh (in Kolhan) were running a movement. But their motives were different. The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha was fighting for a different state for Jharkhand whereas, Kolhan Raksha Sangh wanted an independent Kolhan. Having faith in an independent Kolhan, Narayan Jonko and Krishna Chandra Hembram founded the Kolhan Raksha Sangh in 1977. Kolhan Raksha Sangh believed that the area where the Wilkinson Law is in force, that area

is independent and not a part of India. Kolhan Raksha Sangh declared themselves the Government of Kolhan. The Government, calling these actions anti-national, disposed of them. The whole area was under strain right after the assembly on 30 March, 1981. On that very day, Narayan Jonko declared in Chaibasa that on 2 December, 1981, Kolhan will be called independent, no matter what. Putting the people astray, Narayan Jonko said that by June, 1981, Kolhan University will be formed and would be given the stature of Oxford University. Narayan Jonko circulated leaflets in the entire area and claimed that from now, only Kolhan Raksha Sangh can tax the villages. It was also mentioned in the leaflet that premier socialite Narayan Jonko, law official Advisor and C.A. Topano will go to England and submit the demands. The government was already frustrated with the activities of Kolhan Raksha Sangh.

After Narayan Jonko and C.A. Topano left, the issue was taken up by K. C Hembram. He published a manifesto stipulated under name of Kolhan Secretariat. This was printed at G. L. Press in Ranchi. The message was as such. Notice Brothers and sisters of Kolhan, We are extremely delighted to inform you that after decades of struggle we are making history. It is happening that our 2 representatives at Kolhan Secretariat 1. Sri Narayan Jonko and 2. C.A. Topano have left to London in Indian Airlines. Our representatives will speak in Marlboro Commonwealth of Nations and request for an independent session of Commonwealth of Nations to discuss about future political, social and financial status of Kolhan. After this, they will move through France and Germany to Geneva where they will raise the issue of Kolhan in U.N.O and give an international recognition to Kolhan Struggle.

The military and Police firing occurring here especially Gua firing will be brought attention to. In the United Nations Office at Geneva our claims for a free Kolhan will be raised. We have our own Kolhan Government which has been in the pages of history even today. Indian Government will also be a part of this lawsuit. It will also be emphasized in the International Court that the minerals, mines and forest wealth of Kolhan is exclusively our Government’s property and no other government can have any rights over it. In the General Assembly, on 30 March, 1981 as per clause 4 Kolhan Raksha Sangh itself is the Kolhan Government. GIL Church Press, Ranchi for Kolhan Government State K. C Hembram Kolhan Government From this leaflet, it was clear as to what atrocities were happening in Kolhan and how the innocent tribals were fooled. The tribals fell victim to these traps. They only knew that they had to sacrifice for separate Jharkhand, so that their voices could be heard. There were campaigns against this leaflet in Singhbhum which stated that there were treacheries and seditions actively happening in the region and villagers have to be aware. On the behalf of K.C Hembram, the leaflets were shared throughout Kolhan. Meanwhile, in October, he claimed himself to be the General Secretary of new Kolhan Government and issued new leaflets. In this, he had mentioned that the leaders had returned from U.N.O and Narayan Jonko was mentioned as the prominent leader. It was decided that on 26 October, 1981 in Kuira Kolhan Raksha Sangh will have a meeting in which Narayan Jonko, K.C. Hembram, C.A. Topano, Motilal Marla and Murghi Angaria will take part. Leaflets were distributed around the entire tribal areas informing them that these leaders will throw light on their quest to UN to bring attention to Kolhan. The common tribals could not differentiate between demand for a separate Jharkhand and an independent Kolhan State. In name of self-government, Kolhan Raksha Sangh was running a second revolution within premises of Jharkhand Revolution. The administration had already got a report regarding this. They had their eyes over Kuira. Officer incharge received a message that crowd can turn violent after the meeting. S.D.O. Chaibasa sent Y. Champai

to Kuira as the Magistrate. In those days, the S.P. in Chaibasa was Randhir Verma. He was a sharp and a stern IPS officer. (He later lost his life in solving a bank dacoit case in Dhanbad). As soon as he got the message he reached Kuira. CRPF battalion was already readied and posted at Barkela. S.P. took CRPF forces along with him. By then, the BMP forces had also reached the spot. Kuira was a small village in Goilkera Block. It is around 6 km from Sonua. The Forest Department had a guest house which was already occupied by the security forces. In the village, there was a place where markets were situated. By 11 am, this place was filled by Kolhan Raksha Sangh and villagers. By 2 pm, the entire area was filled by the villagers. The villagers had equipped themselves with bows and arrows, axes and other traditional weapons. Narayan Jonko and K.C. Hembram were yet to reach there. But the villagers were sure that these leaders will reach there to proclaim the request for a free Kolhan. They were very energetic and were raising the slogans. The Government had considered the demand for free Kolhan as sedition. Hence, the administration was worried. S.P. and law enforcement forces felt that allowing them to start the meeting might lead to grave situations. There were prohibitory warnings and S.P. Randhir Verma had already seized the entire village. The Police forces formed three groups started surrounding the market area. They announced that holding the meeting was unlawful and requested them to disperse and go home. Some of them started leaving. On the Southern side of village, there was a pond. Villagers started moving there in large numbers. Police were gradually dispersing the crowd and tracking them. S.P. Randhir Verma was himself a part of this. As soon as the villagers started moving forward, a youth shot an arrow against S.P. from behind the tree. S.P. was alerted by an officer behind him. He pulled himself to the ground, escaping the arrow and started firing with his revolver. Amidst this chaos, a soldier Bahadur Thapa was hit by an arrow. Police also started firing against the ones aiming with arrows. There was an array of arrows flying in from the villagers’ side. Police were not able to move forward. Magistrate announced firing. Post firing, the crowd started vacating. There was no loss of lives in Police firing. But the Police caught the youth who started the arrow attack. He was Siddhu Koda. In this attack, Police arrested Rama Soren, Manna Soy, Chori Soren,

Ponde Marla, Sarda Soren, Kodva Sundi and Saila Soren. K.C. Hembram had been arrested under sedition charges. He kept on hiding from the Police for a long time. Later, the charges against him were retracted. q

The Police Fired and Fled Sarjomhatu Firing: 25 November, 1981 During the Forest Movement, it was a common practice to cut down the trees, to jam the roads, so that the Police could not enter the village. There were incidents of clashes between the agitators and the Police, who came to clear the log of trees. At that time of agitation, it was easier for the Police to open a fire and move away. Such an incident happened on 25 November, 1981. When the villagers united to protest against the cruelty, the Police opened a fire in Sarjomhatu. A person named Tepa Hembram died in this incidence. Sarjomhatu, comes under Sonua block (District West Singhbhum). This village is situated 15 kilometres towards the east. From 1978 to 1983, there were quite such encounters in Kolhan, between the Police and the agitators of Jharkhand. The more aggressive forest movement was the faster Police action. In spite of converting the Kolhan into a Police camp, the Government could not take control over the agitators. The agitators were also running the campaign of cutting down the teak wood trees and destroying the nurseries. Many times, FIR had been lodged in the Police Station by the Forest Department. In this course, the Police was informed that, some people have cut down the trees again. So the DSP along with his team, started for Sarjomhatu, to arrest them. This incident happened on 25 November, 1981. The agitators had run away, before the Police arrived. The Police had been there, searching for Lalit Hembram and others, who were accused of cutting down the trees. When the agitators were not found, the Police ransacked their houses. By that time, a huge crowd of villagers had gathered there. The villagers surrounded the Police Force and there was an altercation between the two parties. They told the Police that, they can arrest anybody they want, but should not destroy their houses. Their family members resided in the house, but the Police did not listen to anybody. During the agitation, demolishing the houses, taking away the goats or hens and misbehaving the locals were very common. The Police was also following the same. The villagers became furious at this and started arguing with the Police. The Police Officers thought the villagers would attack them. The Police then started firing. During this firing, 19 year-old, Tepa

Hembram was hit by a bullet. He died on the spot. The people were dispersed after the firing. q

The Martyrdom of a Soldier The Killing of Gangaram Kalundia: 4 April, 1982 It is quite disappointing, that the former Junior Commissioned Officer Ramnarayan Kalundia was killed by his own country Police. Rather, he wished to have killed by the Pakistani armed forces during the 1965 war. In that war he had defeated the enemies, but he could not win the war against the CRPF and BMP Forces, which he fought for the anti-displacement and separate state of Jharkhand. The Police forcefully took away from his house and killed him on 4th April 1982. Ramnarayan was affectionately called Gangaram Kalundia. Ramnarayan, a resident of Iligarha, in west Singhbhum was rewarded by the President. He had left the army to start the fight for the displaced persons.

Gangaram Kalundia

The Jharkhand Movement as well as the anti-displacement movement was going side by side. The Police was considering Gangaram as his enemy and wanted to kill him at any cost. After 17 years of Indo-Pak war, the Police force took him away forcefully from his house. Then, he was taken in a truck and on the way, he was stabbed by a rifle in his chest, till he died. His only fault was that, he raised his voice against the injustice and protested against the displacement. At that time, there was also demand for a separate state. After 23 years of martyrdom of Gangaram Kalundia, I went to Iligarha with some of my colleagues, to meet his wife Veerang Kui. I did not find her there. We came to know that she had left the village and staying with

her sister in Ganjia, which is under Manjhari Thana. The root to Ganjia passes through the Kokcha square on Chaibasa-Manjhari road. In Ganjia, at residence no. 150, we found Veerang Kui, wife of Gangaram. We started the talk. She expressed the grief of her husband’s death. On one hand, she was suffering from the sorrows of her husband’s death and the other hand, she was driven from her native place. She said when the whole world was sleeping; around hundreds of Policemen arrived at her place. She had asked her husband, Gangaram not to open the door, but he did not listen. He thought it was a group of dacoits and why would he hide in the house? He was in military, so did not care about the dacoits. He went out. The moment he opened the door and went out, without any warning, the Police shot him in his leg. Before he could understand anything, 4-5 Policemen caught him. Veerang Kui said that they looted their house afterwards. They took some of the goods and documents. But they did not touch the bravery medals which he was awarded in the war. In her husband’s memory, Veerang only had those medals and a photograph. She was bound to live in her sister’s house, because her ancestral property was captured. Her house was looted. She had a daughter named, Janki Kalundia. On the grounds of compassion, she was offered a job in the DC Office in Chaibasa. Later on, she also died. In this situation Ramchandar Alda, the son of her sister became her only support. Veerang had shared some interesting facts about her husband. During his service in military, whenever he used to come to the village, people from nearby villages would arrive to tell their problems. They would tell how their land had been occupied in the name of Dam. They were not willing to part with their land. He was told that it all happened, because, they did not have the majority. If Jharkhand became a separate state, then the Diku (outsiders who were not the natives of Jharkhand), would not be able to torture the Jharkhandis. When he returned to the service, these things were disturbing him continuously. He was at the post of Junior Commissioned Officer in Bihar Regiment (JC 72487). One day, he decided to leave the job and return to his village. After 16 years of service in the military, in 1976, he resigned from his job and returned to his village Iligarha.

Left: Certificate given by President of India to Gangaram.

Iligarha, a village in Manjhari Block, situated in West Singhbhum district (at that time, Singhbhum used to be a district). In this village, he had 15 acres of land. He started farming. He helped the poor and deprived tribes. Slowly, the people started considering him as their leader. He became wellknown in the nearby villages too. In those days, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha was prevailing slowly. Due to so many firings, during Jharkhand Movement the whole Kolhan was under tension. Many people were killed in Gua Police firing. The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) party was busy in its expansion. Shibu Soren was trying his best to establish JMM in Kolhan. The party got Gangaram as a popular leader. Because he was in the military, the people trusted him. People used to listen to him. He was quite aware of the society as he had stayed in different places for a long time. He was disciplined. For all these reasons, he was considered as one of the important members in the JMM. Gangaram was in search of a big issue. There were so many difficulties in that area. With the help of the World Bank, Subarnarekha Bahudesiya Pariyojna (Subarnarekha Multi-purpose Project) had been implemented. The Dam project over Kharkai River had started in Kalundia’s area. Under Subarnarekha Project, the Chandil Dam project had also started, where the displaced people had a big protest. Kalundia gathered the people and started

the campaign against Icha Dam Project in the same manner of Chandil Dam Project. The people did not want to give their lands. They wanted land for land. They were annoyed with the Icha Dam project. On 22 July, 1981, Shibu Soren declared in a meeting that he also supported the protest against Icha Dam. He himself wanted to promote this fight. The displaced people were quite encouraged at this statement. While returning from the meeting, the tribes attacked on the storehouse near the Dam site. Gangaram understood the whole situation. He was also enthusiastic at Shibu Soren’s statement. After a few days, Gangaram had called the villagers for a meeting in his house and set up the Kharkai Dam protest. The locals used to believe him blindly. They hoped Gangaram Kalundia would fight for them and the displaced people would get justice. The compensation which the government had decided was very less. At that price, land wasn’t available anywhere. The villagers were agitated at this. The Kharkai Dam union came as a strong union. The people related to this had become very aggressive. There were continuous attacks on the Dam sites. There was another attack on Chaliyama Dam site, on 19 August, 1981, after that work was stopped. There was pressure from the then Government that for starting the Dam work at any cost. Gangaram Kalundia’s stature was rising day by day. Few tribes were definitely against him, but those were the supporters of MP Bagun Sumbrui. Instead of this opposition, a large number of people were with Gangaram. The supporters of Gangaram Kalundia, were pasting the posters all over. It was prohibited to do so. Gangaram had instructed the locals through the Kharkai Dam protest union that nobody should work at the Dam site. No one should engage in contractor ship. Quarters and offices were about to be constructed there for officers-staffs. The Union had threatened them, if anybody found working there, then suitable action would be taken against him. Due to this threat, labourers were not available for Dam construction. Gangaram was also worried about those daily wagers, who if did not work, won’t get anything to eat. He had ordered the labourers that they could go outside for their earnings but not at Icha Dam site. Gangaram put his logic saying, the restriction would definitely troublesome for them and daily wagers had to go out, but he was bound to take such a step to protect the culture and the native land. The adverse effect had to be born.

Gangaram’s wife Veerang.

Bihar Government was worried with such a step taken and the rising of Gangaram. The government failed to understand how a person could stop the Dam project. It was a challenge for the Deputy Commissioner too. There was also pressure from Patna. The Deputy Commissioner called for Manki-Munda meeting. Gangaram Kalundia was also arrived at that meeting. Deputy Commissioner did not recognise Gangaram. He tried to explain the benefits of the Dam to Manki-Munda and other local leaders. But nobody was agreed to the Deputy Commissioner including Gangaram. Now the Administration wanted to dominate Gangaram, but there were no evidences against him. The Dam protestors were indulged in violent actions. Again, there was an attack on Lorgarha Dam site in December, 1981. The watchman was beaten by the protestors. Sidu Tiyu, a friend of Gangaram lead this group. The Administration was already on fire, but another incident which happened on 22 March, 1982, put Gangaram at target. Three junior engineers along with two contractors had been to Bita, in Rajnagar Thana for a survey. The villagers got a hint about this. They gathered to abduct the engineers and contractors. This campaign was being conducted by Sidu Tiyu. After the abduction, they were taken to the area of Kulaburu. This area was 10-12 km far and near to Kalundia village. They were terribly tired of walking. They were undressed in the forest. They were asked to bend down. Then Bhelua oil was applied on the back and lower part of the body. This oil is produced from the seed of a wild tree. It gives a burning sensation if applied. The skin of the body part gets burnt and it is very discomforting. After that, a warning was given to them by the protesters and they were released. They all returned safely. But the Police lodged a complaint against Gangaram (case no. 8/82, under IPC Section 147, 148,

149, 342, 323, 332, 379, and 426). Police were aware that Gangaram Kalundia was not present on the day of the incident. The area where the engineers were kept after the abduction was nearer to Gangaram Kalundia’s village. The Police got a chance to trap Gangaram, so they did not want to leave this opportunity at any cost. A CRPF battalion was deployed to that place after this incidence. After that, the Kharkai Dam protest was little slacked. It was Ram Navmi on 2 April, so the CRPF was withdrawn from there and deployed to some other place in the city. Same day Gangaram had called for a meeting. Around 400-500 people were present. The Administration got a clue about this. He ordered the CRPF troop to return to village, leaving the Ram Navmi duty. Gangaram had no idea that the CRPF battalion had returned to the village. In-between, after the Iligarha meeting was over, the tribals marched up to Chaliyama with traditional weapons. The CRPF soldiers chased and arrested 12 of them. But they could not arrest Gangaram Kalundia. The Police filed a case 13/82 against Gangaram in Rajnagar Police station. The intention of the Police was to convict Gangaram in all of the events so that there would not be any hassles during the legal procedure. There was a meeting among the senior Police officers on 2 April, where it was decided; Gangaram had to be arrested by all means. Already FIRs had been lodged against him in many Police stations. Hurriedly, they had taken the permission of attachment seizure also. Then, the game plan was prepared. When to go, how to arrest him and then what to do with him. Then it was decided that two CRPF platoons would go. The District Police would accompany them. Sub-divisional Officer SDO, S.P. Mandal had appointed J.P. Chaturvedi as Magistrate. On 4 April, 1982, it was Sunday. The Police Force had been ready since night. At 3 am in the early morning, two platoons of CRPF, 21 soldiers of District Armed Police and BMP soldiers boarded in nine vehicles and set their journey to arrest Gangaram. They were heading to Iligarha, Kalundia’s house. They reached Barkundia through Chaibasa-Manjhari road. They had to go Iligarha by that unpaved route. DSP, D. K. Kujur was leading the Police force. Stirring the dust when vehicles were passing Barkundia, the villagers woke up to the noise. The people realised they had come to arrest Gangaram. But still they were unable to do anything. Some people started

playing the drums to alert others while the Police was crossing Tuinbana, but it could not reach to Kalundia’s village. The Police knew Kalundia would be alert at the noise of the vehicles and then it won’t be possible to arrest him. So they left their vehicles at Tuinbana. Iligarha was 2 kilometres away from that point. Some soldiers were left behind to take care of the vehicles. Some of soldiers reached via the dirt road and the others through the farms, walked towards Gangaram’s house. Big boulders were kept on a nearby hill. Gangaram’s supporters had made the arrangement to stop the Police. It means Gangaram’s supports had an intuition that the Police might enter the village. Finally, the Police reached at Gangaram’s place. The first one was Gangaram’s house. It was still dark. There was abject silence in the village. People were sleeping. The Police looked around and took position outside the house. They banged at the door. Gangaram woke up to this. He asked from inside, who is there? When no one replied, Gangaram thought it was dacoit. He was in military and he was a brave. So, he took his sword in his hand and went ahead. His wife Veerang Kui stopped him, but he did not listen. The moment he opened the door, a bright light shone on his face. Before he could understand anything, a bullet was shot in his thigh. After that, the Police caught him. There was a licensed gun, which they took. They looted some of the goods of the house. During this, Veerang Kui ran away. The Police saw her running away, but did not shoot her. She fainted near a pond. People woke up at the gunshot. They gathered at the place. But looking at the large number of Police force, nobody dared to do anything. The Police took him away and was constantly beating him with the rifle butt. They realised it was useless to encounter the Police at that time. They started running towards the hill, where they had accumulated boulders. The tribes protested there, but the Police was successful to escape the villagers with Gangaram. The Police had taken Gangaram along with his household items. People had gathered near Tuinbana by then. It was morning. The people were watching how Gangaram was beaten by the Police. The villagers jammed the road. They pelted boulders and shot the arrows. During this, injured Gangaram had instructed the villagers to remain calm. They had to stop there for some time. Magistrate, JP Chaturvedi was scared. He knew the Police would start firing and a written permission would be asked of

him. The scared Magistrate slowly got down from the jeep and fled away. During this, the Police shot five rounds and the villagers ran helter-skelter. Then they dispersed. Near Soso village the villagers saw, the Police was beating Gangaram with the butt of the rifle. After the noise of gunshots they heard screaming of Gangaram. It could be at that place that Gangaram had breathed his last. The whole day nobody was aware of Gangaram’s whereabouts. Around 5 o’clock in the evening, through another route, SP Randhir Verma, and SDO, CP Mandal reached Iligarha. They spoke to Veerang Kui and asked what all the Police had taken away. But they did not tell anyone where Gangaram was. Till then, nobody was aware of, Gangaram Kalundia’s death. They all left after speaking to Veerang Kui. After going a little distance, SP and other officers returned again. They called Lankeshwer Kalundia and told him Gangaram died on the way. The villagers were shocked at this news. Soon, the news spread in whole Kolhan. When Gangaram’s dead body reached the village, some of the body parts were missing. He was disfigured, eyes were damaged, and some important body parts were missing. In this way, a former military soldier that protected the border once, became a martyr. After his death, the protest also became weak. Wife Veerang Kui got displaced. Nobody was left in the family. He had a daughter called Janki Kalundia. At the request of Gangaram’s wife, Janki was given a job in the DC office, in Chaibasa on compassionate grounds. But the daughter also could not accompany her for long. She passed away on 1 April, 1985. Veerang Kui was left all alone. The hero of the 1965 war, who was also the recipient of Gallery Service Medal, 25th Independence Medal, Sangram Medal and 1965 Defense Medal, is remembered on every 4th April in Jharkhand. q

A School Student was Killed Mandar Firing: 22 April, 1982 Mandar is situated by Ranchi-Lohardaga road. A school student, along with two men, was killed in the crowd, by the Police firing. Before few days, an incident had happened, on 22 April, 1982. A young woman was raped, who had gone for Jani haunting. For this crime, an FIR was lodged against a few people. The victim as well as the alleged were from the same cast. So it was decided that it would be socially settled with mutual understanding. The Police got the information and filed a rape case in the Mandar Police Station (case No: 10/82-24 4 1982). Then the Police threatened the Panchayat heads. The Police had locked some of the convicts. To settle that case, he asked for money. When the locals learned about this, they objected. They thought of surrounding the Police station. On 29th April, there was a protest march of 6000-7000 people, which was led by Udit Tiwari. Then, the villagers gathered at the Mandar Police Station. Women and children were also involved in this. There was angst among the villagers at the attitude of the Police. There was stoning at the Police station. Looking at the aggression of the villagers, Additional Police Force was deployed. The dispute was fuelling between the Police and the villagers. After the scuffling and lathi charge, the Police started firing in a hurry. Around 17 rounds of firings were there, in which two people were killed. Dozens of people got injured. During the Police firing, a High School student Jagdish Oraon (14 years old), a resident of Chund village of Murma, was hit by a bullet and died on the spot. Another young man named Sarphul was also shot by a bullet and was severely injured. During treatment, he died in the hospital. Some others like the Principal Usman Ansari, Jagram Oraon and Somra Oraon also got injured. After this incident, some political parties called for Ranchi Bandh. The MP, Mrs. Sumti Oraon along with the legislator, Karamchand Bhagat pressurised the Government, after which the Police officers associated with the heinous crime got suspended. Compensation was given to the families whose members had died or severely injured in the firing. After this incident, Jagdish Nagar was set up in Murma village in the memory of the deceased student Jagdish Oraon (father Charo Oraon). Another deceased Sarphul (father Amrali Ansari) had married to Sajda

Khatun. After his death, Sajda’s parents in consultation with her in-laws got her married off for the second time. Sarphul’s parents have died now. One of his brothers Asharphul Ansari lives in that village only. q

Martyr Ajit Mahto and Dhananjay Mahto The Tiruldih Firing: 21 October, 1982 After 1974 Students’ movement, possibly it was the first time, when the Police opened fire at the college students who were in a procession in South Bihar. Two students Ajit Mahto and Dhananjay Mahto were killed in Tiruldih on 21 October, 1982. I reached Ajit Mahto and Dhananjay Mahto’s village after 21 years of that incident. I was eager to know if anybody was really concerned about their relatives.

Ajit Mahto

Dhananjay Mahto

Dhananjay was a native of Adardih village, under Joro Panchayat. This village was further ahead than Ichagarh. Karkari River flows on the way. There was no bridge over that river. I had to go by crossing the river. Now, another road has been built which passes through the Tiker. I visited Dhananjay house and met his wife Bari Devi and Son Upendra. Dhananjay’s old mother was also there. She could not see, but she could definitely express her sorrows. She only knew that her son had gone to village Kuda to meet Phua (Lalmani’s daughter). She got to know from her another son, Mrityunjay, that there was a firing at students and some of them had died. But she was not aware that her son was also killed. During

the conversation with Bari Devi, she said she was proud of her husband’s bravery, but she was also very sad because she could not see her husband’s dead body for the last time. After four days had passed after the incident happened, she was informed that her husband died in the firing. At that moment, she was in her maternal house, Bhakuadih. She said if she knew about the martyrdom of her husband, she would have met him for the last time, she cried while saying so. Upendra, his son, was about one year old by that time. Now, he is grown up. He has passed out his 10th from Anugrah Narayan High School, Pilid. His further studies have been affected due to shortage of money. The area is dominated by the Kurmis, for that reason, every political leader pronounces the name of Dhananjay Mahto and Ajit Mahto. When the bridge named after Dhananjay Mahto was inaugurated, Upendra was invited and felicitated by Sudesh Mahto (former Depty Chief Minister of Jharkhand) and he was very happy at that time. After Jharkhand got the statehood, Bari Devi was honoured. During my journey, I reached to another martyr Ajit Mahto’s place, who had also been killed in the firing. His village is two kilometres away from the bypass of Ranchi-Jamshedpur (NH-33). The name of the village is Kurli. I met his elder brother Agnu Mahto. He was a teacher. He is very calm and collected. But when he talked about Ajit’s murder, the grief was quite intense. The sorrow for his brother was different. He never expected any help from the government. Ajit was unmarried, so there were no family responsibilities on him. He just wanted the Government to honour his brother’s martyrdom. He regretted that, whenever any function was conducted in memory of Ajit Mahto, his family members were forgotten. When the foundation of the bridge was laid, none of his family members were informed. His brother had raised his voice against injustice. At that time, the situation was very critical; the whole area was to be announced as drought affected area. The Government was silent. That was the reason his brother and some of the students arranged a demonstration to draw the attention of the Government.

Dhananjay Mahto’s widow Bari Devi

Those days, (1982) in whole Jharkhand there was an agitation for a separate state, Kolhan was boiling, whereas Chandil area was drought affected. The students wanted the Government to declare-Ichagarh, Chandil and Nimdih Blocks as drought affected blocks. Now, this area comes under Saraikala-Kharsawan district. But at that time, it was part of Singhbhum. To fulfil their demands, they set up a union called Revolutionary Students Youth Committee. This was a non-political students’ union, and the intention behind the committee was to strengthen the Jharkhand Movement and to address the local problems. Ashok Oraon was the Chairman and Hikim Chand Mahto was the General Secretary. Ajit Mahto and Dhananjay Mahto, both were students of Singhbhum College, Chandil and also the key members of the committee. The students were about to be impacted by the drought. Students who used to stay outside would take rice from home, but during drought where could they take it from? Their studies were about to get hindered. Therefore, the student union in Ranchi decided to organise a demonstration on 19, 21 and 23 October, 1982 serially in front of Nimdih, Chandil and Ichagarh block office. Under this campaign, on 19th October, peacefully the demonstration was organised in Nimdih. This student movement was unique. The group started from their homes with their cycles. It was decided that they would return only after completing the demonstration in the three blocks. Hikim Chand Mahto was also part of this. Ajit Mahto was with him in another cycle. On 19th October, the students made the demonstration peacefully in front of the Block Office and submitted the demand letter. Now the further journey had

to be completed. Next demonstration was about to happen in front of the Block Office, Ichagarh. The office was in Tiruldih, so the students had to go to Tiruldih. It was one day journey. On the way, they took a rest in a village for the night on 20th October. Then, they started for Tiruldih. After reaching Tiruldih, they had a meeting in the field of Middle School, near the railway lines. Everybody left their cycles in the school campus and reached to the Block Office in a procession. They started the demonstration there. The local Police had been already angry with the students. In those days, kerosene was costlier in Bihar than in West Bengal (Jharkhand was not a separate state then). This place is situated on the border of Jharkhand-West Bengal. People used to bring vegetables and 2-4 litres of kerosene (which was cheaper) for their homes in weekly markets from West Bengal. The Police used to stop them and asked for money. On denying, they used to put them in prison. People used to bribe the Police by selling their poultry. Only after that, they were released. The agitating students opposed at this activity by the Police and almost stopped it. The Police was angry with this. Their income had ceased.

Hikim Chand Mahto

At that time, Dr. Gurucharan Singh Munda was the Block Development Officer (BDO) and Md. Ashalla was the Circle Officer (CO). There were a good number of students. All the students could not go to the BDO’s room to give the application. So, they decided to send their representatives to submit the demand letter. Though the protest was from the students, all the village heads and farmers also participated in that. The demand of the students was to declare the three mentioned blocks as drought affected areas. This case was related to many families. So, the farmers had participated actively.

It was decided, Hikim Mahto and Ashok Oraon would go to give the application and keep their demands. Head of Choga Village Dinbandhu Mahto, Vijay Kumar Mahto, (late) Nityanand Das, Haren Kumar Mahto (Advocate of High Court) were also present. The CO was also present in the BDO’s room. In the BDO’s room, after giving application to the CO, they were talking. The protestors asked for a written assurance. In the written assurance, they demanded the CO to state, without bribery there would be Mutation Process, preparation of the Cast and Income Certificate, the Police would not trouble the locals who used to bring Kerosene from West Bengal and he would not collect any money. This sort of talk was going on. The CO was speaking about his limitations. Most of the students, who were outside, went to the school campus to bring their cycles. There, some arguments arose between the students and the Police. The circle guards started firing. The effect was seen on the CO too. The CO got fumed at this and asked the protestors if their fellows were exploding bombs and they should restrict them. Actually, that was not the sound of a bomb. That was the noise of the firing, which the Police officers had started. Ajit Mahto was shot first in the firing and he fell down. Another bullet was shot at Dhananjay Mahto. He died on the spot. The students present in the chambers of BDO ran outside on hearing the gunshot. They saw that Police had opened fire. It was in complete attack mode. Hikim quickly ran inside and brought BDO outside. When the protestors hid behind BDO, the Police finally stopped firing. By then, Ajit Mahto and Dhananjay Mahto had already lost their lives. A lot of other students had also been wounded. Khagen Mahto was also wounded. Later, the corpses of the martyrs were sent to Jameshedpur for autopsy. The Police wreaked havoc among the students as well as the local people. Hikim Chand Mahto was also present with other students. Later on, the Police arrested him. I met Hikim Mahto too. He recalled the whole story and told, all the 41 people were locked in a small room for 36 hours. They weren’t even allowed to go to the toilet. Water was not given to them. After 24 hours, DC-SP visited from Chaibasa. After that, they were released on PR bond. The terror of Police had increased in whole Chandil block after this incident. The people were in a state of horror. The situation was so bad that nobody was ready to take the dead bodies of the students in their villages after the post-mortem was done at MGM, Jamshedpur. Nobody

informed the families of the deceased students. All the male members from nearby villages had fled away due to the fear of the Police. The villages were empty. At that time, Nirmal Mahto was a rising political leader of the JMM, in Jamshedpur. He was very courageous. He decided, he himself would take dead bodies of the students to their villages. He hastily arranged a truck. With the dead bodies, he went to Jayda. Jayda is located by JamshedpurRanchi road. The Subarnarekha passes nearby it. After this incident, Nirmal Mahto appeared as a promising leader from Ichagarh. Dhananjay’s family was not aware that he was killed in the firing. The firing was in Tiruldih. The dead bodies had reached Jayda for the funeral process. When no members from Dhananjay’s family reached, Nirmal Mahto himself lit the funeral fire (mukhagni). Dhananjay was married. Three years ago, he was married to Bari Devi. At that time his son, Upendra was quite small. In this firing, another student, Ajit Mahto was also killed. He was a student of BA, in Singhbhum College, Chandil. He was staying with his brother Agnu Mahto. On 22 October, he got the news, that his brother was killed in the firing. He went to Jamshedpur and brought his brother’s dead body with Nirmal Mahto. Then, he completed the rituals for the funeral. Ashok Oraon, Gurucharan Mahto, Dinbandhu Mahto, Tarun Kumar Pal, Sheetal Chandra Pramanik, and Suresh Khetan had started an agitation against the abuse of Police. During that period Jagannath Mishra’s Government was in power in Bihar. There was dissatisfaction in whole Bihar. George Fernandez, Nirmal Mahto, Karpuri Thakur, Shibu Soren and Ramvilas Paswan came and there was a meeting against this incident. Later on, an enquiry committee was formed. But the enquiry report was not publicized. The Government declared a compensation of five thousand rupees to each family. But the activists refused to take any help from the government. Dhananjay Mahto was a student of Singhbhum College, Chandil; so the Vice chancellor, Dr Anuj Kumar Dhan came to give the amount from the university. Till the time Nirmal Mahto was alive, he used to visit Dhananjay’s village. Shibu Soren also frequently visited the place. After Jharkhand became a state, Sudesh Mahto named the bridge as Ajit-Dhananjay bridge which is over Chandil-Silli road. Ajit-Dhananjay Mahto Vidya Niketan was opened on the name of Ajit-Dhananjay. Statues of these students have been

installed in Sirom and Tiruldih. Every year on 21 October, a fair is organised at the place of their martyrdom. q

The Punishment for the Objection to the Torture of Police Murhu Firing: 29 April, 1983 During the Jharkhand movement, surrounding the Police station or blocking the road meant to face the Police gunfire. Such an incident happened in Murhu, on 29 April, 1983. At the dismissal proposal of a Police constable, the Police started non-stop firing at the mob, in which three people died. Murhu is located 45 kilometres away from the capital, Ranchi. From Khunti, it is only at a distance of 15 kilometres. The place is surrounded by forest, where the Police had fired 12 rounds. The Police wanted to show its anger and frustration on the tribes, who were presented there. The Police was humiliated in one of the incidents that occurred on 10th April. There was a student called Shani Mundu, who was staying with her elder sister and two brothers in Murhu. She was a resident of Kodkasom village, under Arki Police station. The house was a rented one. The financial condition of her family was not so good. So she could not afford to stay in the school hostel. She used to do the household work and labour to study. Fourteen-years old Shani was a class 8 student of St. Mary’s School. On 10th of April, Police constable Vimal Rai went to her house and started banging the door. He insisted on opening the door. It was night by then. So, it was little late for Shani to open the door. The moment Shani opened the door, the constable slapped her tightly. Then he pulled her hair. He also threatened to kill her. The villagers mentioned–the way he was behaving, it seemed as if he was drunk and his intentions were not right. He had come to molest Shani’s elder sister (who was about 25). But she was not there. The constable got irked. Shani’s elder sister was working in somebody else’s house. She had not returned. They had asked to wait there. Her two small brothers were also not there. In the meanwhile, he had created all nuisances.

Murhu where firing occured.

Kishun Saw

The villagers were angry with this. She was a school student. So the students and teachers demanded for an appropriate action against this. In those days, Jharkhand party had a great influence in that area. The leaders and members of the Party opposed to this attitude of the constable. They demanded the dismissal of that employee. During this, some Police officers took this matter seriously and investigated. He was transferred on 27th April. The next day, he was suspended. Now, it was confirmed that the constable was guilty and his intentions were wrong. But the Police was not accepting it openly. They were cooking up some other story. The Police said, there was an old lady who came crying and told Khedan Munda had misbehaved with her. Khedan, in his defence said the cattle had grazed on his field. Considering the statement true, the Police set out in search of Khedan. They were not aware of Khedan’s house. By mistake, they knocked at Shani’s house, instead of Khedan’s. After banging the door continuously for half an hour, the latch got loosened and fell down. The door was wide open then. The constable was angry with this delay, so he slapped her.

John Pahan and Munna Khan.

Nobody was ready to accept the cock and bull story framed by the Police. The people were aware that constable was quite infamous. He used to enter anybody’s house and would ask for money and wine. Jharkhand Party also got involved in this protest. The protest was led by John Pahan, Munna Khan, Nicolas Guria and Sanatan Kandir. John Pahan and Munna Khan described the whole matter. He explained–on 29th April, at 10 a.m., the students and the teachers held a demonstration in front of the Police station. This was already informed to the officers beforehand. Again the demonstration was held at Somar bazaar tanr, in the afternoon. Some of the party members were also present. They all reached the Police station. There was a crowd of around two thousand. They were equipped with traditional weapons (bow-arrows, stick). They were demanding the dismissal of the constable. The villagers burnt the effigy of the constable. It had a great reaction on the Police. The Police was feeling offended at this and was in an attacking mode. There was an encounter between the Police and the villagers. The situation was getting worse. The DSP also had reached. He assured that the constable had been transferred, the enquiry was completed and soon, some strong action would be taken. But the villagers were not satisfied with this. They did not rely on the words of the DSP. The villagers had seen the constable same day in the premises, so they knew the DSP was lying to them. They were so aggressive at the time that they asked the DSP to stay away; so that they could drag the constable out. But the DSP did not give permission to that. He kept on saying, only his family was in staff quarter and not him. By that time, there was a heated argument between the villagers and the Police. The Police had already lost their patience. They opened fire. Three people died. After the firing, the mob scattered. In this, one Police officer, Ramchandra Jha was also killed.

The Police was blaming the villagers. But the villagers argued, the Police was firing blindly; even they could not recognize their own fellows. The statement was valid, because the Police was shot in his back. He said Kisun Sao (Bsati Muhlla, Murhu) and Poulus Purty (Jaten village, Murhu thana) were killed. Munna Khan was witness to this. It was told, Kisun was not involved in all this. He was returning from Gubbu market on his vehicle with other businessmen. The road was blocked, and he stopped to see what was happening in front of the Police Station. During this, he was hit by a bullet and died. The moment the Police started firing, Poulus Purty climbed the tree to save himself. The Police aimed at him and shot. When it hit him, he died and fell down from the tree. After this firing, the Police had lodged FIR against 68 people. The charge sheet was prepared against 24 people. The case continued for 24 years and finally all of them were acquitted. q

A Former Solider Dragged to Death by Jeep The Killing of Vidarnag: 1 June, 1983 West Singhbhum district is well-known worldwide for its iron ore and the Police abuse in its Gua village. In 1980, in Gua, Police had dragged all the 8 tribals from the hospital and gunned them down. After three years had passed, again, a former solider Vidarnag, fell prey to Police abuse. Vidarnag and four other young men were dragged by the Police jeep on the streets of Gua. After then, Vidarnag died in the lock up.

Shaheed Vidarnag (Former Solider)

Nazir Khan

I tried to know after Jharkhand became a separate state, is anybody concerned about the family members and relatives, who were exploited, protested and sacrificed their lives to make it a separate state? On this trail, when Vidarnag’s name came in the list, I reached Gua. Located amidst Saranda forest, it is widely known for the Iron ore. I wanted to meet the relatives and family members of Vidarnag. I met Nazir Khan. He was a good friend of Vidarnag. After Vidarnag’s death, he fought the legal battle. Nazir Khan told how the Police wanted to target him. Police were searching for Ramchandar Das and Dhucha Toppo, so that they would also be killed. But they could not be traced. Vidarnag’s family was shattered. After a lot of searching, I could meet Vidarnag’s daughter, Ganganag. Ganga gave the information that Vidarnag had two marriages. He had two daughters from

his first wife. One is Santoshinag, whose whereabouts was not known to anybody. Another was Ganga. After Vidarnag’s murder, Shantinag was taking care of the two daughters. After the legal battle, Nazir Khan helped her to get a job in IISCO. She died in 1997. In that situation, Ganga’s uncle, Krishna Hurad took care of her. He married her off to Budhram Sandil in Chakradharpur. She started sobbing at the fact that without her uncle she would not have survived. She lost her father at the age of five. Nazir Khan was the friend of his father as well as his uncle. Nazir gave a lot of information about Vidarnag and the incident.

Vidarnag’s Daughter Ganga Nag.

Vidarnag was in the Bihar regiment (4247856). He was quite worried about the current situation of Jharkhand. He wanted to take part in the Jharkhand movement and fight for the displaced people. Unemployment was quite high in that area. In the mines of IISCO, there was discrimination of the rehabilitation of the local young men. Due to mining, the fields were getting destroyed by the accumulation of the red water. Vidarnag got the information about this. One day he left the job, so that he could to work for his own area.

Tulsi Rajak & P. Majumdar.

He got a job in the IISCO as a temporary labourer. On 28 December, 1982 the management had given him a certificate of rehabilitation. In spite of working in IISCO, he was not hesitated in raising his voice against it. Nazir Khan and Kishan Singh were with him in this fight. On 30 May, 1983 more

than hundreds of tribal-dalit young men had destructed the IISCO office and assaulted the officers. The young men had assaulted another officer in his residence. Most of the young men were job-seekers in the IISCO. So they attacked the employees who were in the charge of employment. The employees had a meeting. In the meantime, they decided that, until they are given protection they will not go to work. Police had arrested Kishor Pandey, Jokim Bhengra, Jitu Lohar and Shyam Tanti for the physical assault and protest. But there was an FIR against Vidarnag. Vidarnag was fighting for the unemployed people. He was already a target. After that incident, the Police got an opportunity to arrest him. On 1st June of 1983, there was a heart-breaking scene. It was around 5 o’clock in the evening. A jeep moved from station to the Chowk Market. Five young men were tied at the back of the jeep and dragged. Their legs were also tied. There was another jeep behind the first one, which DSP Deepak Verma was driving. After reaching at the square, the jeep stopped. The area was completely surrounded by the Police in all directions. In the middle of the square, all of them were untied and the Police hit them badly. The legs were tied, the Police inserted a stick between the legs and started beating at the heel of the feet. They screamed. Vidarnag was also among the young men. The Police had beaten him to death. The people screamed for water. Vidarnag could not resist the beating and fainted. Shantinag reached at the place, searching for her husband, who went missing one day ago. When she saw her husband getting thrashed by the Police, she requested them to spare her husband. After her request, the Police beat him more harshly. The Police continued beating the five people for an hour in front of five hundred people. Nobody dared to protest against the Police. When the Police got tired of beating them, they all were carried in a jeep and locked up in the Police station. Vidarnag’s condition was worse. The Police had thrashed him so badly that he was almost dead. When the condition of the soldiers became worse, the DSP called the doctor to examine them. In the meantime, Vidarnag died. The Police stated he expired during the treatment in the hospital. Vidarnag’s first wife Shanti (He had two marriages) was not aware that her husband died. She was under the impression that after the beating, he was in the Police custody. She went to the Police station with food, but she was driven away. Next day, the dead body was sent to Chaibasa for autopsy.

His second wife, Budhni was called. There, she was forced to sign on a blank paper. She was given two hundred rupees to keep her mouth shut. When she did not agree to this, the money was tied to her sari. Even after Vidarnag’s death, the attitude of the Police was the same. To protest this, a meeting was about to be held in Chiria mines. CPI MLA Tulsi Rajak and union leader P. Majumdar, who were going to attend this meeting, were arrested by the Manoharpur Police, and forced to walk in the roads of Chaibasa. There was a commotion in the Bihar Assembly. Mr. Jagannath Mishra was the Chief Minister (Jharkhand was part of Bihar then). The Youth Congress continued the protest for a long time, stating Vidarnag and other arrested people were the members of Congress Party. Congress leader SR Chhabban had led this protest. He went to Gua from Jamshedpur and conducted the strike for 134 hours. The Congress leaders distributed the palm plate in whole Singhbhum and expressed their anger. Shantinag also wrote a letter to the former Supreme Court Judge P. N. Bhagwati informing him about the Police abuse. There was pressure from everywhere; so the government had to suspend DSP Deepak Verma and Officer in-charge Ishwar Chandra. At the cost of his martyrdom, Vidarnag reinstated the rights of the local young men. q

The Result of Kill Criminal Campaign Bharbharia Firing: 7 July, 1984 There is a village called Bharbharia, in the West Singhbhum. The Gram Raksha Dal (GRD) was quite popular in the nearby areas. GRD was running almost a parallel government in that area. In the name of killing the criminals, GRD was prevailing terror. The Party used to decide solely who was guilty or not, who should pay the fine or not. Whoever was labelled guilty, used to be killed.

On 7 July, 1984, around 10,000 members of Gram Raksha Dal (GRD) of Bharbharia village assembled near the guest house. They were asking the security force to hand over Manki Harish Chand Birua along with 19 others to them. The Security Force had disapproved of this. They clearly mentioned that neither Manki nor any of them would be handed over in any situation. Suspecting some violent activities, the Executive Magistrate and two platoons of paramilitary forces were already deployed. The GRD members were equipped with their traditional weapons. When the Police did not listen to them, they started moving forward. They wanted to get their hands on Manki and 19 others and kill them. They attacked on the Police force with this intention. The Police was well prepared. They opened fire at the GRD members. Twenty people were killed, however they confirmed only six deaths. The background of the killing was not any less interesting. The area comes under Kolhan. It has its own history. Kolhan has been a land of the braves. They have the strong ability to fight. Even the Britisher could not dominate them. This place is dominated by tribals. This is the place where, during the Jharkhand Movement, most of the Police firings had happened and many people died.

When K. C Hembram formed Kolhan Raksha Sangh on 30 October, 1978, the area came under discussion. In those days, the impact of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) was not there in Kolhan; but it was high in Dhanbad, Hazaribagh and Santhal Pargana. JMM wanted to prevail in Kolhan also. But Bagun Sumbrui (Congress) did not want the influence of JMM in that area. Initially, Bagun Sumbrui had run the Jharkhand Movement with the banner of Jharkhand Party and then, All India Jharkhand Party. In due course, it was decided that to stop JMM, another powerful union should be formed. K.C. Hembram came forward to build the organisation called Kolhan Raksha Sangh (KRS).

General Secretary of GRD – Vama Charan Kun

Initially Kolhan Raksha Sangh was very successful. A large number of tribes participated in this organisation. But later on, the situation changed. After the Gua Firing, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha started prevailing rapidly in that area. This impacted Kolhan Raksha Sangh. In the meantime, KRS demanded for a separate independent Kolhan country. In this regard, they submitted a memo to the United Nations. After that, a case of treason was filed against the members of Kolhan Raksha Sangh. The head of Kolhan Government (self-declared) Narayan Jonko, Chief Legal Advisor C.A. Topno and another Legal Advisor A.K. Sawainya were arrested in 1981. K.C. Hembram went underground. In this way, slowly the Kolhan Raksha Sangh became weaker. Some criminals had associated with this organisation to take the opportunity. Some criminals had wrecked the area in the name of Kolhan Raksha Sangh. They even murdered people. The top leaders were either in jail, or had fled away. So, the members of Kolhan Raksha Sangh started doing committing crimes openly. Such criminal activities were on the rise. The condition was so terrifying that, if any outsider seen, it was difficult for him to stay alive.

Bagun Sumbrui: Ex-MP

When the cases of kidnappings, robbery, loot were on rise even in broad daylight, Bagun Sumbrui formed a organisation named Gram Raksha Dal (GRD). The intention behind creating this organisation was that it would tackle the problems created by criminals (GRD) and a campaign would be started. The campaign was called–‘Drive Away the Dacoits’. Some people also called it as–‘Kill the Criminals’ campaign. In 1965, Bagun Sumbrui had run the campaign for driving away the dikus (people who are not the natives of Jharkhand). During this many, Biharis were killed. Although GRD was formed by Bagun Sumbrui, the Congress leaders of Patna (Bihar was undivided then), were the real culprits, who were the masterminds. The game plan behind this was, there will be support from the administration, so that they would be able to face the members of Kolhan Raksha Sangh. The situation was so crucial that, Bagun Sumbrui’s wife and then a minister Muktidani Sumbrui had invited the then Chief Minister Chandra Shekhar Singh to Chaibasa on 29 January, 1984. A public meeting was held. They felicitated the Minister by giving him the bow-arrow. Then, while translating the speech into Ho language and he also told that, the Chief Minister had supported the campaign (the campaign of driving away the dacoits) to stop the unsocial elements. There was a negative impact of such declaration. The Gram Raksha Dal got a certificate which encouraged their dictatorship. The then-Governor of Bihar AR Kidwai had honoured the General Secretary of GRD Bama Charan Kunkal. Due to all this, GRD was becoming confident. The local administration was helpless, because it had an order from Patna to help the Gram Raksha Dal members in all possible ways to curb the unsocial activities. Slowly several criminals joined the organisation. They used to catch hold of anybody they wanted, and take to the munda of the village to convict him as a robber or a dacoit. If the munda labelled him as a criminal, he would be taken to the forest either to be killed or hanged to death.

Slowly, the original cause of the campaign of GRD was left behind. Initially, some of the culprits were caught, but later on, many innocents were killed in the name of criminals. Whoever disobeyed or objected was taken to the munda and after getting the permission, he was killed. They also started levying taxes on the people. They used to decide who would pay how much of the fine. There was a kind of autocracy which was going around. Meanwhile, countless people were killed by Gram Raksha Dal. Only in Manjhari Block, around 42 people were killed. More than hundreds disappeared from nearby villages. It was assumed more than 1500 people from Jhinkpani, Tantnagar, Manjhari, Jagannathpur, Majhgaon, Kumardungi fell prey to the abuse of the Gram Raksha Dal, in the name of running a campaign for curbing the unsocial activities. There were not any big criminals among the people who were killed by the members of Gram Raksha Dal. The members of Gram Raksha Dal used to kill people due to mutual hostility. Initially, it was believed that the Gram Raksha Dal members had only bows-arrows, but they had deadly weapons too. According to the game plan, some of the former soldiers were also included in this campaign. They were already trained. Their job was to train others in the group. This way GRD got spread almost in all villages and promoted the campaign. Some of the villagers opposed to this, they said instead of catching the criminals and punishing them, it was better to hand over them to the Police. Time passed. GRD got defamed as well. V.N.Mishra had been the Deputy Commissioner of Singhbhum at the time of establishment of GRD. He supported the GRD for having a check on the crime. Later, G.S. Kang (IAS) took over as the Deputy Commissioner. Meanwhile, there were many changes that had taken place. GRD had been a little wayward and had become a matter to be tackled by the administration. The administration was also getting a bad image due to the continuous killing. The strategies to be followed in the coming days were to be discussed in the meeting called in March, 1984 at Bharbharia by the GRD. Manki Harish Chandra Birua did not attend this meeting. Birua had his opinion about punishing people. He thought that it was not proper for any organisation to simply kill any culprit. Rather the organisation should hand over the culprit to the administration and the judiciary should decide about the punishment for the culprit.

The members of the GRD had been dissatisfied due to the non-attendance of Manki Harish Chandra Birua. Yet another meeting was called and Birua was again called for the meeting, which Birua did not attend again. Meanwhile, he also established the Shanti Morcha. The GRD took it as a challenge. GRD members kidnapped Birua’s brother along with three other people who were getting the Torlo Dam constructed on 7 April, 1984. The four of them were dragged, pelted with stones and hung to death. The four were Motilal Birua, Pragan Birua, Radha Krishna Birua (Manki’s brother) and Krishna Gopal. The memorials of these four were also erected at Bharbharia.

Dak Bungalow of Bharbhria.

GRD was still in the mood to attack even after the incident. It again attacked a bus in the Tonto village in the month of May. The members dragged Birsal Birua and Narang Birua out of the bus. However, Birsal escaped at the first opportunity he got, but Narang was captured. The GRD members killed him. The reason for the killing had been because Narang had not joined GRD. Later, GRD burnt down Birsal’s house as well. GRD faced much opposition in Manjhari’s Bharbharia. So, GRD wanted to pen-down any opposition from the very beginning. It was decided that anybody visiting the village would be penalized with ` 50/- along with lathi beatings. GRD got the information that Manki Harish Chandra Birua was going to have a meeting with 18 other people at the Dak Bungalow on 9 July, 1984. Soon the GRD people started gathering there. The soldiers of the Armed Forces were already in place. These measures were being taken due to the number of killings and murders taking place. Magistrate was also deputed. Almost 8-10 thousand supporters of GRD reached the Dak Bungalow. The crowd reached the Dak Bungalow. When the Police stopped them, they put forward a condition of handing over of Manki along with all the people inside to GRD. The Armed Forces rejected the condition of the GRD and

warned them to move back. However, the crowd assembled near the banyan tree nearby and started attacking the Police from that spot itself. Two platoons of the Para Military Forces were already present at the spot and were waiting for the commands of the Magistrate. As it was, the Police had been very unhappy with the GRD and had been in search of an opportunity. It started firing at the crowd the moment it got the green signal from the Magistrate after the Lathi Charge. Twenty tribals of the Gram Raksha Dal (GRD) who had taken shelter under the tree got shot and died. The others were fortunate enough to escape. But the Police reported only six person died in the firing. GRD also weakened after the incident and soon, it also lost its identity. q

Fired at an Elderly Person’s Chest Billa Firing: 27 March, 1985 One can make out the torture met at the hands of the Police when one hears about a 74-year-old elderly person being slammed and shot at, by the Police. If an old person suffers this way at the hands of the Police, then one can imagine how the others would have been treated by the same Police. This had been the acts of the Police at Billa village. The memorial of Diyun Koda has been erected in this village. He was killed by the Police on 27 March, 1985. The memorial is situated near the place where he was actually killed. A fair is organized every year in his memory which is attended by the villagers and those of the neighbouring villages. The villagers also pay homage to the soul. Diyun Koda had been an old person, aged about 74 years and innocent. The Police did not spare an old person and shot him down. Many more such incidents had occurred during the agitation. The Police tortured whoever did not obey it. Many officers were also shot. I was trying to gather information along with my associates about the martyrs after 15-20 years of this firing. I was wandering in the villages of Saranda in search of information on the lives of the martyrs. We saw the memorial by the roadside in the village Billa and were curious to know more about the person. We stopped our vehicle and moved to the village. Such vehicles are still very uncommon to these villages. The villagers started gathering on seeing new faces in their area. Then, we started enquiring about the tomb and the person in whose memory the stone stands erected. Now the villagers looked at us with much more curiosity and brought a cot for us to sit on. They respected us more. They narrated us the story.

The tribal people had been under the impression of owning the forests since ages. There had been revolt and agitations for water, forest and land. They earned their livelihood by selling the wood from the forest or by selling the plant products. During the Jharkhand Movement, the forest officials or the forest guards never had the guts to wander into the deep forest to capture the villagers for cutting of trees. Such a situation did not arise without a reason. The officials used to accuse the villagers for theft of wood. This had caused unrest among the people and they started taking the officials as their enemy. The forest staff also organized an association. Meanwhile, the forest staff noticed two tribals cutting the trees at Santara 18. The staff chased them and they started running towards their village. On reaching the village, they started shouting and gathered the crowd who then captured two of the staff and tied them to the trees. The other forest staff could manage to run away. The forest officials were actually looking for Tumir Koda who had earlier put Bhelua oil on them which causes itching and irritation on the body. Now that the villagers had captured the two staff, the other staff had come to the village to request for the release of their people. But the villagers did not pay heed to their request. The officials spent the night in the village itself. The villagers, however, did not trouble these officials. But the news had reached the Police. The soldiers of BMP and CRPF were posted in the place in those days. The very next day, the Police force from Chaibasa reached Tunia. The Police had suspected clash of opinion, hence, went to meet the village head first, instead of going directly to the village. Later, the Police officials compromised with the villagers. The villagers let the forest staff go unharmed, but the Police did file a complaint against the villagers. The villagers had even forgotten this incident, but the Police was in search of an opportunity to take revenge on the villagers. The CRPF jawans reached the village Billa boarded on a truck, after one week of the incident. The Police had come on the jeep as well. The villagers tried to hide themselves suspecting of foul play on seeing the Police. The villagers ran towards the forest and none could be captured by the CRPF jawans. The Police had been under pressure as it could not handcuff even a single villager. It was just a coincidence that Diyun Koda, a fisherman by profession, had been returning home that way with his fishing net in hand. He had never dreamt that he could be a victim of an incident that he was not

a part of. He had been at a distance of about 100 steps from his house when the CRPF jawans captured him. The Police started interrogating him about the youth of the village. But Diyun Koda could not answer them as he was himself unaware of everything. Irritated, the Police first fired a nearby tree and then shot Diyun Koda on his thigh. Diyun fell on the ground. But the Police was still not satisfied and shot on his chest. Both his sons, Godha Koda and Jayadhar Koda went absconding after the incident. The people had been terrorized to such an extent that none protested against the Police for the firing. The CRPF jawans took the dead body of Diyun Koda to Goilkera. The body was then put in the sack and hidden in the Putus plants. The villagers then tried to locate the body after the departure of the Police, but could not find it. The village head, Vamacharan Koda, then reported the entire incident to the MLA, Devendra Majhi at his place at Chakradharpur. Devendra Majhi in turn, reported the matter to the Police and the senior officials at Chaibasa that the body of the elderly person has been hidden by the Police. The senior officers assured Devendra Majhi that the body of Diyun Koda would be recovered. Later, the Police officials did recover the body and handed it over to Devendra Majhi. This time, the incident had been in news in the entire Goilkera region. Still no one had the courage to take the body to the village for fear of the Police. This task had also to be carried out by Devendra Majhi. He put the body in a truck and took it to Diyun Koda’s place at Bukhsain. The villagers again started running towards the truck. But this time, the head came forward to handle the situation. It was about 11 pm. The villagers respectfully performed the final rites the next morning. They also put his ashes in the soil and erected a tomb at the place in his memory. The fair is organized near this memorial tomb, every year on 27 March, in his honour. q

Murder of 15 Santhals Along with Father Anthony Banjhi Firing: 19 April, 1985 Santhal Pargana is that region in Jharkhand where people have been struggling for justice and against exploitation since ages. It is the land of brave and courageous people. Sido-Kanhu, Chand-Bhairav and many others who had fought against the Britishers belonged to this land. The Britishers had to bow down owing to the unity of the Santhals. But unfortunately, the exploitation and torture meted out to the Santhals had not reduced even after 100-150 years. The only difference was the people who exploited them. Before the country’s Independence, it had been the Britishers who exploited them, now it was the moneylenders and the interesttakers who took advantage of their illiteracy and poverty. But the Santhal community never accepted defeat and carried on with their struggle. The voice of the Santhals was sabotaged whenever they raised their voice to protect their culture, tradition and belief. One such incident had taken place on 19 April, 1985 at Banjhi when the Police murdered Father Anthony (Former Parliamentarian) along with 15 other Santhals.

Father Anthony, Ex-MP, who was killed.

Shibu Soren with Anthony’s wife.

Banjhi village is situated at a distance of 15 km from Sahebganj Railway Station. A moneylender by the name, Moti Bhagat used to reside in the village. There used to be a pond in the village where the Santhals used to fish. This continued for ages and fishing became a part of their culture. The Santhals were very protective about their culture. None had tried to put a stop on the fishing by the Santhals. On the day of 25 March, 1985, many Santhals from the neighbouring villages had gathered on the pond to fish as on any other day. Just then, Moti Bhagat and his men came to the pond and declared that the Government had leased out the pond to him. He asked the people to stop fishing in the pond. He said that now it was up to him if he would allow fishing in the pond or not. This annoyed the Santhals and they collectively said that they would fish in the pond and that Moti Bhagat may do whatever he wants to.

Jansatta (Issue of 25th April, 1985) That mentions about the murder of Father Anthony after his arrest.

Moti Bhagat put a condition that the villagers may fish but only on one corner of the pond. But his condition was not acceptable to the Santhals. They said that the pond belonged to the village and that the villagers may fish at any end of the pond. The number of the tribals was large and they did not want to step back. Moti Bhagat realized that he should not fight the Santhals as they many and would easily outdo the handful of men that Moti Bhagat had, so he called the Police. Those were the days when the Police blindly supported the moneylenders. On the arrival of the Police, Moti Bhagat said that the people cannot fish on the Eastern side of the pond as there were two poisonous snakes over there. But the Santhals would not agree to this as they did not fear the snakes. They also did not believe the moneylender and entered the waters to fish. Meanwhile, the Santhals found a rotting corpse in the water. The body was that of Mutru Murmu of Sabaiya village. This village was about 2 km away from Banjhi village. Now the villagers could understand as to why they were being forbidden from fishing on the eastern side of the pond.

Moti Bhagat owned a truck and thought of escaping by running away when he saw that the dead body of Mutru Murmu was identified by the villagers. He knew that the villagers would not let him leave. He quickly reached his home and packed some belongings and left the village with his family members. The Santhals asked the Police to lodge the complaint of Mutru Murmu’s murder and charge Moti Bhagat for it. Since Moti Bhagat had himself left the village, the people wanted the Police to go to his house and declare him as outcast. The ritual by the Santhals of socially outcasting a person is known as ‘Bitlaha’. When a person is declared Bitlaha, the villagers destroy all his belongings, however costly and damage his house. The Inspector, R.P. Singh had to give up to the interests of the people and Bitlaha was performed. The Santhals destroyed the property of Moti Bhagat in the presence of the Inspector and the CO. The Santhals were under the impression that the Police had submitted to their wishes, without understanding the real motive of the Police. They couldn’t sense the real danger. Though Moti Bhagat had left the village, he was in constant communication with the Police. The rough and sturdy goons that Moti Bhagat had hired as his bodyguards had still been in the village and were in search for opportunities. When the Santhals went to the market in the evening, they were beaten by the Police and the hired goons of Moti Bhagat. Since the Santhals had gone to the market for shopping purposes, they had not carried their traditional weapons and could not defend themselves. The people who were battering the villagers were: Tahir Miyan of Banjhi, Mahesh Bhagat, Mukti De, Badri Bhagat, Nata Bhagat, Madan Bhagat. These people helped the Police in beating Supal Hansda (Village Kindua), Budhi (Village Kindua), Lukhi Hansda (Village Jamkunder), Chunni Kisku (Village Raksol) and Penda Murmu (Village Savlapur). The tribals were not used to this kind of torture. The Santhals called for a meeting of the villagers on 26 March itself. The Santhals participated in large numbers. The SDO, Sub-Inspector (Daroga) and the DSP were also present in the public meeting. The public demanded that action should be taken against Moti Bhagat and his people in the village. The villagers demanded the punishment of Moti Bhagat, Gopal Bhagat, Sadiq Miyan, Bhairavi Bhagat, Lukhu Bhagat, Rameshwar Bhagat, Md.Jamalludin,

Lakhan Bhagat, Prithvi Bhagat, Kalian Bhagat and Devi Bhagat. As per the verdicts of the Santhals, these people had been exploiting them since long. The Santhals demanded that the market at Banjhi should be relocated at Sabaiya. They also asked for the rights for fishing to the Santhals at the pond. The Officers in the meeting promised to get the demands accepted. Officers also said that the culprits would be arrested. The Santhals trusted the officers and thought that the promises would be fulfilled. But they got their first surprise when the dead body of Mutru Murmu lay there in the water till 27 March. The vulture and the other predatory birds feasted on the body but the Police did not remove it. Finally, the Police sent the bones and the remains of the body to Sahebganj. But the people were still unaware as to what happened to the body after that. Rumours were also there that the body had been sent to Bhagalpur. Meanwhile the management made no efforts to fulfil the promises made. The Police made no arrests for the murder of Mutru Murmu, no actions were taken against Moti Bhagat and his other allies, no arrests were made for the attack on the Santhals in the Banjhi Market place. This enraged the Santhals even more. The Santhals called for a meeting again on 15 April and requested the administration to take up the Moti Bhagat case again. But the administration took the issue lightly again and paid no heed towards it. But the actual story had been quite different. The administration had joined hands with the moneylenders. Together, both used to exploit the Santhals. This had been continuing for years. The tribal people had been quite simple. The officers of the forest department also used to trick the tribal by cutting the rare trees and placing them on the land of the tribal to accuse them for the crime. This was carried with the cooperation of Moti Bhagat, Gopal Bhagat and Sadiq Miyan. The Santhals used to get arrested during any raids for no crime of theirs. Now the Santhals had starting understanding the traps of the officers and the mafia. They did not allow them to keep the wood on their land anymore. On 19 April, the Santhals decided to remove the wood kept by the officers and the mafia on their land. But the mafia arrived while they were removing the wood. The mafia first tried to play cool and tried to persuade the Santhals to keep the wood. But they lost their temper when the Santhals did not agree to them. They shot three rounds when the tribals did not agree to keep the wood.

Fortunately, no one was hurt. Mohan Bhagat, K. Qyum and Dillip Bhagat were accused of firing.

Injured Youth.

The Santhals felt that they would not survive the firing. They had to defend themselves. They decided to attack back. They used their Dugdugi to assemble their people. It was about 11 in the morning. The Santhals started assembling at Banjhi with their traditional weapons. The crowd was much for the moneylenders to contact the Sahebganj Police Station immediately for the force in anticipation of attack. The Police force arrived immediately in buses and trucks. The Police also provided protection to the houses of the moneylenders. The assembled Santhals made strategies for answering back the administration. They decided that a group would be meeting the SDO Hari Narayan Prasad and the DSP to inform them about the firing that had taken place in the morning. It was to be decided now on the people who would be representing the Santhals in the group. It was finally decided that the former Parliamentarian, Father Anthony Murmu would lead the group. He had good influence on the tribals as well. Being a former Parliamentarian, the people in the administration also knew him well. Madan Murmu, Jeta Murmu, Babulal Soren and Badka Murmu also accompanied him. These people went to the Panchayat Bhawan where the DSP and the SDO were already camping. The other Santhals waited for them outside the camp. When the Santhal representatives questioned the DSP and the SDO on the firing that had taken place in the morning, they tried to cover up the matter by saying that it was crackers that had been fired. The team of representatives repeatedly tried to convince the officers that they had the proof that it was an encounter and not just a cracker play. The conversation was in progress when three people, Sam De, Lubin De and Dilip De came running to the Panchayat Bhawan and informed that the Santhals were burning down their houses. On hearing this, the officers ordered the Police

personnel to arrest the representatives, Father Anthony Murmu and Madan Murmu there itself. Both of them were inside the camp when the Police started firing outside. The goons of the moneylenders were also with the Police. They started beating the Santhals and fired at them. The Santhals tried to escape but were captured by the Police and goons, were beaten. A few Santhals tried to hide themselves at the houses of the non-Santhals, but were again pulled out and beaten to death. Meanwhile, the Post Office was also burnt down. Though it was a part of the strategy of the Police, the Santhals were accused for it. Had it been done by the Santhals, they would have burnt down the houses of the moneylenders instead of the Post Office. There were corpses all around when the firing finally stopped. The corpses of 13 people lay on the ground. Father Anthony and Madan Murmu were alive till that time. They had been shifted to a godown near the Panchayat Bhawan. The Police had decided by then that Father Anthony should not be left alive. The Police battered Father Anthony and Madan Murmu in the godown itself, leaving them nearly lifeless. Finally, both were shot in the godown itself. In this way, a total of 15 people were killed by the Police including Father Anthony. The people killed were: 1. Father Anthony Murmu (Village Banjhi), 2. Madan Murmu (Village Banjhi), 3. Madgu Murmu (Village Banjhi), 4. Thakur Tudu (Village Khari), 5. Dumcha Besra (Village Khari), 6. Tribhuvan Mardi (Village Khari), 7. Anna Murmu (Village Rakhsol), 8. Salko Tudu (Village Sabaiya), 9. Dukhna Tudu (Pahadpur), 10. Isore Murmu (Village Pahadpur),11. Barka Murmu (Village Pahadpur), 12. Kandan Murmu (Village Pahadpur), 13. Munshi Madaiya (Village Kendua), 14. Panda Mardi (Village Tudia), 15. Badago Hembram (Village Kandore). Besides the martyrdom of these 15 Santhals, there were many who got injured. The number was more than 24. These were 1. Maran Murmu (Village-Madwa), 2. Kando Soren (Village-Khari), 3. Jugu Hansda (VillageSabaiya), 4. Pradhan Hansda (Village-Sabaiya), 5. Raju Mardi (VillageSabaiya), 6. Ludiram Mardi (Village-Banjhi), 7. Chutka Soren (VillageBanjhi), 8. Supal Hansda (Village-Kendua), 9. Dukha Tudu (VillageKendua), 10. Dhena Mardi (Village-Kendua), 11. Dunu Murmu (VillageRasko), 12. Ramsai Mardi (Village-Mangra), 13. Munsha Hembram (Village-Mangritukur), 14. Banka Hansda (Village-Kodma), 15. Durga

Soren (Village-Maithiya), 16. Bodrai Hansda (Village-Kandor), 17. Chand Murmu (Village-Jamkunder), 18. Ramsoren (Village-Diggi), 19. Hardas Hansda (Village-Kordiha), 20. Jota Majhi (Village-Khijiria), 21. Ragardham Tudu (Village-Kendua), 22. Demka Hansda (Village-Kendua), 23. Sam Mardi (Village-Rakso), and 24. Shibu Radaiya (Village-Rakso). Most of the Santhals could not undergo treatment for fear of the Police. Police had sent the bodies of the killed Santhals to Bhagalpur for autopsy. The family members of Father Anthony wanted his last rites to be done in his native village. But the Police did not agree to this. The bodies of the deceased were buried in tight security in the presence of the Police and Father Anthony’s brother, Benjamin Murmu, in Bhagalpur itself. The family members were not allowed to see them for the last time as well. The incident got a lot of negative responses from every corner of the country. The Bihar Government constituted an enquiry committee. But later, even the committee concluded that the firing had been justifiable. This firing was the evidence to the dominance of the moneylenders in those days. They looted and exploited the poor villagers along with the Police. Those who stood against them were murdered. Father Anthony Murmu was a gread leader amongst the martyrs of the Banjhi firing. The Police knew what the reaction after Father Anthony’s murder would be. In spite of that, their actions prove how they danced to the moneylenders tunes. When the commotion happened after the Banjhi firing, the State Government formed an Inquiry Committee of members headed by the Patna High Court’s ex Chief Justice V.S. Sinha. The committee gave their report in July, 1987, in which it was stated that the Police firing was licit. It was obvious that there would be trouble after the murder of Father Anthony. His voice had reached the Parliament. In the beginning, Father Anthony who lived in Jiajuri village, went around with the Church work. But he was interested in politics. He was a Roman Catholic. With the permission from the Pope in Rome, he retired from church work. He later started a family and began his social service. People still continued to call him Father. He was married to Babyana. When Father Anthony was murdered, he had an infant son. In 1973, Father Anthony stood for byelections in Rajmahal Lok Sabha seat from the Jharkhand Party, but he lost the elections. After the Emergency in 1977, he got the ticket for elections

from the Janta Party for the Lok Sabha elections. He won with a wide margin. He later joined Congress. After the Banjhi firing, Babyana (Father Anthony’s wife) went through financial crisis. Many leaders met her, made promises, but nobody did anything. The Central Minister Ramdulari Sinha also promised Babyana a job, but she never got one. She had a small son. She had the responsibility to bring him up. She went to work as a seamstress at the Tailoring Centre at Sahebganj. She received 400 rupees, but the centre shut down. She was devastated. People took advantage of this. A conniving thug, Ayengar met Babyana. He decided to sell Father’s martyrdom. He knew the respect the villagers had towards Father Anthony and his family. He took advantage of it. He gave false promises to Babyana who was struggling with poverty that if they worked together, her life would change. He formed a false institution called Abhay Pahadi Limpa Project. In the name of giving jobs, he swindled many unemployed youth. One day, the Police raided his office which was in a hotel at Bhagalpur and arrested him under allegations of cheating. Martyr Father Anthony’s wife, Babyana also got trapped in this. This is how the family of Father Anthony who fought against the moneylenders and got martyred struggled for a morsel of food, but nobody helped them. q

Lost His Life to Save the Forest Sabua Murder: 12 September, 1987 The people of Kerukocha are not able to forget the incident that occurred on 12 September, 1987, when the Police killed Sabua Hansda with a rifle barrel in front of everyone. His only mistake was that he objected to the cutting down of the forest. He led the campaign ‘Save the Forest’. The incident occurred 75 km away from Jamshedpur, at Kerukocha. It falls on NH-33. According to the old Singhbum, it falls in the region of Bahragora.

Sabua Hansda

Sabua was born in the neighbouring Mural Panchayat of Chakulia on 5 August, 1929. His parents Sidho Hansda and Sugi Hansda had taught him to always stand for the protection of water, forest and land. As Sabua grew older, this attribute of his increased. Even though Sabua studied only till Class Five; he had a good grasp over Hindi and English. He understood the time. Inspired by Jaipal Singh Munda, he worked with the Jharkhand Party in the beginning. After marrying Balhi Hansda, most time of his life was spent in agitations. Later, when JMM was formed, he started working with it. After 1978, the forest mafia became active. They were getting rid of the forests. Sabua Hansda decided that he will save the forest. For this, he formed the Forest Protection Committee (FPC). His brother Narayan Hansda also took part in this campaign. Action was taken by the committee against anyone who was caught cutting the trees in the forest without permission. It charged a fine. On 12 September, 1987 the committee was having a meeting at the Bamandih Football Ground. They got the news that near Godsheel, the members of the FPC had caught some people who were cutting down Sal trees. It included Mangal Munda and his associates. They

were CPI workers. In those days, that region was under the influence of the CPI. It affected the Police too. After the phone call from the CPI leaders, the Police set the people free who were cutting the trees. But the people were not going to agree to this. The members of the FPC caught these people again. They were on cycles. It was decided that they would keep the cycles and they would be sent to get the money for the fine. Later Sabua sat close to a banyan tree at Godshol near Shyamsundarpur Police station for a meeting to save the forest. Along with him, there were Charan Hansda, Subodh Mahto, Gorang Mahto, Narayan Hansda, Chand Kisku, Sanathan Munda, Durga Charan Munda, Narayan Mahli, Lakshman Kisku, Harendra Mahto, Patal Mahto, Ganiram Mahto, Dalgu Mahto and others. They were waiting for the people who had gone to get the fine amount. Meanwhile, a CPI leader write a letter to the Syamsundarpur police station. Then an FIR was filed against 18 people including Sabua. The Police were also informed where Sabua was sitting for a meeting. This was how the Police were forced to take action against Sabua. Ratan Kumar was in-charge of the Shyamsundarpur Police station. He got down with his entire team from the BSRTC bus (also known as State bus). Then they started beating up the members of the FPC without any warning. The people started running. When Sabua fought against the Police action, he was beaten up badly. The Police caught him. They were searching for him, since he was leading the Movement. Some Policemen also caught Narayan Hansda. He was Sabua’s brother. When some Policemen were beating Sabua, one of them pierced the point of the rifle into Sabua’s back. He kept screaming, but the Police did not pay heed. He was injured. It was difficult to walk. The Police left him in that condition. Later, the people took him to the nursing home. But his condition worsened and he passed away late at night. The Police torture did not end there. They arrested 17 more people and kept them at the Police station. They were beaten up there too. The Police had become so inhuman that when the thirsty villagers asked for water, they were given urine. When they were dying of hunger and asked for food, the villagers were beaten up badly. They were later sent to jail. They were released after three months. The murder of Sabua spread like wildfire all around the region. Thousands of people surrounded the Shyamsundarpur Police station. When

the body of Sabua was handed over to the villagers, after the autopsy at Gatshila, there was a huge rally. He was later buried near his village. The year Jharkhand State was formed; Sabua Hansda’s Statue was erected at Kerukocha by Vidyut Mahto. Every year there is a huge meeting at Kerukocha in the memory of this leader who saved forests. q

Murder During Strike Rasik Tragedy: 11 June, 1989

Rasik Hansda

Rasik

Hansda played an important role in the Jharkhand Movement at coalfield area. He was born in Kenduatanr village, near Tundi Police station. He reached Godhar in search of a livelihood and worked as a Mining Chief at Bhartiya Coking Coal Ltd. (BCCL). He was active in the JMM and BCKU. Gradually, he made his co-workers understand that it is for the good of all that a separate Jharkhand State be formed. He lived at the Ravani Slum at Godhar and he united the people who lived there. He started taking up the problems of the neighbouring people. He felt that many problems could be solved by the BCCL, but they didn’t do it. He voiced his concerns against the BCCL management, even though he worked there. He took active part in protests. The BCCL management did not want Rasik to take part in the Union actions in such a big way. Meanwhile, the problem of land acquisitions was going on in Kusunda. A regional office was being built there besides the Colliery. The BCCL management was forcefully acquiring lands from the villagers. Rasik united the villagers in this matter, because of which they stood strongly against the management. It was decided that on 11 June, 1989, they would stand against the BCCL management and surround the regional office. The siege did happen. Thousands of people gathered there. The management was cautious from the beginning. The security personnel of BCCL and the Police suddenly started a lathi charge. Before the agitators could take control, the Police started firing. Rasik Hansda was shot and he died on the spot. This was how the Police put Rasik Hansda, who fought against displacement and for the basic rights of the workers, and sleep forever. Every year, a fair is held in his memory. q

Fired on Blockading the Police Station Bagbera Firing: 30 June, 1990 It was 30 June, 1990. The entire State was celebrating Hul Day in the memory of Sido-Kanhu. (Sido-Kanhu, Chand and Bhairav were four brothers, who fought against the British). There were programs in the city of Jamshedpur, but the city was not peaceful. That same day, in the area of Bagbera, Arvind Pandey was murdered. He was the Block President of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha. His father Vidyanand Pandey was the District Secretary of Congress. That was the reason things got serious after the murder of Arvind Pandey.

Agitators infront of police station just before firring.

Arvind Pandey

It was a common practice to collect funds in the name of the Jharkhand Movement. Arvind Pandey was blamed for forcibly collecting funds. He clashed against some people over the same point. Arvind’s home was in Bagbera. In the morning of 30 June, at 10:30 am, three youth came to his house on a scooter. They called him out. Two of them held Arvind Pandey and the third shot him at close range. When he fell down, the others also shot him. He died on the spot. Arvind was murdered next to the Bagbera Police station. When people started gathering after hearing about the news of the murder, the Police wanted to take his body quickly in a tempo to the hospital. But in the meantime, his relatives and supporters surrounded the Police at the Jugsalai Gate and told them to take the body to the Bagbera Police station. The Police had no other option. They brought Arvind Pandey’s body to the Bagbera police station. The station in-charge was

Premnath. But, he was not there. The body remained there. The crowd kept on growing. Bagbera was that area of Jamshedpur, which after the Jharkhand Movement, was filled with activists. That was the reason that after the murder of Arvind Pandey, there was a fear of the spread of unrest and police station siege from the start.

Constable killed by arrow.

As the crowd at the Bagbera Police station kept increasing, especially those of the activists from Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), the Police became restless. The Superintendent of Police (SP) Ravindra Kumar had gone to Gatshila. ASP Kamal Nayan Choubey was controlling the strike. To escape from any untoward incidents, a few more Policemen were called on duty from the policeline. The Station in-charge, Premnath reached later. The assembled people were demanding his suspension. ASP Choubey was not able to take a decision in the absence of the SP. The crowd’s anger kept on increasing. The situation was getting out of control. ASP Choubey was in talks with Arvind Pandey’s relatives amongst the crowd, but there was no positive response. The crowd started pelting stones at the police station. They also had conventional weapons. Yet, the crowd hesitated to attack the police station, as no senior leader of the JMM had reached there yet. Stephan Marandi was a senior leader of the JMM. He was at Jamshedpur to celebrate Hul Day and was taking part in the parade, opposite the DC Office. Champai Soren was with him. When these leaders came to know about the commotion in the Bagbera area, all the people present at the parade climbed in trucks and reached the Bagbera Police station. By then, there was already a crowd of more than five thousand people. As Stephan Marandi and Champai Soren joined them, it boosted the morale of the JMM

workers. By then, SP Ravindra Kumar had also reached there from Ghatshila. Meanwhile, CRPF was also called in. The situation was very serious. BK Haldar was the Deputy Commissioner. He too reached Bagbera Police station. The crowd was out of control. Nobody was listening to anyone. At the same time, someone threw stones at the Policemen. Before the Police could control the situation, someone from the crowd shot an arrow. That arrow pierced the chest of Constable Samuel Kangari (around 57 years of age). He fell down at the very spot and died. The Police opened tear gas shells. The crowd started raining arrows. One arrow pierced the police station door. The Magistrate Prem Prakash was present at the place of incidence. He ordered tear gas shells and later, aerial firing. But, they did not have any effect on the crowd. The Police was ordered to shoot at sight. They fired nine rounds in which three people, including an elderly person, were killed. After this incidence, the situation at Jamshedpur took a turn for the worse. Lalu Prasad was the Chief Minister then. He reached Jamshedpur the next day. JMM leader Shibu Soren also reached Jamshedpur. The Chief Minister talked with him, after which, a judicial enquiry was ordered. The kin of the dead constable were offered 1 lakh rupees and his wife was given lifelong pension. Under the pressure from JMM, the Chief Minister also declared 1 lakh rupees each for the two people who were killed in the Police firing. This Police firing could have been avoided if the administration was cautious. The people became more agitated because Arvind Pandey’s murder happened exactly opposite the police station. The JMM workers felt that the Police were involved in murdering Arvind Pandey. That is the reason they spoke about the suspension of the Officer in-charge. All the senior Police officers were present there, but nobody took a decision. This resulted in the firing at Bagbera. q

A New Way of Killing Suvarnarekha Fuselage: 30 July, 1990 The panic after the conflict at the Bagbera Police station in Jamshedpur which resulted in Police firing on 30 June, 1990, did not decrease even after two months. Before the Police firing against the murder of Arvind Pandey, the JMM workers had killed a constable with an arrow. The Police was not calm after this incident. They wanted to take revenge against the incident of 30 June under all circumstances. They got the chance on the evening of 30 July, 1990. The same day, the Police had caught four workers of the JMM. They beat them till they were half-dead and forced them to jump into River Suvarnarekha at gunpoint. Later, all four bodies were recovered from the Suvarnarekha River.

Before this incident, the Police used to fire at the Jharkhand activists. Questions were raised against the Police after such Police firings. There used to be commotions in the State. That is why the Police had come with a new way to kill. Effort was made that the activists be killed without any blame on the Police. On 30 July, the Police got information that a group of people were gathered near the Shiv temple at Bhuiyandih. Sunil Chaudhary, who was wanted by the Police was in this group. He had a minor accusation of having brawls. The Sidgoda Police had reached there to arrest him. As soon as they saw the Police, they started running. This always happened after a movement. When the Police arrived to arrest anyone, the activists used to run away. The same thing happened here. When the activists started running away, the Police followed them. To escape from the Police, they jumped into the river and died. Nobody believed this story told by the Police. The story from the activists’ perspective was something else. These four people were having a meeting at the Babudih Gwala Basti. The Police reached there. As soon as they saw the Police, the four of them tried to run away. The Police wanted to catch them. Running, they reached Slag dump

and started climbing it. The Police were following them. When the four of them reached the peak of the Slag dump, they did not find any way to run from there. There was no way. By then, the Police reached there. All were beaten badly. When they were wounded, all four of the JMM workers were ordered to jump into the Suvarnarekha River at gunpoint. They were threatened that if they do not jump into the river they would be shot. The Suvarnarekha River flowed next to Slag dump. Fearing the Police, all four jumped into the river. Later, the Police recovered the dead bodies of Sunil Chaudhary, Subhash Mohanti, Paras and Sen from the river. After this incident, the JMM activists got so agitated that they did not allow the Police to lay hands on the bodies for several hours. The roads were blocked to arrest the Officer in-charge and book a case of murder against him. Sudhir Mahto (Younger brother of Nirmal Mahto) led this movement. The same Sudhir Mahto later became the Deputy Chief Minister. At the time of the incidence, the SP of Jamshedpur was Ravindra Kumar and the SDO was Ravi Mittal. After the murder, the activists blocked the road near the Jamshedpur-Agrico Crossing. The roads were blocked with trucks filled with bricks and sand. This upturned the entire area’s traffic system. This entire area was under the Sidgoda Police station. The activists had many rounds of discussions with the administration. The SDO had promised recommendation from the Bihar government for compensation of rupees 1 lakh to each person. But the activists were adamant about taking action against the in-charge of the Sidgoda Police station. The Police kept arguing that the four people died of drowning in the river. The JMM leader Shibu Soren himself went to Jamshedpur and blocked the road opposite TISCO Gate against killing of activists of the Jharkhand Movement. There, he announced during the speech that if the situation did not improve, then the supply of raw materials to TISCO would be stopped. Later, action was taken against the guilty Policemen. It was then that the matter was settled. q

Part—2

External Goons Fire Indiscriminately Tapkara Firing: 2 March, 1946 The Adivashi Mahasabha, under the leadership of Jaipal Singh became a powerful organization right before freedom. The Adivasi Mahasabha was the only party fighting for a separate Jharkhand State. Congress was against a separate Jharkhand State. That is the reason Congress wanted to see Jaipal Singh position weaken under any circumstances. Congress did not want Jaipal Singh and Adivasi Mahasabha to increase in stature. In 1946, when the elections started for the Members of the Constituent Assembly, Adivasi Mahasabha made Jaipal Singh the contender from Khunti. Congress got Purno Chand Mitra to oppose Jainpal Singh. This was an important election, because of which the Congress was fighting with all its strength. It wanted to beat Adivasi Mahasabha anyhow, by beating Jaipal Singh.

Memorial at Tapkara.

Leander Tiru was an influential leader of the Congress. On 2 March, 1946 he reached the Tapkara area for campaigning as a contender for the Congress. He was riding in a truck. There was a force of Congressmen along with him. It was blamed that the Congress brought goons from outside. Seeing Leander Tiru, some tribals from the Adivasi Mahasabha questioned why he (Leander Tiru) came for campaigning. If he wanted to campaign, he should come down from the truck and do so. This led to an argument between Tiru’s workers and Adivasi Mahasabha members. The Congressmen said something objectionable from the truck. The Adivasi Mahasabha members came together and started preparing for retaliation. The Congressmen travelling in the truck felt that it’s not safe to be there anymore and they all ran away. They came to the Khunti market and led their workers astray by saying that they were beaten in the Tapkara. The

agitated Congress workers arranged for arms. They also had sticks and guns. They also got outsiders from Ranchi. These people reached Tapkara at night. They attacked anyone they came across in Tapkara. They were beaten till half-dead. They misbehaved with the women. During the attacks, the tribals were asked whom they would vote for. Those who answered Adivasi Mahasabha were not spared. There was commotion all around. Some people from neighbouring villages were returning after shopping. They were also targeted. The tribals got scared of the sudden attack and ran helter-skelter. Hearing the racket, the villagers of Tapkara, Varda and Caleb thought something untoward is happening. They came out with lanterns, torches, bows and arrows. They started searching for the injured. They found 22 injured, which included women and children. The attackers had also shot indiscriminately. Many people died. They were also blamed for dumping the bodies into trucks and throwing them in the jungles. But the number of bodies recovered after the firing were five. Those dead were–1. Sukhlal Pahan (Udinkel), 2. Johan Sanga (Gondara), 3. Santosh Topno (Diyankel Burutoli), 4. Mansukh Mundu (Murhu), 5. Suraj Naindas Gosai (Gat Disam). Later, the administration sent the bodies for autopsy, and buried them near Khunti bazaar. Five people were accused in this matter. This case took place in the law court of A.P. Mukherjee at Chotanagpur. Due to lack of evidence, all five of the accused were released. Every year on 2 March, the people of Tapkara and the neighbouring villages get together and remember the martyrs. q

The Murders by the Mafia Dharmabandh Tragedy: 14 February, 1972 Ram Bahadur Kurmi and Mangal Dhobi, who fought against exploitation and the mafia, were murdered on 14 February, 1972 at Dharmabandh. Both of them were not originally from Jharkhand, but they fought against the exploitation of the workers there. Ram Bahadur and Mangal Dhobi agitated under the banner of Bihar Colliery Kamgar Union (BCKU).

Ram Bahadur Kurmi

Ram Bahadur Kurmi was only a young man of 18 years. He did not think twice before fighting against the mafia elements. He was born in 1954 at Motihari Balua Birta village in the house of Mahadev Kurmi. He was the fourth amongst five brothers. Ram Bahadur studied only till class VIII. He then got a job in a company at Gorakhpur. He later came to Dharmabandh. He lived in the company quarters. He did his duty from there. When he saw that the workers were being exploited and that nobody was raising their voice, his blood boiled. He decided to protest. He became a member of the BCKU. Then under the red banner and deep frowns, Ram Bahadur gave chase to the mafia elements. When the coal companies became nationalized, Ram Bahadur became a BCCL worker. In spite of that, the terror of the goons did not reduce. One day, the goons of the same company forced everyone to have food in the kitchen. Ram Bahadur, his friend Mangal Dhobi and other co-workers were against it. They were of the opinion that since the coal mines have been nationalized, there was no need to eat in the kitchen. They would either eat at home or at the mess. The company goons felt that they were being challenged. They did not like it. They waited for a chance to get rid of the meddlers from their path. It was 14 February, 1972. Ram Bahadur was brushing his teeth along with his friend Mangal Dhobi outside their quarters. Ram Bahadur was a

bachelor but Mangal Dhobi was married. Mangal Dhobi who was from Champaran (Bihar) was only 22 years old then. He was married to Hosila Devi. His son, Lalit Rajak was only four months old. Mangal worked in the same company. It was morning. The company goons reached the quarters. Ram Bahadur and Mangal Dhobi were together. The goons started firing blindly. Both got shot and died on the spot. Seventeen others also got hurt in this firing. There was commotion in the entire Dharmabandh area after this incident. There was agitation for many days with the red flag. Mangal Dhobi’s wife, Hosila Devi got a job 14-15 years after the murder. Later, when Hosila Devi passed away, her son, Lalit got her job. Ram Bahadur’s younger brother, Lal Bahadur Kurmi too, had a long struggle for the job. Finally, in 1984, BCCL gave him the job. Ex MP A.K. Roy agitated strongly against the management. For a long time, every year on 14 February, Dharmabandh held a Martyr’s Fair. It was later stopped. q

The Murders of Jagdish, Thami and Qadir Miyan Basuria Tragedy: 2 April, 1973 After the nationalization of the coal mines, the mafia and contractors caused a lot of violence in the coalfields. The contractors wanted the workers to dance to their tunes like before. They didn’t want them to fight against exploitation. At places where the workers did revolt, some were even murdered. The contractors aimed those leaders who united the workers against injustice and torture. Jagdish Mandal, Thami Mandal and Qadir Miyan were such leaders. On 2 April, 1973 at Basuria, the contractors and the mafia shot and killed them at coal mine number two. On 31 January, 1973 the coal mines were taken over. The first owner of the colliery was Chanchani. Ramchandra Singh had taken the contract work from him. Contractors and brokers from outside wanted such sturdy people employed at the coal mines, so that they could continue pressurizing. The workers revolted against this and conducted movements. First April, 1973 was a Sunday. ‘Gopi’ film was being shown on screen through a coal mines projector at East Basuria Football Ground. The contractor’s goons planned on killing the leaders then. They also made an effort. But it was too crowded. The criminals didn’t get a chance. It was 2 April, 1973 (Monday). Like every other day, 150-200 workers were giving their attendance at work at coal mine number two of the colliery. Everything was the same. Suddenly, the contractor’s goons started attacking everyone with weapons. The workers tried to confront them, but they could not withstand the firing. Jagdish Mandal, Thami Mandal and Qadir Miyan were shot. They all died on the spot. The firing led to a stampede. Around 20-25 people got injured. But the contractor’s goons escaped after the attack. The contractors were not scared even after committing three murders. They wanted to teach the workers a lesson under any circumstances. That was the reason that after one week, the contractor’s people attacked the coal

mines again. This time, the workers were cautious. Because of their unity, the contractor’s goons could not harm any worker. After the attack on 2 April, the colliery lost its dear leader, Jagdish. He was from Padarmania of Giridih district. He was very much connected with the people. He always stood against injustice. After his death, his wife Shanichari Devi got the job and ran the house. Later, after Shanichari Devi passed away, her son got the job. Thami Mandal was also killed in the firing. Thami and Jagdish were both from the same village. Because of his behaviour, Thami Mandal had a different identity. After his death his wife, Naira Devi got the job. After her death, her son, Om Prakash Mandal got the job.

Memorial at East Basuria.

The third victim in the firing by the contractor’s goons was another leader–Qadir Miyan. He was from Rajdhanvar Lalbazzar of Giridih. He lived at Colony number 1, East Basuria. Qadir Miyan who studied till Class 8 or 9, always raised his voice against violence. After his martyrdom, his wife Ajola Khatun also passed away after a few days. He had two sons– Israel Miyan and Manzur Miyan and two daughters–Shakuna Khatun and Saira Bano. Later, the elder son, Israel Miyan got a job at Godhar on sympathy factor. Every year on 2 April, the Colliery celebrates Martyrs’ Day in memory of these martyrs. The function is conducted at the place of martyrdom at the Bihar Colliery Kamgar Union. q

Martyrdom of Birbal, Birju and Haripad Munidih Tragedy: 23 May, 1975 In the year 1975, the people from the villages of the Colliery were fighting two kinds of battle. Their lands were being taken away. They were being displaced. The villagers were fighting against displacement together. On the other hand, the villagers of the entire area were finding it difficult to live because of the moneylenders’ terrors. Even though the villagers were fighting together on two fronts, their morale was high. It was because by then, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha was formed. Shibu Soren, A.K. Roy and Binod Bihari Mahto had an influence on that region. People were getting advantage of this. They were fighting against exploitation. They believed that if the situation got worse, the leaders would handle it. The moneylenders were powerful and were exploiting from a long time. It was the first time someone had challenged them. They did not want to give up their monopoly easily. So, they tried all possible ways to shut people’s voice.

Birbal Mahto Birju Mahto

Temple

Haripad Mahto

Munidih is near Dhanbad. This area was influenced by the Shivaji Samaj even before the formation of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha. The people being displaced were raising voices against the usurers. There was workers agitation too. This made not only the usurers unhappy, but also the contractors connected to the BCCL, unscrupulous officers and transporters. All of them used to be powerful. Some goons were so assertive that people trembled in fear just hearing their names. Jharkhand Mukti Morcha called a meeting on 23 May, 1975 regarding the establishment of a secondary school in Karitanr. The meeting was in the evening. This meeting was attended by Shaktinath Mahto (Sijua), Ramdhani Mahto (Baliapur), Shankar Mahto (Bagra), Birju Mahto, Birbal Mahto and Haripad Mahto. During the meeting, it was discussed how to reduce and face the terror of the moneylenders. Already, there were changes amongst the workers–villagers by being united in raising their voices against injustice. The moneylenders and overbearing contractors had got a whiff of this meeting. They decided to do something that would break the courage of the agitators. After ending the meeting late night, Birju, Birbal and Haripad were returning to their homes. The antisocial elements lying in ambush on the road from some time took Birbal and Haripad to the Amdil (Lakharkhavari) jungle and murdered them by slitting their throats. They beheaded them. Birju Mahto was taken to the courtyard of the Kali temple at Bardubi. There, he also beheaded. The relatives of the three filed a case of murder against Deepnarayan Singh. He went to jail and later, died. q

CPM’s Reign of Terror Purulia Tragedy During the Jharkhand Movement, incidents of firing occurred not only in Jharkhand but also in Odisha and West Bengal. Activists were murdered. Other than the regions which were included in the demand, in the formation of Jharkhand State, besides the Chota Nagpur-Santhal Pargana, there were some districts from West Bengal, Odisha and Madhya Pradesh too. There was also a demand to include the Purulia district of West Bengal in Jharkhand. This region is adjacent to Jharkhand and had a huge population of tribals and Mahtos. It was also adjacent to Dhanbad, Ranchi and East Singhbhum. After the formation of JMM the movement continued in Bengal too. JMM also had a big rally in Kolkata. It was attended by fifty thousand Jharkhand activists. In the proposed Jharkhand, Purulia was the main region from Bengal. That was the reason for it being the centre of the movement. There were always processions and rallies happening there. Vrihaspati Mahto was the leader of JMM and was always busy uniting the people. In 1977, when Left was governing Bengal for the first time, it saw the reign of terror by the CPM leaders in Purulia. They were not supporting separate State. Anyways, the CPM leaders did not want any other organization or political party active in that region other than CPM. As opposed to it, the JMM was becoming powerful there. There used to be crowds in the assemblies. The tribals were always trying to fight against exploitation. The CPM leaders did not like all this. They did not want JMM to move ahead under any circumstances. In 1977, the CPM supporter killed the influential JMM leader, Vrihaspati Mahto. CPM workers continuously attacked the Jharkhand activists in the Bagda village of Purulia and its neighbouring areas. The Police stood by CPM. The CPM not only murdered Vrihaspati Mahto, but Anand Mahto, Rohini Mahto, Phuleshwar Mahto, Lakhan Mahto and Sonaram Mahto too. The Jharkhand activists of Purulia were disappointed when on 15 November, 2000, Jharkhand became a separate State, because no region of Bengal was included in it. In spite of this, besides Purulia, the way the Jharkhand activists from rest of Bengal strongly agitated and sacrificed, helped a lot in forming the Jharkhand State.

q

The Murder of Shaktinath Mahto Sijua Tragedy: 28 November, 1977 During the Jharkhand Movement, Coalfield area had also been foremost in martyrdom. Many activists from this region were murdered one-by-one. The movement started by Shibu Soren, A.K. Roy and Binod Bihari Mahto against the exploiters and the ‘Dhan Kato’ movement against the moneylenders had an effect in Coalfield area. People stood against exploitation and oppression. This region was under Comrade A.K. Roy and Binod Bihari Mahto. The trio of Shibu Soren, Binod Babu and A.K. Roy gave Jharkhand Movement a new strength. The people from coalfield area decided that they will not bow down to exploiters. There was also a phase of struggle. The usurers and moneylenders did not like it. During the Jharkhand Movement, there was another movement against the exploiters in coalfield area. They felt like that they were being challenged. This made them try to crush movements at many places. Those activists, who did not agree, were murdered.

Shaktinath Mahto

A leader who stood firmly against the exploiters was Shaktinath Mahto. He was shot dead on 28 November, 1977 at Sijua, Dhanbad. He was a very famous leader. He had his own identity in coalfield area. There was a huge commotion in the whole of coalfield area after the murder of Shaktinath Mahto. Coalfield lost the Messiah of workers and Jharkhand, an activist. The effects of the murder of Shaktinath Mahto, who followed the ideals of Binod Babu was seen not only in Dhanbad, but entire Jharkhand. The murder of Shaktinath Mahto which happened 10 years prior to that of Nirmal Mahto, shook the people of Jharkhand.

There are many martyrs of the Jharkhand Movement in the entire state, but the foremost have been Singhbhum, Dhanbad, Hazaribagh and Giridih. There have been instances of firing in other districts too. Nobody’s martyrdom is lesser than the others–be it that of Nirmal Mahto of Jamshedpur, Devendra Majhi of Singhbhum, Sadanand Jha of Gomo, Basant Pathak of Giridih, Rasik Hansda of Godhar (Dhanbad), Nepal Rawani, Sohar Mahto-Mohar Mahto of Hazaribagh, Machhua Gagrai of Chakradharpur or Shaktinath Mahto of Sijua (Dhanbad). They all fought together for a separate Jharkhand State. There was no place for caste or religion in this fight. The indigenous people and the tribals, both made equal sacrifices. The Jharkhand Movement, on one side had tribal leaders like Jaipal Singh Munda, Shibu Soren, N.E. Horo, Bagun Sumbrui, Justin Richard, Stephan Marandi, Devendra Majhi, Champai Soren, Ramdas Soren and Bahadur Oraon who laid down their entire life, and on the other side had non-tribal leaders like Binod Bihari Mahto, Nirmal Mahto, A.K. Roy, Shailendra Mahto, Teklal Mahto, Vidyut Mahto, Mohan Karmakar, Shailendra Bhattacharya, Shiva Mahto, Bhuvaneshwar Mahto, Sudhir Mahto, Dulal Bhuiyan, Sunil Mahto and Shaktinath Mahto who fought for the Movement. Shaktinath Mahto played an important role in the formation of JMM. He was also connected with Shivaji Samaj earlier like Binod Bihari Mahto. Shaktinath was born on 2 August, 1948 at Tetulmuri in the family of Ganesh Mahto and Sadhua Devi. He was the eldest son. He studied at Jogta High School. After his study time, he would work in the farm. Besides studies at school, teachers also came home to teach him. After his primary education, he did his High School studies at Gandhi Memorial School, Sijua. He chose science. He helped his father in the farm. His friends those days were Prem, Siyaram, Banarasi, Santuram, Ashok, Ramvachan and Jeetan Mahto. Shaktinath was a good football player in his time. After high school, he registered his name at ITI, Dhanbad and took Fitter Trade. His path changed at ITI itself. He blew the whistle against the injustice by some students of the institution. He got support from other students too. He led a strike. The local students supported Shaktinath. He finally succeeded in getting rid of the goon-like students. After passing out, he did training in Kumardubi. Then, he got a job as a Fitter in the Munidih Project.

Even though Shaktinath Mahto was working, he was upset by not getting a separate State and the widespread evil in the society. His mind was turning rebellious. He felt the people of Jharkhand were being neglected. They were not being treated equally. Even while having a job, he fought against the social policies. In those days, Binod Bihari Mahto was creating social awareness under the banner of the Shivaji Samaj. This movement was spreading in Dhanbad and the neighbouring places. On 21 January, 1971 the Jogta Station Committee of the Shivaji Samaj was built under the leadership of Binod Bihari Mahto. Shakti Da was elected the leader. After this, his work kept increasing. He started a campaign against child marriage, dowry and alcoholism in the Kurmi Samaj. He went to each village and started committees and united the youth. He opened a night school to educate the people. If truth be told, the work started by Binod Babu was spread by Shakti Da in every village. This movement spread in Belatanr, Kapuria, Parsia, Putki, Dhobni, Chirudih, Munidih, Karitanr, Balihari, Bhagabandh, Loyabad, Kankani, Basjoda, Gaderiya, Bhuli, Dharjori, Rajganj, Pahadpur and Topchanchi. Small disputes were solved in the village itself. People who drank alcohol were physically punished. Child marriage came to an end. The movement started by Binod Babu had its effect in every village. Social evils reduced. Now, his path to enter politics was cleared. Shaktinath Mahto had set his feet firmly. He had made his own identity. Even though Binod Bihari Mahto, Shibu Soren and A.K. Roy together started the JMM, Shaktinath Mahto played a very important role in it. In the area of Colliery, he started a movement against exploitation under the banner of the Bihar Colliery Kamgar Union. Shaktinath Mahto was made the Secretary of the Munidih Project. He started the workers movement. He applied a minimum wages scheme. No one can forget the incident on 23 May, 1975. A meeting was organised at Karitanr. It was evening. Shaktinath Mahto’s murder was planned, but by luck, he stayed back in the village that day. His three friends Birju Mahto, Haripad Mahto and Birbal Mahto were murdered. There was a huge gathering in protest to these murders. Gradually, Shaktinath Mahto’s workzone kept increasing. He was also given the responsibility of Sijua. He fought against women being given night shifts. He was also against women being sent inside the coalmines. The management was not happy with him

about this. The whole Colliery region was troubled by the terrors of the usurers. Shaktinath Mahto started a movement against the usurers. Another incident happened on 2 February, 1975 which proved just how courageous Shaktinath Mahto was. Preparations were happening for the gathering at Tetulmuri. Rameshwar Singh and Ramu Soren were with him. There was a crowd of workers from the Jogta Colliery and Modidih Colliery. A.K. Roy was coming. It was then announced that the meeting was cancelled. In spite of that, Shaktinath Mahto addressed the workers. He then started to return. When they were near the Sendra River, they heard the sound of explosion. Everybody ran there. The village was in a bad condition. It was under attack. The attackers were armed with deadly weapons. Shaktinath Mahto reached the village. Without getting distracted, he called the villagers and told that the dignity of their mothers and sisters are in danger–be prepared. The area between Sijua station and Sendra River became a battlefield. There were attacks from both the sides. The tribals were armed with traditional weapons. They were in support of Shaktinath Mahto. Shakti Da’s brother Kamal was shot. He sent Kamal home. Another tribal was shot. Finally, the attackers had to return. Shaktinath Mahto faced the attackers without fear. After the emergency, many agitators and their leaders including Binod Bihari Mahto were arrested. Shaktinath Mahto too was arrested. After arresting, they were imprisoned in jails at Dhanbad, Bhagalpur and Muzaffarpur. They were in prison for 22 months. Even in jail, Shaktinath Mahto remained firm in his ideals. People of Koyalanchal (Coalfield) remember 28 November, 1977 as a Black Day. Shaktinath Mahto was martyred on this day. When harvesting was going on in the entire village, at 10:10 am, Shaktinath Mahto was murdered by bombing and firing. Jaleshwar Mahto gave the news to the family. People cried. A Messiah who fought for the rights of the workers and a separate Jharkhand State had passed away. There are numerous educational institutions running in his memory. Every year on 28 November, a fair is held at the place of martyrdom in Shijua. People from all over Koyalanchal come there and remember their hero Shaktinath Mahto who was a Jharkhand activist and a fighter against exploitation. q

Surendra Mahto Dies a Martyr During an Attack at the Union Attack at Chasnala: 28 January, 1978 Surendra Mahto who besides fighting for a separate Jharkhand State, also fought for the farmers and displaced people was murdered on 28 January, 1978. The leaders of the Union and Congress were unhappy with his increasing popularity and they decided to show their strength. During this display, the Union and Congress workers went near his colony and defied him. As soon as Surendra Mahto came out to retaliate, they fired at him blindly. This caused his death.

Surendra Mahto was born on 12 June, 1955 at Chasnala Mahto Colony in the house of Popu Mahto. Due to financial problems in the family, Surendra could not study more. He was forced to stop his education after Class Four. He was the eldest of three brothers and two sisters. He had a farmland near H.K. Quarry. He did farming there. In 1973, he got a job at Chasnala Washery. While working, he realized how the workers were being exploited. He then joined Bihar Colliery Kamgar Union under the leadership of Binod Bihari Mahto, A.K. Roy and S.K. Bakshi. He struggled for the rights of the displaced and fought against exploitation and oppression under the BCKU banner. He also took part in the Jharkhand Movement. He actively participated on the foundation day of JMM. He was also a good football and kabaddi player. He conducted a huge movement in 1977 for the rights of farmers and the displaced. The movement had an effect on the IISCO establishment. There was an immediate bilateral talk and the establishment made a big plan for the Chasnala and Kandra colonies. After this success, Surendra Mahto rose as a big leader in the colony and neighbouring areas. Whenever there was a

meeting, he got the help of Binod Bihari Mahto and A.K. Roy and they would come. The Union leaders were unhappy with Surendra Mahto’s activities and popularity. The villagers were kept under control by being oppressed and exploited in many ways. Wherever he heard about oppression and exploitation, he reached there. He could never bear exploitation and torture. This increased his respect in the village. The Union and Congress leaders could not digest this. They decided to challenge Surendra Mahto anyhow by showing their strength. On 28 January, 1978 the JMM and Congress workers displayed their strength. Thus, a procession started from Chasnala under the leadership of Omkar Singh and Tapeshwar Singh. Armed with weapons the procession passed GM office and Chasnala turning and reached H.K. Quarry. Chasnala Mahto Colony was quiet close from there. The Union workers defied the villagers by abusing them. As soon as Surendra Mahto got the news that armed Union and Congress workers were defying the villagers, he came out of the colony with the villagers. They were walking towards the procession when the firing started. Surendra Mahto and other villagers controlled the procession with bows and arrows, but the Union people outnumbered them. Five people including Surendra Mahto, Tikar Mahto, Basudev Mahto, Shatrughan Mahto and Madan Mahto were injured in the firing. Surendra Mahto died on the way to the hospital at 02:22 pm. After his martyrdom, Surendra Mahto’s wife, Bela Devi got a job at Chasnala Washery. His wife died in 1987. Then, his younger son, Dhiren Mahto got the job on sympathy grounds. The elder son, Lakhan Mahto and another son, Mahavir Mahto got jobs in return for land. His son, Ranjit Mahto was a contractor. Every year on 28 January, Martyr’s Day is celebrated in memory of Surendra Mahto at the Chasnala Colony Ground. q

Killings of Tilakdhari, Jaipal and Sriprasad Chandankiyari Murders: 17 January, 1982 Sriprasad Mahto, Tilakdhari Mahto and Jaipal Mahto of Siyaljori village became martyrs fighting against the practice of moneylending (Mahajani Pratha). They were cheated and killed on 17 January, 1982, when they were getting ready to douse a fire. Tilakdhari Mahto and Sriprasad Mahto were brothers. Moneylending practice was in full swing in Chandankiyari. Usurers had the innocent villagers in their clutches. Those villagers, who came to them for loans because of hunger and poverty, would be caught in their web forever. Once, they got caught in the trap they were not able to get out of it, even if they wanted to. In spite of paying many folds the interest of the principal amount, neither of them would reduce. Sriprasad Mahto, Tilakdhari Mahto and Jaipal Mahto decided that they would free the villagers from the claws of the usurers. They started cautioning the villagers. The usurers got nervous and waited for a chance. The brothers Tilakdhari Mahto and Sriprasad Mahto, both had the habit of standing up together when anyone needed them. The criminals had taken advantage of it. On the other side of Ijri River, near Siyaljori, was the village Bangadiya. Some people there worked as usurers. They forced people who were not able to pay back. They were troubled day and night. People were affected by their terror and atrocities. Tilakdhari Mahto, Sriprasad Mahto and Jaipal Mahto of the same village could not bear to see all this. They were all of 30-32 years of age. When they opened a front against the moneylenders, the villagers supported them. They all united. The usurers who made huge amount of money after trapping the villagers in their spider web found all this unbearable. That is why they had enmity against the three of them. The moneylenders decided that they would make the three of them pay. According to their plan, they set a straw house on fire at Siyaljori. The villagers used to sit at this house for a watch out at night. As soon as they

got the news, the villagers set out to put out the fire. Tilakdhari, Sriprasad and Jaipal were also there. This was the best chance for the moneylenders to attack. They knew that the villagers’ attention would be in extinguishing the fire. While the villagers were busy at it, the moneylenders suddenly attacked them in the dark of the night. The three of them were the targets. Sriprasad and Tilakdhari were attacked with an axe and beheaded. Jaipal who fell on the bund of the field, was not spared either and he was cut up too. The elder brother of Tilakdhari and Sriprasad, Boku Mahto remembers the incident and tells how the moneylenders destroyed his family. Four people were arrested and sent to jail on accusation of murder, but they were all released in 2005. Sriprasad did not have any son, he has two daughters. Both are married. The sons of Tilakdhari and Jaipal are working in the railways. Statues of none of the three martyrs have been erected yet. q

Radical Movement by the Workers Firing at Jhinkpani: 7 October, 1983 The Police opened fire at the agitated workers in Jhinkpani on 7 October, 1983. Even though this Police firing cannot be directly linked to the Jharkhand Movement, it had an effect on the movement. The workers were also involved in the Jharkhand Movement which had spread quickly all over the region. Some workers even became explicit. When the workers of the ACC Cement Factory at Jhinkpani realized that their salary is being cut and they are being paid less, they got agitated. The matter got so serious that the workers beat one of their own Union leaders to death. After that, the agitated crowd started firing which caused the death of a security guard. The Police opened fire to disperse the crowd, which led to the death of one worker. This happened on 7 October, 1983. Thus, three people were killed that day. Jhinkpani is situated 20 km away from Chaibasa. The ACC Cement Company is around 4 km away from the road. Like a small industrial town. Those days around 2500 people worked there. The workers were payed on the 7th of every month. Their salary sheet used to come from Mumbai. It reached one day before the incident, i.e. on 6th October fear. It had many errors. Because of shortage of time, the faults could not be corrected. When the salary was being given the workers felt that each of them was getting around 200 rupees less. They opposed it. They were in the mood for an agitation. They reached the General Office of the Company. Some leaders had gone to Mumbai a few days earlier, to discuss about wages. The workers felt that the leaders had conspired with the management and reduced their wages. To get rid of the workers’ resentment, the management announced that each worker would be paid 250 rupees more for the time being. Later, the salary sheet would be rectified from the Head Office. On 7 October, 1983, the Union leaders reached the office at 8 in the morning. They met the Personal Manager, R.S. Prasad and complained about the mistakes in the salary sheets. Meanwhile, a large number of workers gathered near the Times Office. They were made to understand that due to some reason, there are some mistakes in the slips. They are being rectified. But the workers

were not ready to agree. They felt that the Union leaders had conspired with the management and were muddling things. Meanwhile, the workers saw R.S. Prasad and caught hold of him and started dragging him. The Joint Treasurer of the Union, Badrudin was also there. He saved the Personal Manager R.S. Prasad from the crowd of workers. Prasad escaped, but the workers anger centered on the Union leader Badrudin. They attacked him. They beat him up and took him to the gate of the General Office. They left him unconscious there. Badrudin was later taken to the ACC Hospital, where he was declared dead. He could have been rescued if the ambulance driver was there. They also tried to take him to the hospital in a private jeep but the workers had surrounded the jeep. When the Jhinkpani Police got the news, they reached there. The DSP also reached from Chaibasa. The Police Officers tried talking to the workers but they did not agree. Somehow, the crowd was dissipated. After the lunch break, at around 2 pm, more than 500 people gathered again. The workers were angry. They were angrier at the Union leaders. They were on the lookout for the leaders. They got the news that they were hiding in the General Office. The workers demanded that they be brought before them under any condition. Lalit Kumar Sinku was the General Secretary of the Workers Union then. The Police knew that if any Union leader was brought out or if the workers were permitted to go in, none of the leaders would be left alive. Some workers forcefully broke the Police barricade and tried to enter inside. While they were being stopped, someone even hit the DSP with a baton, which caused him to fall. The crowd started to throw stones at the Police jeep and the office. There were security personnel too. Somebody from the crowd opened fire, which hit a security guard Sarvanand Yadav. He was behind a cement grill. After he fell down, he was stoned. After some time, he died. The agitated workers murdered the Union leader, Badrudin in the morning. Then in the afternoon, they shot and killed security personnel. The Police lost their temper. They started firing. A person named Kurpa Hansda was shot. He died on the spot. The crowd took the body and ran away from there. The Police could not find the courage to take the body forcefully from the crowd. Later Kurpa’s body was found in the hospital. The region was under tension for many days. q

Lal Singh Munda’s Struggle Murder at Bandgaon: 1 November, 1984 Tokad is situated near the border of West Singhbhum and Ranchi. Lal Singh’s Memorial is at this place. Lal Singh, the leader of the 1978 Forest Movement, was murdered on 1 November, 1984 at Bazartanr (Bandgaon, Singhbhum District). He fought against the construction on Sasandiri ground on the evidence that it was the burial ground of their ancestors. Lal Singh Munda’s murder, a day after the murder of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, shook the entire Bandgaon region.

Lal Singh Munda

Lal Singh Munda was very famous in and around Bandgaon. I thought of meeting Lal Singh Munda’s family. I reached Tinda, which was Lal Singh’s paternal village. It was 3-4 km away from the place of martyrdom. He was born in this village on 28 May, 1946. There, I met his wife Josephine Barla and their son. I wanted to know about the past from them. Josephine is an educated woman. She had passed metric, from Ursuline Convent at Ranchi. She started telling about how her happy family was destroyed. Lal Singh Munda worked earlier at Jamshedpur. Then, he fell sick. They had no choice but to return to Bandgaon. After his death, she brought up the family through difficult times. Lal Singh lived with his wife Josephine in village Tinda. He was an educated youth. He passed his Matric from St Michael Middle School, Bandgaon. He then completed his Inter and B.A. from St Xavier College (1972 or 1973), Ranchi. To get admission at St Xavier College meant that he got good marks in the Matric exam. Lal Singh Munda got married to Josephine Barla in 1973. Earlier, Lal Singh was inclined towards studies and work. He didn’t think much about the Jharkhand Movement. He was handling the family

responsibilities. Accordingly, after a few days after marriage, Lal Singh Munda and Josephine left for Jamshedpur. He got a temporary job as a teacher. The entire family was happy and life was good. Munda family lived for around two years in Jamshedpur. He also changed schools inbetween. Everything was going smoothly, but later, Lal Singh suffered from TB. It was serious. They started having financial problems. But during this time, Father Xavier Reddy treated him at Mercy Hospital. Father Xavier told to stay back at Jamshedpur to continue the treatment, but troubled with the illness, Lal Singh’s family went back to Tinda (near Bandgaon). Lal Singh Munda was unhappy with the atrocities over the tribals from the beginning. After studying at Xavier College, Ranchi, he became more aware and wanted to do something for the tribal society. He got this chance after returning from Jamshedpur. He was not only very sharp, he also wanted to do something. Those days Jharkhand Party, lead by N.E. Horo, was strong in that belt. The Jharkhand workers were searching for a smart leader for that region. Mora Munda and John Hapatgara were both leaders of the Jharkhand Movement. They both used to meet Lal Singh at his home often. That region was under these leaders’ control. They both believed that Lal Singh Munda would be able to strengthen the Movement in this area. They made Lal Singh understand and finally made him agree to join the Party. In the beginning, Lal Singh’s wife Josephine was against this decision. She had said–‘Only you are there in the house, if you become the leader, who will run the house, who will look after it?’ Lal Singh did not listen. He said clearly–‘See the future, not the present. One day Jharkhand will surely become a State and then, all will be benefitted.’ Meanwhile, the Forest Movement started. Lal Singh was against all those who exploited the people of Jharkhand. It included government officials. The meetings used to take place at Chirkubera. That was the centre for the agitators. As the Forest Movement gained momentum, the cruelties by the Police also increased. Meanwhile on 8 September, 1980 there was a incident of firing at Gua. The Police were arresting each and every worker. They raided many times to arrest Lal Singh. He escaped from taking the notices, because he felt that after his arrest, the people of the region would become, lose direction and move away from their goal. Meanwhile, one day the Police attacked his house. They took all his belongings. The family had

to leave home. In this situation, the village Head (Patras Munda) gave the family shelter. One day, the Police raided at 2 am and arrested him. He was incarcerated at Chaibasa jail. He went on a hunger strike for 84 hours against the maladministration of the prison along with Machhua Gagrai, Gurucharan Hansda, Bahadur Oraon, Mora Munda, Bhuvneshwar Mahto, Sukhdeo Hembram, Lalit Hembram, Lakhan Bodra and Sula Purti. Lal Singh Munda’s and Machhua Gagrai’s health became worse during this hunger strike. After that, Lal Singh Munda and Gurucharan Hansda were sent to Baksar and Gaya jails. Since there was no place there, they were kept at Hazaribagh jail. Finally, they were again brought to Chaibasa jail and kept in a cell. Later, they were released.

Lal Singh Munda’s son and wife.

Lal Singh Munda along with Machhua Gagrai opposed the notification of the forest officials regarding the Khuntkatti land of the tribals in the Songra forest area DPF (Kuljori cell number 14-15, Area 555 acres Banjikusum and Nakti Ranja Area cell number 16). According to the notification, the tribals who have been living there from years were to be evicted from the Khuntkatti land. The Forest Movement was started from Nakti Haat Ground on 15 August, 1978 (Tuesday). Lal Singh Munda fought hard for water, land, forest and a separate Jharkhand State. Since ancient times, the far-off jungles Kolhan and Porahat of Jharkhand had the practice of Khuntkatti, the tribals built their houses on the Khuntkatti land itself and lived there, practicing farming. The dead were buried in their own courtyard or garden, which was called sasandiri. But in 1927, the British government made a forest law and notified the Khuntkatti land as preserved forest. Here, in Bazartanr, plans were being made of making a temple on the sasandiri land, which was opposed by Lal Singh Munda. He said that under no circumstances would they allow a temple to be built over a sasandiri

land. He got many threats and was told to get out of the way. Some officers were also against him. Once, a BDO Dawood Wood killed an antelope. The matter was serious. There was the danger of being arrested. BDO told Lal Singh Munda that he should sensibly close the case, because he had connections with the forest officials. Lal Singh helped the BDO, but later, the same BDO went against him. Meanwhile, crimes increased in Bandgaon region. People on the way to Bandgaon after work from Haryana and Punjab were looted off their wages. Some goons had also tried to assault the village girls. Lal Singh opposed this, but those people were influential. Lal Singh also raised his voice against the rigging happening at the Police station and the block. One at a time, all the officers and goons went against him. Lal Singh Munda had an argument with the village goons one day before he was killed. They had also tried to kill him that very night. Some people had reached Tokad around 11 pm and asked the whereabouts of Lal Singh’s house. They went till the Peepal tree near the village. Nobody guessed that they had come there with the plan to kill Lal Singh.

Memorial of Lal Singh Munda.

At 6 in the morning on the day of the murder, i.e. 1 November, 1984, Lal Singh Munda left home on his cycle, to meet his ailing grandmother. He had to collect some money too. He had plans of going to Jamshedpur after returning. But he could not return. That day he met the Father and Sister at Bandgaon, and then went to Lumbai to his elder sister’s home. He cried as soon as he reached there. Maybe he felt that his death was near and this would be the last time he met his sister in this lifetime. When he started to return, the murderers were waiting on the road. Indira Gandhi was murdered the previous day, because of which there were no vehicles on the road. There was only one constable at the Police station. The killers stopped Lal Singh, grabbed his cycle and stabbed him at eight places on his body. This was at 8:30 am. They also tried to hide the body. The killers ran into the jungle. A villager named Nandu breathlessly gave

his wife the news. Josephine was pregnant then. She went to the place of incident immediately, even though people prevented her from going in that condition. Lal Singh Munda’s close friends–Radhe Sumbrai, Devendra Majhi, Mora Munda, Bahadur Oraon, Bhuvneshwar Mahto and Sola Purti reached there. Then, the final rites were conducted. This way, an agitator from Bandgaon, who fought for a separate State was martyred. q

The Murder of Nirmal Mahto Jamshedpur: 8 August, 1987 The biggest murder of a revolutionary in the history of Jharkhand Movement will always be that of Nirmal Mahto. He was the central President of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, the biggest group advocating for a separate Jharkhand state. His murder had sent tremors throughout the nation. When he was murdered in Jamshedpur on 8 August, 1987, the movement hadn’t seen much pace. It was no different from any other normal movement, with rallies, summits, blockades etc. There was nothing specific in the movement that attracted national attention as such. But post death of Nirmal Mahto, the movement started getting its due recognition. Extreme violence followed this murder. All Jharkhand Student Union (AJSU) members displayed immense aggression. In reaction to murder of Nirmal Mahto, five people were killed in Jamshedpur by supporters. The entire nation could sense the sudden change in the pace of the movement.

Nirmal Mahto

Nirmal Mahto (fondly called Nirmal Da or Dada) was born on 25 December, 1950, in Kadma in Jamshedpur. Amidst 8 brothers and a sister, he was the third child. Since childhood, he craved to be something different. He did his schooling in Tata Workers Union High School and joined Cooperative College for his undergradute. He showed leadership qualities from school days. He had no interest in Bidi, Cigarette or alcohol and maintained abstinence. He was more interested in polishing his organizational skills. Thus, his free time was spent in villages.

Last Journey to Nirmal Mahto.

Nirmal Mahto’s body before cremation.

He was aware of his responsibilities from his childhood and he always fulfilled them. He adored his brothers immensely and took care of them. He bathed them and lent a helping hand in affairs of home. He even fed his brothers with his hands occasionally. He was particularly fond of young Sushil. Once, Sushil injured his leg and it swelled up. It was March 3–Tata Founders Day. Entire Jamshedpur was decorated. Sushil also wanted to go to the town to witness this. No transport facility was available. On learning this, Nirmal Da took him on his back and roamed around Sonari, Jubilee Park, Sakchi, Bishtupur etc. This was intensity of his commitment. Nirmal Mahto always had an aim. He had firmly decided to fight against exploiters and advocate a separate Jharkhand. He felt he could do all this only if he does not get married as he felt that marriage imposes commitments and responsibilities and then, he will not be able to find time for the movement. Being a true patriot, his motherland was more important to him. Hence, he remained a bachelor. Whenever his mother tried to coerce him into marriage, he would fall silent. Finally, she gave up and started marrying off the younger ones. He always raised voice against injustice and exploitation. He had created a group of his own. On hearing any incidence of exploitation, they’d immediately reach at the spot. Sometimes he would hit the exploiters. Hockey sticks had become their preliminary weapon. In those days, people lived in terror of moneylenders. They taxed harijans on street and forcefully took their monthly salaries. Nirmal Mahto had decided that he will not allow for the exploitation of the vulnerable. He started searching

moneylenders one by one and began assaulting them. This made him extremely popular. Asthik Mahto, Babulal Soy, Akhileswar Mahto and Nirmal Bhattacharya were the closest to him. Nirmal Mahto believed that Jharkhand will not make progress unless the menace of alcohol was removed. He himself being a teetotaller, fought against this malice along with Shibu Soren. He believed that there could be no effective progress with Jharkhand as long as people wasted their money on alcohol. Once, he had started a movement to close a distillery situated near Sonari River. This way distillery was destroyed, people were beaten up so that they would stop drinking. This act had massive impact on people. Exploiters had seized almost 500 acres of land in 4 villages of Kheonjhar. The villagers were deeply troubled. They knew about Nirmal Mahto. He was called for aid. He made it clear to the SDO that if they were not going to play fair and return their lands to the villagers, then the next time it will be given back to them by force. Though he returned that time, he did not forget the incident. A few months later he went back there, unfurled the JMM flag and ensured the land was returned to its rightful owners. Though murder of Nirmal Mahto happened on 8 August, 1987, the conspiracy for the same had been happening from 13 January, 1975. He had got himself in an endangering situation and was left hurt with serious injuries. His back revealed fatal wounds made with sword. This incident happened in Shastrinagar in Jamshedpur. Nirmal Mahto from the beginning had advocated for a separate Jharkhand. Hence, he was a very active member of Jharkhand Party at that time. During those times, JMM had not made its presence in Singhbhum. N.E. Horo’s Jharkhand Party had a greater impact here. Nirmal Mahto took care of the administration of Jharkhand Party and fought for the marginalized sections.

After Gua firing on 8 September, 1980, Shailendra Mahto was spending his days in hideout. There was restriction on using bows and arrows. Shibu Soren was about to call a public meeting. Campaigning was his

responsibility. Shailendra Mahto reached Jamshedpur from Chakradharpur via train. His mind was preoccupied with Nirmal Mahto. He took Baldev Singh along with him and they reached Nirmal Mahto’s house. Nirmal Mahto was not there at that time. Upon returning, Shailendra Mahto introduced himself and both of them spoke for hours. At that time, Nirmal Mahto hadn’t had much interaction with JMM. Still, he helped Shailendra Mahto. Shailendra Mahto stayed at Nirmal Mahto’s house. Handouts and pamphlets which were issued near a press in Sonari, were distributed throughout the nation. Both of them shared a familial bond which stayed till the end. On 28 October, 1980 there was a grand rally of JMM at S.P.G. Mission High School grounds at Chaibasa. Around 25-30 thousand people participated and there wasn’t much of a chaos. Nirmal Mahto was also present there, and it was there that he and Shibu Soren met for the first time. After the Chaibasa rally and his meeting with Shibu Soren, Nirmal Mahto had mentally become a part of JMM. Meanwhile, there was a strike at a company in Gamharia. Shailendra Mahto asked Nirmal Mahto to handle the situation on behalf of JMM. After this incident, Nirmal Mahto officially became a part of JMM. Nirmal Mahto suddenly became popular in 1982. On 21 October, 1982 in Tiruldih firing, two students–Ajit Mahto and Dhananjay Mahto, were killed. The Police became extremely violent during this period that nobody dared to go with their bodies to their villages. Nirmal Mahto and his friend Akhileswar Mahto were in Adityapur at this time. He got the information that corpses of students who died in the Police firing, were at MGM hospital. Nirmal Mahto made financial arrangements. He also arranged a truck with the help of Hardevji Yadav. And then he left for MGM hospital along with Aasthik Mahto, Mohan Karamkar, Babulal Mahto. They took the body. Police tried to arrest them at Pardih. They somehow reached Jayda but a very few of the villagers came due to fear of Police. Finally, they were cremated. Nirmal Mahto himself conducted their last rites. After this, Nirmal Mahto became one of the most popular leaders of JMM. At this time, the helm of affairs at JMM was under the Presidentship of Binod Bihari Mahto. Shibu Soren was General Secretary. In 1984, JMM had split up. Binod Bihari Mahto became President of Bihar Mukti Morcha as well. This led to various tiffs between him and Shibu Soren. On 6 April,

1984, a meeting of JMM was conducted near Bokaro Steel Plant in Balidih. Binod Bihari Mahto was given a memo and on not getting a reply, he was officially removed from the party posts. Nirmal Mahto came in his place. He was nominated President of JMM. Shibu Soren knew that the place of Binod Bihari Mahto could be filled only by Nirmal Mahto. In Ranchi Conference, Nirmal Mahto was again chosen as the President. Now organizational responsibilities of JMM came on Nirmal Mahto’s shoulders. He knew he had to take the party forward and he had deep knowledge in administration. He convinced Shibu Soren to form a student wing AJSU on the lines of All Assam Students Union. This suggestion was accepted by all top leaders of JMM and AJSU was formed on 22 June, 1986. Prabhakar Tirkey and Suraj Singh Besari became the president and the general secretary respectively. Shibu Soren and Nirmal Mahto had deep bond and intense respect for each other. Though their acquaintance was only of 7 years, they took JMM to its helm during these 7 years. Nirmal Mahto was not bothered about Political Power play and positions. There was a vacancy in Legislative Council in Bihar and Shibu Soren wanted Nirmal Mahto to be the MLC. Shibu Soren himself filled up nomination papers for him and Nirmal Mahto signed it. At the end, Nirmal Mahto asked Shibu Soren to give this position to someone else. He said some tribal leader from Ranchi will be a better choice. He had received information that some people did not want him to be the MLC. Hence, he nominated the name of Halen Kujur. He did this to avoid political split up of the Party. On 8 August, 1987, there was post crematory program of Avtar Singh Tari’s mother in Jamshedpur. Nirmal Mahto, Gyanranjan, Babulal Soy and Suraj Mandal had come to Jamshedpur to take part in this. They came on 7th. Their stay had been arranged in Chamaria guest house of TISCO. Two rooms were booked under names of Suraj Mandal and Gyanranjan. Nirmal Mahto stayed with Suraj Mandal and their discussions carried on throughout the night. On 8 August, 1987, all of them were involved in discussions at the footsteps of the guest house. They had to go to Avatar Singh Tari’s house. They did not have the slightest knowledge that there were people scrutinizing their moves. As soon as Nirmal Mahto got down the stairs, he was shot by Dhirendra Singh Pappu and Narendra Singh Pandit. Birendra

Singh also shot him from behind. The attackers had reached the guest house few hours before by a car numbered DDA 2544. Nirmal Mahto fell on the ground. Suraj Mandal was also injured. Both of them were taken to TMH by a Jeep numbered BPX 281. Nirmal Mahto was immediately declared dead. The news of Nirmal Da’s murder spread like wildfire. Police filed an FIR against the three attackers. But they had escaped by then. Birendra Singh was a Congress leader who had a tiff with Nirmal Mahto earlier. After the murder, JMM and AJSU activists came out on the streets. A strike was declared in Jharkhand for three days by AJSU. By then, Shibu Soren reached Jamshedpur. Lakhs of people took part in the procession. He was buried in Uliyan and a memorial was built in his memory. Central Government was disturbed because Nirmal Mahto was the Central President of JMM (the leader of the most powerful party). Bihar Government (Bihar hadn’t been divided and Jharkhand hadn’t been formed until then) ordered for enquiry by CBI. CBI took this case on 10 November, 1987. Police declared a bounty of 5000 rupees on Birendra Singh. Later, he surrendered. After 13 years (on 1 March, 2001), he was sentenced to lifelong imprisonment. But in 2003, on his journey from jail to hospital, he breathed his last on 15 February. Pandit and Pappu, the other main accused in murder of Nirmal Mahto also got life imprisonment, after 18 years, on 14 July, 2003. On every birthday of Nirmal Mahto (25 December) and on Martyr’s Day (8 August) Uliyan (Kadma) of Jamshedpur conducts a memorial service. Thousands flock every year to remember their leader. Nirmal Mahto did not live long to see Jharkhand, but the truth was the pace that JMM and AJSU picked up after his death paved the way for Jharkhand State. q

Machhua Gagrai’s Martyrdom The Movement against Market Tax: 11 December, 1989 Nakti is a beautiful village situated right below the Bandgaon valley, on the Chaibasa-Ranchi Route. This had been the place where the active and combative leader of the Jungle Movement, Machhua Gagrai was killed on 11 December, 1989. The ancestral village of Gagrai had been Tenda which is hardly 6-7 km from Nakti. Machhua had always been as the topic for discussion whenever the Jungle Movement was discussed. Hence, I wanted to know more about Machhua.

Machhua Gagrai

I reached Nakti with Bahadur Oraon and my friend Sheen Anwar. I also went to the place where Machhua had been killed. I, then, went ahead to know more about Machhua’s wife and children. I had to go to village Tenda to meet them. I got the opportunity of interacting with Machhua Gagrai’s wife, Randai Gagrai, daughter Joma and son Sikander. Joma was a student of the Madhusudanpur High School, Chakradharpur at the time of my visit. She used to stay in the hostel. Though she faced financial crunch, she never used to let people know about her problems. During the course of interaction, I got to know that Randai Gagrai used to respect Bahadur Babu as her guardian. Bahadur Babu and the Secretary of the hostel, Shyam Sunder Mahto bore the cost of Joma’s education. Joma used to miss her father. She said that she didn’t even remember her father’s face. But she knew from her mother that her father wanted them to be teachers. She further said that she would definitely become a teacher and fulfil the dreams of her father. Son, Sikander was hardly 10 months old when his father was killed. Still he says that he would also try to become a teacher.

Randai Gagrai recollected the old days and told how the family was griefstricken after Machhua Gagrai was murdered. She did not get the support from her family members and relatives. She was worried about her children. But Randai started tilling and farming on the small patch of land that Machhua had in his name. She also worked in Aanganbadi for some time and tried to meet the demands of the family. Machhua’s tombstone had been near the house itself. Randai was cleaning the area while talking to us.

Machhua’s family.

Machhua was not very educated but his views about Jharkhand were very clear. He had dropped out after the 9th-10th standard in school. He belonged to a very poor family. He tried to get employment but could not, due to less education. He finally worked under a contractor who used to exploit him too much. He observed that the contractor made the people under him suffer for money. He also used to make them work for long hours for very less money. Machhua would feel hurt on seeing the injustice being met to the other workers. One day, Machhua could not control his anger and hit the contractor and left the job. Machhua had a fire in him. The fire encouraged him to go against injustice. He was obsessed to fight for his friends. He was always looking for opportunities to show his anger against injustice. He got the opportunity on 15 August, 1978, the Jharkhand Party leader, N.E. Horo announced for activities needed for the demand for a separate state, Jharkhand. The same day, Machhua Gagrai made up his mind that he would not allow the taxes to be levied in the market. The contract for the collection of taxes was given to contractors. Machhua decided to go against the taxes. He thought that if the Government was not allowing any facility in the weekly market, then it does not have any right to collect the taxes as well. He got immense support from the villagers and the traders when he raised his voice against the levy of taxes. Machhua did not sit back silently after rebelling against the taxation. He increased his range of activities. It got closer to other leaders like

Shailendra Mahto and Devendra Majhi during the Jungle Movement. He had a unique nature of roaming and travelling a lot. He was married to Randai from Bedaduia, in Goilkera. He never used to inform even his wife about his destination and as to when he should be expected back. Randai had also been involved in the movements and had known Machhua before they got married. Randai’s house was in Bedaduia in Goilkera. There was no difference to the way of living of Machhua after his marriage. He used to go out of the house for days at a time. He used to travel to villages for 15 days at a stretch. He used to return as per his wishes. His wife, Randai never opposed to his way of living. He was never aware if the household needed any provisions or not. He was also not aware that many times his family members did not have food to eat as well. Randai had got used to his ways and did not ask him much about his whereabouts. She knew that he would be working for the Jharkhand state itself.

Memorial of Machhua

The brunt of the casual nature of Machhua was borne by his family members. There were many occasions when the family did not have any food to feed on, but no one complained. Randai wished that Machhua could be successful in whatever he was doing. She sincerely wished for the separate Jharkhand state. She knew that these difficulties would be resolved once a separate state was formed. Whenever Machhua returned home, he used to share his dream of making his son a teacher. During the movement days, Machhua used to live in the forest. The Police used to pay routine visits to Machhua’s house in search of Machhua. The Police used to disturb them and take away their utensils and other belongings as well. The family was in tough times. There was no food and no utensil to cook. The relatives came in support and got them some provisions. Machhua Gagrai had not returned to his house many days before his death. Wife, Randai was also not very baffled by this as this was not the first time that Machhua had done such a thing. He used to go out for days together. Randai knew that Machhua would be in hiding and would

definitely come back the moment he would be free. The Police came to Randai’s place on Monday night accompanied with Machhua’s friend, Maan Singh Gagrai and Munda of village Sakari Munda. They informed Randai that Machhua had been killed the same evening at about 5 pm in Nakti. The entire family was in stress. The body of Machhua was brought to the village with the help of the friends. The last rites were performed and the tomb was made near the house itself. This was the man who achieved martyrdom while fighting against exploitation and injustice. Machhua Gagrai is respected by the villagers to this day. q

Murder on the Orders of Sand Mafia Nepal Rawani: 25 February, 1990 The impact of the Jharkhand Movement was also felt in coalfield. Meetings, exhibitions and stopping of the railways for the demand for a separate state were also carried out. There were some organizations in Dhanbad that were quite active in these and used to coordinate such events everywhere. The founders of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha were Shibu Soren, Binod Bihari Mahto and A.K. Roy. Both Binod Bihari Mahto and A.K. Roy used to carry out their activities from Dhanbad, whereas Shibu Soren used to carry out his activities from the rural and the forest areas in the Dhanbad-Hazaribagh-Giridih. It is from this place that he had carried out his fights against the moneylenders. It was only because of these reasons that the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha had been so powerful. Many of the activists were killed in Koylanchal. The case was a little different here. More number of activists was killed by the Mafias and the exploiters, than the Police. The control of the coal mafia had been immense in the area since ages. They had a parallel Government. This mafia had their control on Dhanbad-Jharia as well. The Jharkhandis got united and expanded their power and horizon with the establishment of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha. The labourers and the mine workers never used to say anything to the mafia there. They used to be mute and incompetent before them. But with the Morcha gaining its strength, the tribals and the residents in Koylanchal started challenging the mafia. Then started the era when the murder and killings were very common. Nepal Rawani was also killed on 25 February, 1990 in one such incident.

Nepal Rawani

Nepal Rawani was a resident of Godhar. He used to actively participate in the events related to the separate state. He joined as an activist in the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, but observing his organizational capabilities, the central leadership later made him the district President. He was assigned the responsibility of expanding the activities of the organization as quickly as possible. The corruption in BCCL in Godhar area in the name of sand filling had come to light. Nepal Rawani had objected to it. The management had also supported him. Madan Mohan Jha had been the Deputy Commissioner of Dhanbad in those days. He was a person with very clean image and a good sense of understanding. He wanted to put a check on the workings of the mafia as well. He concluded that the ill doings in the BCCL could be stopped only with the support from the local residents only. So he called Nepal Rawani and was highly impressed by his thoughts and strategies. He further arranged a contract for the transport of sand to the local residents by forming a committee. Now, he had crossed the sand mafia as well. But Nepal Rawani put himself in this fight to eradicate the corruption in BCCL with the support of the local people. Once, Nepal Rawani was hurt in an encounter and was declared dead by the doctors. But while he was being taken for autopsy, the doctors felt some sensation in his feet. They started his treatment immediately and he was saved. But he got back to his activities of working against the mafia as soon as he recovered. He was more active in the Jharkhand Movement. But unfortunately, the sand mafia killed him on 25 February, 1990 at Godhar Square. q

Messiah of the Poor Shankar Mahto: 25 April, 1991 Apart from being a young activist of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, Shankar Mahto was also a social worker. He took part in the Jharkhand Movement and was always ready to help the poor girls’ to get married and getting treatment for the ill. That’s why he stood out of the crowd. On 25 April, 1991, He was killed when he was opposing the ban on soil tilling.

Shankar Mahto

Shankar Mahto was also interested in sports. After completing his intermediate studies from P.K. Rai Memorial College, he dedicated his life to society. His father, Chunni Lal Mahto was a railway employee. Born on 18 September, 1969, Shankar was the second in three brothers. He used to live with his uncle at Dhansar Police Area, Baramsia. There was a small town behind FCI godown, 1.5 km away from Dhanbad Station. The population was nearly 100-150 people. Shankar Mahto had done a lot for the development of the area. From the MLA fund, the work of PCC road had started. The earth was being tilled for the road. In a nearby hut, some goons were hiding. They had banned the tilling process. The labourers went to Shankar Mahto to report this incident. Shankar Mahto arrived at the scene and asked for the reason behind the ban. This led to a dispute between the goons and Shankar Mahto. Meanwhile, one of them pulled out a pistol and shot Shankar Mahto in his abdomen. This incident took place on 25 April, 1991, around 4 pm in the evening. Entire Baramsia was shaked with the sound of the gunshot. The locals took Shankar Mahto to the Central Hospital, where he passed away. In the meantime, the goons escaped. A few people chased them to Telipara. In Telipara, 3 out of the 7 goons were caught by people. They were handed over to the Police. The Police recovered many pistols and magazines from them.

Several prominent leaders and thousands of people were present at his last rites. Later, Shankar Mahto Memorial Committee was formed. The street behind FCI godown was named after Shankar Mahto. Today, it is known as Shankar Nagar. Every year since 1991, Shankar Mahto’s Martyrdom is celebrated. On the day of his death anniversary, events such as Shankar Marathon, Sports and others are held. q

The Fight Against the Forest Mafia Jeev Lal Mahto: 7 July, 1991 Jeev Lal Mahto, a resident of Karmatanr in Topchanchi block, had been an activist. He had made up his mind since the very beginning that he would not take up any job after the completion of his education; rather, he would fight the landlords who used to exploit the poor people. He had involved himself totally to this task. He had started objecting to the cutting of the trees in his area, illegal excavation and was working towards a better environment. He had been a target of the Zameendars (Landlords) and the wood mafia. The Zameendars and the wood mafia joined hands and used Ghanshyam Mahto for killing Jeev Lal Mahto on 7 July, 1991. The incident took place while he was returning from work on the unfortunate night. Jeev Lal Mahto was only 36 years of age when he died. The death of Jeev Lal in such a manner enraged the villagers and they in turn battered Ghanshyam Mahto to death.

Wife of Jeev Lal

Memorial of Jeev Lal.

Jeev Lal had been fighting the illegal excavation of wood and the wood cutting and also against the exploitation of the landlords since his young age. Jeev Lal had completed his Inter education. He was now engaged in spreading awareness among the people. In course, he came in contact with Binod Bihari Mahto, Shaktinath Mahto and Shibu Soren. He felt more encouraged with the support provided by the trio. He started his awareness

and voicing against the tyranny of the Zameendars and the wood mafia. He was able to put a check on the illegal excavation in the area. This had angered the wood and the excavation mafia and they decided to put Jeev Lal to rest. He was murdered on 7 July, 1991, while he was going back to his home. This day is observed every year as Martyrs’ Day by Jharkhand Mukti Morcha. Fairs are also organized on this day. People from Karmatanr and the neighbouring villages pay respect to Jeev Lal Mahto. q

The Terror by the Sand Mafia Broken by Shanichar Khanudih Case: 26 June, 1993 Shanichar Mahto, resident of Khanudih, Dhanbad played a major role in uniting the people and creating awareness for the state of Jharkhand. He was also involved in fighting against the Sand Mafias. He worked towards breaking the monopoly of the Sand Mafias and letting the unemployed youth in having the control over the Sand Ghats. His efforts resulted in the construction of the road in his ancestral hometown. It was this Shanichar Mahto, who was killed by the sand mafias on 26 June, 1993.

Shanichar Mahto

Shanichar Mahto was born to a poor farmer family on 5 April, 1958 in Ujariadih slum. His childhood was full of struggle. In spite of not being too educated, he had good practical knowledge. He was always involved with the developmental activities of the village and used to write letters and applications to the administration regarding the facilities and infrastructure required for the development. Ujariadih was considered as one of the most backward place. There was just a narrow path created by foot between the fields. This was the only road for communication. People used to reject the marriage proposals from this village. Such was the situation. But then, Shanichar Mahto’s efforts brought in proper communication to the village by way of proper road. His other contributions to the village were the construction of the Hari Temple and the movement led by him for the supply of water and electricity. However, he was known more for breaking down the monopoly by the sand mafia. He replaced the mafias from the sand contract by the unemployed youth of the village. This way the Sand Ghats came under the

controls of the unemployed youth of the village. This incident recreated his image as a strong and a popular leader. His popularity increased when he came in contact with Binod Bihari Mahto, Tek Lal Mahto and Jaleswar Mahto. He was also working as the fitter in the fitter breaker in Muraridih Colliery in BCCL. Meanwhile, his unpopularity with the sand mafia also increased. He was killed near the Gabhimaknaali Majhi slum on 26 June, 1993. At first, the villagers thought that he had been kidnapped. But his friends and supporters searched for him everywhere. His supporters wandered clueless. His body was recovered after three days of search. His wife, Ratni Devi was given a compensatory job in BCCL. He was survived by four daughters and a son. All his children are married now. q

The Death of a Leader Lal Mohan Bedia: 28 September, 1993

Lal Mohan Bedia

Lal Mohan Bedia is known as one of the oldest leader of the Jharkhand Movement. He was murdered on 28 September, 1993 for his demands for the separate state, Jharkhand. He was born to a very poor family in Kurkutta village in 1949. He was the second brother among the four brothers in his family. He could hardly study till the third class, due to the financial problems in the family. He started his political career with J.P. Singh, who had been a union leader at Giddi at an early age of 20-22 years. But somehow, he was not satisfied by the activities he had to carry out here, so he joined the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha in 1976-77. He was also working for the Marxist Coordination Committee (MCC). He was made the active member of the JMM District Committee on its establishment in 1977-78. At that time, Tek Lal Mahto was District President. He was into the JMM politics for 12 years and had been imprisoned many times during the 80s in the Jharkhand Movement. He led many events like the Road blockade and Jail Bharo Abhiyaan. Those events are still remembered by people. However, he broke off from the JMM Movement after 1990 and contributed all his time and efforts towards MCC. He acted as the District President of MCC, but he was also given more responsibilities from the Party. On 28 September, 1993, he was killed by some unidentified miscreants while he was going to Kurkutta village. An FIR was also lodged in the Giddi Police Station. Jaipal Bedia, resident of Kurkutta village was made the accused, though without any evidence. He was imprisoned and later, acquitted as well. Lal Mohan Bedia is still remembered by the people in the Hazaribagh District as a prominent leader fighting for Jharkhand as a separate state. q

The Murder of the Savior of the Pokharia Ashram Shyamlal Murmu: 26 May, 1994

Shyamlal’s Murmu wife with husband photo

Memorial of Shyamlal Murmu.

Shibu Soren had established an Ashram in Pokharia in Tundi Block when he started his fight demanding a separate State, Jharkhand. He used to look after the activities of the Ashram himself, till he stayed there. Shyamlal Murmu accompanied him there in Ashram. Shyamlal used to listen to the speeches of Shibu Soren while he used to carry out his activities in the Tundi forests. He was a youth of 20-21 years with long hair and was very attractive to look at. He used to take care of Shibu Soren while he stayed in the Ashram. His mother, Bodoli also stayed in the Ashram as well and prepared food for Shibu Soren. But Shyamlal Murmu used to accompany Shibu Soren like a shadow. He was identified as a member among the JMM supporters. Guruji (Shibu Soren) used to trust Shyamlal Murmu very much. After the defeat in the Assembly elections in 1977, Guruji left Tundi and went on to settle in Dumka. He handed over the responsibilities of the Ashram and the organization to Shyamlal Murmu. Shyamlal Murmu put in his efforts for the expansion of the Ashram activities. Now, he used to set up small meetings where the cases of the nearby villages were discussed and resolved. On the unfortunate evening of 26 May, 1994, Shyamlal Murmu was returning to the Ashram after one such meeting at Western part

of Tundi at Machiyara when he was attacked by the Naxalites who killed him after surrounding him from all sides. There was much chaos in the neighbouring villages because of the incident. But gradually, it cooled down. A martyr platform has been erected in front of the Ashram where JMM leaders offer homage to Shyamlal Murmu. Shyamlal’s mother, Bodoli died after formation of Jharkhand. Shyamlal’s wife, Bahali Murmu stays with her three grown up sons–Phoolchand Murmu, Pradeep Murmu and Prakash Murmu in the Ashram. Late Shyamlal Murmu’s daughter, Chandauli Murmu has been married off to Biranchi in Tundi itself. A common platform has been raised as ‘Shahid Bedi’, in Durgadih, located at Sangramdih, for all the fighters and agitators who had contributed in any manner to the establishment of the separate State, Jharkhand. Homage is paid to all the fighters of injustice on 3 February, every year. q

Martyrdom of Devendra Majhi Goilkera: 14 October, 1994 The Jungle (Forest) Movement at Kolhan would not have been a success had Devendra Babu (Devendra Majhi) not been there. There would not have been the awareness about the movement regarding the demand for a separate state in Singhbhum. Had this movement not been there, the success for the separate state, Jharkhand, would have been much delayed. The sentence applies for Devendra Babu. Such a great personality was Devendra Babu. The Jungle Movement at Kolhan (Started in 1978) had been a success under his leadership. Kolhan had been his area of operations. Devendra Babu had been dreaming of a separate state, Jharkhand, so that the people living in the forest could get their rights. The Jungle Movement that he had started in Saranda, Kolhan and Porahat in 1978 for legalizing the ownership of the lands in the names of the residents, had its impact in other parts as well. But before he and his allies could succeed in forming a separate state, he was murdered by miscreants on 14 October, 1994 at Goilkera. Devendra Babu was the son of Jharkhand. He used to feel for the land. He used to feel the pain on seeing the bad conditions of living of the tribal living in the forests in this area. He was of the opinion that the conditions of the tribal could not be improved till they have the legal ownership of the land on which they lived. The Government had already declared the remote area of Saranda, Kolhan and Porahat as forest area. The controversy had been for the declaration itself. Anybody going to the forest for the wood was taken hostage by the forest guards or officials. The tribals were taken to prison and punished for very petty reasons. Devendra Babu started his fight for the rights of these people. Now, this Vangram (Forest Village) was being given identity. The major credit for this goes to Devendra Babu itself.

Devendra Majhi with family

Born on 15 September, 1947 in Tonkatoli, Chakradharpur, Devendra Majhi had been very much against exploitation since his childhood days. He was never submissive to anyone. His entire life had been filled with of struggles. His father, Jagat Majhi died when he was just five years old. The responsibilities of the house now came upon elder brother, Kalidas Majhi. Unfortunately, he also left for the heavenly abode in an accident after a few years. Now, it was mother, Kunni Majhi who had to take up the responsibility and she had to step out of the boundaries of the house. She used to take along her son, Devendra to the fields and other areas, while she worked there as a labourer. Devendra Babu could never forget those days when he and his family had to undergo scarcity.

Memorial of Devendra Majhi at Goikera.

Devendra Majhi completed his education from the Chakradharpur Marwari High School. He then went on to do the Inter from Chaibasa. He had been fighting for the tribal rights since the very beginning. One of the teachers in the school had once commented on a tribal student in some foul language. Devendra could not bear this and hit the teacher along with his friends. The teacher, later, had to seek forgiveness for his comments. Meanwhile, Devendra Majhi started showing interest towards politics. He started understanding and feeling the problems. He understood that the people would not get proper justice and rights till they have their own Government. He saw and felt that the tribal and the people who lived in the forests were misbehaved with and denied their rights. They did not get proper food and means of earning money. The people did not have any ownership on the forests as well. The wood mafia, in collaboration with the officials of the Forest Department used to illegally cut and smuggle the wood, while putting the blame on the innocent tribals and the local people living in the forests. These people were often captured and imprisoned for the crimes not done by them. They were also beaten by the forest officials and charged with cases. Devendra Babu was always worried as to how these exploitations and tortures could be minimized. He wanted to do

something for them. He, then, started a group of his own, to settle these issues. He first created a football team. Gangadhar Mahto was a good player. Both Devendra Babu and Gangadhar Mahto worked for strengthening the team. All the team members were acquainted with the problems and issues of the tribals and the local residents of this area. Though the team had been created as a football team, its purpose had been different. The members used to discuss and frame strategies for strengthening the team while playing the game. Devendra Majhi, Manrai Singh Bodra, Dhansar Samad, Paira Samad and Gangadhar Mahto used to meet at the Tribals Boys Hostel and discussed about the movement. Devendra Majhi used to move about in the forest and unite the people for the cause. Once, he met Asim Bhattacharyaji, a runaway Naxalite, in a train. He tried to influence Devendra Babu into joining him. He also gave him some books to read. Devendra Majhi had made up his mind from a very early stage that he would definitely take revenge from those people who had snatched the rights of the tribals. The revolutionary ideas were also visible in his thoughts for some time. He also seemed to be showing interest in joining the Naxalites. But, he realized it very soon that the objectives that he had in mind with respect to the rights of the tribals could not be fulfilled by joining the Naxalites. So, Devendra Majhi turned away from the Naxalites and continued with his efforts to eradicate exploitation of the tribals.

Devendra Majhi after winning election in 1980.

Those were the days when Chakradharpur and the neighbouring areas were known for Bidi industry. But the condition of the workers was sympathetic. The wages of these workers was very less and they were exploited by the management. The minimum wages were also not being given to them. It was quite difficult for them to get some food from their earnings. Devendra Babu observed that this could be the place for organizing big movement. He supported the workers and started the movement against the exploitation of Bidi workers in 1969. The agitation took a rigid shape. Many trucks loaded with Bidi were put on fire. Many

rallies were organized. More than 250 people were arrested and imprisoned in Hazaribagh jail. Later, the Government looked into the matter. The wages of the workers were hiked. The incident brought Devendra Majhi to limelight. People who had supported Devendra Majhi in the Jungle Movement were: Shailendra Mahto, Bhubaneswar Mahto, Mora Munda, Sula Purti, Machhua Gagrai and Bahadur Oraon. Many more people were also involved in this. Many incidents of exploitation occurred in those days. The rich contractors used to kidnap the young, beautiful tribal girls for their enjoyment. The rest houses of the forest department became a place for this dirty enjoyment. This had also enraged the workers. The workers from Kolhan were forcefully sent to Bihar and Uttar Pradesh to work in the brick furnaces. Devendra Babu and his team members had been much against such acts of the contractors and the landlords. They had started beating the contractors. So, the contractors now hired brokers and middlemen to carry out this job. But on such occasion, Devendra Babu and his allies hit one of the brokers in a guest house in Chakradharpur. This stopped their coming to the forest areas as well. The situation changed drastically after that. The tribals in the forests had cleared the woods in Saranda, Kolhan and Porahat to convert the area into agricultural land. These areas had been the burial areas of the tribals. As per the tribals’ belief, this had been the land of their forefathers’ ancestors. The burial stones were the witness of this belief. However, the tribals were made to relocate from this when the area was declared as forests by Government. This had also enraged the people further. These forest people only had agriculture and the forest products as a means for living. The mafia took this situation to their side. They persuaded the tribals to cut trees in the forest for smuggling purposes in return for money. But the irony was that these innocent tribals were the ones who got caught by the forest officials and imprisoned and punished. The mafia did not take any ownership at that time. The Government also did not pay any heeds to the situation of the tribals and the residents of the forest. All the reasons together fumed the innocent and simple tribals and the residents of the forest area. Machhua Gagrai, who later turned out to be a great leader in the Jungle Movement, used to work as a domestic servant in the house of one of the contractors, B.K. Banerjee. He was disturbed at the exploitations meted out

to the poor workers. They did not get the minimum wages as promised. On asking for their wages, they were misbehaved with and beaten. Even Machhua got agitated seeing the abuses of the contractors. He also started objecting to the low wages being given to the labour. He finally left the contractor and joined Devendra Babu for the cause. Machhua had been present in the movement that had originated at Kansara. The movement then spread from Porahat to Kolhan. The other supporters of Devendra Majhi who had actively worked for the cause here were: Shailendra Mahto, Bhuvneswar Mahto, Machhua Gagrai, Aade Munda, Chandi Gagrai, Loko Champia, Mora Munda, Sula Purti and Lal Singh Munda also joined. The Government had then decided to cut the Sal trees in the forest and plant the Sagwan trees. But the Sal tree has religious importance among the tribes in the forests. The tribals started raising their voices against the cutting of the Sal trees. The agitation took a much bigger shape. The protest carried out from Songra and Serengada. The plant was destroyed and thrown in the river in Serengada. Even the nursery was destroyed. The agitators burnt down many guest houses in the forest as well. The agitators said that the guest houses were being used for wrong purposes and hence, should be burnt down. Devendra Majhi also sent out many social messages through his movements in the forest. Those were the days when the doctors were not very easily available and there used to be many deaths in the tribes due to unhygienic methods of living. So, Devendra Babu sent out the message that the tribals should boil the water before consuming. The rate of death reduced down with the efforts put in by Devendra Babu thus increasing the faith of people on him. Lalit Hembram had been active in the Jungle Movement from Ichahatu. The Government came into action with too much cutting of trees. The entire forest in Ichahatu was then converted to Police camp. CRPF was also posted at the forest. The Police maltreated the tribals during the agitation and looted their cattle. This agitated the people all the more. The movement was being led by Devendra Majhi. Devendra Majhi had become famous in the area. The movement was a matter of discussion in the entire Singhbhum between 1978-1980. So after the movement, he became even more popular. Gradually, the tempo of the movement slowed down. Then, Devendraji thought of standing in the elections to put his point before the public. He

married with Joba Majhi in 1962 who was a resident of Bagbera in Jamshedpur. When, in 1963, the Jharkhand Party joined the Congress Party under the leadership of Jaipal Singh Munda, then, it were Devendra Majhi, Bagun Sumbrui and N.E. Horo who kept the Jharkhand Party active in Singhbhum. These people formed the Akhil Bhartiya Jharkhand Party. Hari Charan Soy won the by-elections from Chakradharpur in 1969. In the 1972 elections, Devendra Babu wanted a Party Ticket from Chakradharpur. However, he was denied by Bagun Sumbrui. The ticket was instead given to Hari Charan Soy. But Devendra was adamant to fight the elections. So, he stood under the banner of Youth Jharkhand to campaign the Assembly elections. Unfortunately, he lost the elections. Theodore Bodra from the Congress won the elections from Chakradharpur. Devendra Majhi bagged the third position. Gangadhar Mahto won the Sarpanch elections in 1972-73. He was later made the Vice-Chairman of the District Council. But this victory resulted in the distance between Devendra Majhi and Gangadhar Mahto. Meanwhile Devendra Majhi got closer with Shailendra Mahto in 1974. In 1977, after the emergency, Devendra Majhi fought the elections from Chakradharpur on the ticket of Akhil Bhartiya Jharkhand Party. Unfortunately, he lost again. Jagannath Bankira, the youth leader from the Janata Party won the elections. Devendra Babu finally won the Bihar Assembly elections from Chakradharpur in June, 1980. Bahadur Oraon and Shailendra Mahto had supported and worked for the elections in a big way. There was a firing case in Gua on 8 September, 1980. Now, the Police was in search for Devendra Majhi, though he was not present in the Gua on the particular day. The Police torture in Singhbhum had increased soon after the firing. Meanwhile Devendra Majhi had already become the MLA. He departed for Patna along with Lakhan Bodra. Police raided his house many times. But the Police could never get hold of Devendra Majhi. One day, the Police raided his house yet again while Devendra Babu was taking rest in the neighbouring park, after he had returned from Patna. Devendra Majhi could hear his mother talking loudly to the Police. Thinking that the Police was harassing his mother, he came before the Police and surrendered. The debate on the celebration of the first martyr’s day anniversary of the Gua Firing started in 1981. Devendra Babu observed this day in Salai. The seed for the differences between Devendra Babu and the Jharkhand Mukti

Morcha started here. He was separated from JMM in 1981 at the Chakradharpur District Conference. He again came back to Chakradharpur in 1990 for the elections, but lost to his friend Bahadur Oraon. Devendra Babu had a unique lifestyle. He had a simple life. He used to hang a bag on his shoulders and walk towards the forest. He used to walk through the whole forest. Joba Majhi, his wife used to stay at their ancestral home at Chakradharpur. Devendra Babu used to feed anyone visiting him from any village. This had been his unique quality. Devendra Babu was quite stubborn and committed. He never accepted any other leader. He had his own ways of carrying out his objectives. This had been one of the reasons for so many foes in his political career. But he always had the support and the affection of the village communities. And so his relationship with the prominent leaders of the JMM was also not very good. Devendra Babu had travelled from Chakradharpur to Sonua by Ispat Express the day before he was murdered i.e. on 13 October, 1994. He had returned via the same express train. He had himself ploughed his land on the morning of 14 October, 1994. It was the Vijayadashmi day. He travelled to Goilkera by Ispat Express of the afternoon. He had his office there. The people in Goilkera had started their preparations for the visarjan of the idol of Goddess Durga. But the whole town was shaken by the sound of the bomb blast that took place in the market. It was about 2.30 pm when the blast took away Devendra Babu’s life. The bomb had been planted for the great leader, Devendra Majhi. With his death, the whole town came down in tears with sadness clouding the joys of the visarjan of the idol. The immersion ceremony of the Goddess was carried out without any merrymaking and with the light and sound effects in a simple manner. The body of Devendra Majhi was brought to his ancestral home. He was cremated near his home and that was the place chosen for his tomb as well. A memorial stone was erected at the place where he was murdered in the market in Goilkera. After the martyrdom of Devendra Majhi, his wife, Joba Majhi stepped in politics. She later became the MLA and then, a Minister. She also proceeded with the incomplete tasks of her husband. She put up the statue of her husband in Goilkera. This way the leader and the fighter who had fought for the legal ownership of the forest lands to the tribals achieved martyrdom while fighting for the cause. q

Murdered by Mafia Manindra Nath Mandal: 17 October, 1994 Manindra Nath Mandal was a very efficient union leader in Koylanchal (Coalfield) who participated in an active manner for the demand of the separate state, Jharkhand. He was attacked by miscreants on 13 October, 1994 and he later succumbed to his injuries after 4 days on 17 October, 1994. He was born on 17 September, 1949 in Saraidhela Kocha Kulhi village in Dhanbad. His parents were Panchanan Mandal and Balika Devi. He was influenced by the Communists since his school days. He had been quite active in social services since his school days. He also became the Saraidhela village Head in 1978. He had also been very active in the Marxist Coordination Committee and fought for the people who had been displaced. Later, he came closer to Binod Bihari Mahto and joined the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM). Binod Babu himself had been a prominent leader in JMM who had established the party along with Shibu Soren and A.K. Roy.

Manindranath Mandal

There had been a phase when there were agitations against the evils in the society. Binod Bihari Mahto worked for the Shivaji Samaj and Shibu Soren worked for Sonot Santhal Samaj. Manindra Nath Mandal also joined this Social Movement. He formed the Unmulan Samiti Mandal (Sudi) Samaj on 23 March, 1980 on the recommendations of A.K. Roy. This society worked against the Dowry System in the society. Several youth joined the society and married without dowry. This organization expanded beyond the Sudi caste in the various districts in Jharkhand and spread till West Bengal. He was made the Chairman of the Coordination Committee in the conference of 27 castes held at Mandakini High School, Barwa Adda. He had never

been on any post pertaining to any organization with respect to his own caste. He was a committed supporter of the separate state, Jharkhand. While speaking at a conference organized by his own caste members, he said that the society would be accepting a caste only if it gives its full support to the cause of the separate state. He always led the labourers. He also worked for the minimum wages for the factory workers under the banner of Bihar Colliery Kamgar Union (under CITU). However, he supported Binod Bihari and A.K. Roy. He joined Shibu Soren after the demise of Binod Babu. He also shouldered the responsibility of District President of JMM. There were various movements in Southern Bihar demanding a separate state, Jharkhand. The then Chief Minister of Bihar, Lalu Prasad Yadav had said that he would let a separate state be formed only after his death. The Jharkhand people were quite affected by this declaration. There was an incident in 1992 when there was a joint meeting by JMM and Marxist Coordination Committee against the Police Station in-charge of Barwa Adda. The meeting was crowded by people from all over Jharkhand. Meanwhile, Lalu Yadav was travelling to Dhanbad via G.T. Road. All of a sudden, Manindra attacked him while he was passing the meeting area. Seeing him attacking the CM, his supporters also started pelting stones at the CM’s entourage. The supporters were shouting slogans against the CM–‘Throw away the Anti-Jharkhandis’. Manindra became very popular as a brave and courageous leader after this incident. Manindra used to play a vital role in the organization and preparations of the Durga Puja that was held near his house. It was Durgashtami on 13 October, 1994 when the mafia attacked him brutally. He was taken to the Government hospital where he died within the next four days on 17 October, 1994. Manindra had been very bold and had been imprisoned many times. He had also been jailed for having attacked the CM. He had also stood in the elections. He was a candidate of MCC and JMM (Joint) for the Tundi constituency. Unfortunately, he lost the seat by only 177 votes. q

Against the Land Mafias Rajesh Anand Mahto: 10 June, 1997 Rajesh Anand Mahto was a brave sepoy of the Jharkhand Movement. He is still remembered among the people as a courageous leader. He was born in a farmer’s family in Putki-Balihari of Dhanbad District. He was associated with Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and Marxist Coordination Committee (MCC). He fought for the poor labour class all his life and sacrificed his life for the cause as well. He had objected to the illegal encroachment and ownership of land of the poor people by the miscreants. The protest resulted in the murder of the great soul by the miscreants on 10 June, 1997.

Rajesh Anand Mahto

Parents Mangal Mahto and Farnia Mahatain took great care of their child. He had studied till matriculation. After the exams, he joined the coal company, Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL). But Rajesh was not born just to do a job and look after his family. He had been interested in social services since his childhood. He got influenced towards the Jharkhand Movement. He was highly impressed by the then Parliamentarian from Dhanbad and the MCC supremo, A.K. Roy. He also came in contact with leader of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), Mathura Prasad Mahto. He gradually became more active in the events organized by MCC and JMM. He also started working for the education of the local residents. He associated himself with Shakti Gram Vikas Sangh. Rajesh Anand also tried to eradicate the addiction to drugs prevalent among the indigenous residents. He was also quite worried as to how the poor children could be educated in schools. Later, Rajesh got associated with CITU allied Bihar Colliery Kamgar Union (BCKU) and became the Secretary of an important branch of the Colliery. Rich with leading abilities, Rajesh Anand

established a strong organization. He led the movement for the separate state, Jharkhand from Putki-Balihari Koylanchal and also the labour union rallies by the MCC and BCKU. The Shahid Shaktinath Mahto High School was also established under the guidance of Rajesh Anand. He also led and organized many rallies against the moneylenders. He married Kajoli Devi. He was father to three sons and a daughter. Rajesh Anand spent the entire life in working for the society. Sadly, he was murdered by criminals on 10 June, 1997 at about 9:30 pm at the Balihari Square near Das Tola. He was returning to his house at that time. He, however, died on way to the hospital and could not be treated. Land dispute is said to be the reason behind the murder. Some of Rajesh’s relatives wanted to take over the land of the poor people. Rajesh had been objecting to it and did not agree to the temptations given by them. He had to give his life for the cause. The vacuum created by Rajesh’s death could not be filled at any cost. Three people were accused for Rajesh’s murder. They were sentenced to life imprisonment after the statement given by Mathura Prasad Mahto and other witnesses. q

The Price for not Compromising Rati Lal Mahto: 13 July, 1999 Rati Lal Mahto was the resident of Gamharia village in SaraikelaKharsawan district. He had been very active during the Jharkhand Movement in Saraikela, Gamharia and the other neighbouring areas. He had also been the core committee member of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha. Later on, he also got associated with the labour unions. He was killed by the criminals on 13 July, 1999 near his house at Gamharia.

Ratilal Mahto

He was returning home after dropping his daughter at D.A.V. Public school by car (No. BPT 284). It was around 6.30 am. Four criminals had been waiting near the Indane Bottling Plant for him. They had come on motorcycle and Vespa scooter. The criminals shot him at his head, chest, neck and temples from close angles. He died on the spot. However, he was also taken to a nursing home and then to TMH, but the doctors declared him as ‘brought dead’. Rati Lal had been a great leader of JMM. His association with the Labour Movement made him more popular in Adityapur-Gamharia area (this is an industrial area with several companies). The entire industrial belt was down with sadness on hearing the news of Rati Lal Mahto’s demise. Be it JMM or Congress, BJP or RJD, people of all parties came out on the roads and demanded the arrest of the criminals. Rati Lal was the in-charge of the All India Jharkhand Mukti Morcha workers’ affairs. His post mortem was done the next day, i.e. on 14 July. In spite of heavy rains there was a long funeral procession with hundreds of vehicles. The procession went around entire Jamshedpur. His funeral took place at Uperbera, Gamharia. It

was attended by people from different districts of Jharkhand. On the 15th of July, people of Jharkhand were protesting against the murder. After the murder, Rati Lal Mahto’s brother Sapan Kumar Mahato filed a case against three people. It included the General Secretary of the Western Singhbhum Congress, Sadhucharan Mahto, Subhash Mahto and Sunil Mahto. Subhash Mahto and Sunil Mahto were arrested on the day of murder itself. The Police concluded that there was a controversy between Rati Lal and Sadhucharan Mahto regarding the tender of the loading and unloading at the Indian Bottling Plant at Gamharia. Rati Lal used to do the loading and unloading under the name of Indian Bottling plant Visthapit Prabhavit Sramik Sahyog Samiti Limited. Rati Lal was the Secretary of the committee. Sadhucharan had also put forward a tender. This caused the controversy. After this Sadhucharan Mahto was taken to jail. He was later released. q

Part—3 The Role of the Non-Tribals It was assumed for a long time that the Jharkhand Movement was only for the tribals, which was supported by the missionaries. In the beginning, it was like that. Whichever group was formed demanding a separate State had only tribals. There were no non-tribals. It was in 1939, when Jaipal Singh took over the responsibility of the Adivasi Mahasabha. At that time, nontribals formed a group at Daltenganj for a separate Chota Nagpur State. Adivasi Mahasabha had decided that only tribals can be members. When Justin Richard formed the United Jharkhand Party, he had decided to include Sadans in the organization. Richard had understood that it was not possible to make a separate State without Sadans. Richard’s plan proved fruitful. So, the Adivasi Mahasabha also made a change in their stand. Jaipal Singh was far-sighted. He recognized the drawbacks in the Adivasi Mahasabha. In 1950 at Jamshedpur, during the session of the Adivasi Mahasabha meeting, there was a brainstorm regarding the same. Thus, for the first time it was decided that even non-tribals could become members. Then to make the non-tribals happy and to win their trust, the word tribal was removed from the name of the organization. The name was also changed to the Jharkhand Party. The Chota Nagpur Sanyukt Sangh (CSS) was formed on 7 February, 1954. Ramnarayan Singh was made the President. On 11 July, 1954, CSS put forward the memorandum for a separate State. On 8 February, 1955, when the State Reorganization Commission team came to Jharkhand, CSS advocated for a separate State. When arguments started in the Parliament regarding the report of the reorganizing of the State, Hazaribagh MP and the freedom fighter Babu Ramnarayan Singh reasoned openly for a separate State. In the Parliament, he spoke why a separate State was necessary, how the Bihar government ignores Chota Nagpur. He was also against the separation of certain regions of Bihar and adding them to Bengal. After Ramnarayan Singh, Basant Narayan Singh also fought for a separate State. The Committee named ALAG Prant Sangharsh Samiti was formed in 1977. Hanuman Prasad Sarawagi was member of this Samiti.

There is no second opinion as to the sacrifices made by the tribals for Jharkhand. Besides the tribals, the Kurmi (Mahto) from the indigenous people made the most sacrifices. Besides both, Muslims and people of other races were also involved in the Jharkhand Movement. Non-tribals were also active especially in the areas of Giridih, Dhanbad and Jamshedpur. Some of them were killed in Police firing and some were murdered by moneylenders and mafias. Non-tribals were murdered mostly in the coalfield area and neighbouring places. There were reasons. Coalfield areas had people from other areas that came to work at the coalmines. In 1969, the goons of the owners of the coalmines killed Ramdev Singh. Even though Sadanand Jha was from Munger (Bihar), He worked closely with Shibu Soren. He handled a big responsibility within the Jharkhand Movement. He was martyred at Gomo in 1974. In 1978, moneylenders killed Abhay Charan Tiwari. Basant Patak was the active and prominent leader of JMM. He was very close to Shibu Soren. Basant Patak was killed in 1979 at Gandey. Yadunandan Barnwal was killed by mafia in 1984 at Tetulia. He used to protest against the mafia with a red flag. Jharkhand remembers Durga Tiwari as ‘Jharkhandi Baba’. When Binod Bihari Mahto was accused of murder near Gomia and sent to jail, Durga Tiwari took the entire blame. He was then given life sentence. Durga Tiwari of Saram was a soldier of the Jharkhand Movement. When he was released after his life sentence, he continued fighting for Jharkhand State with the same excitement. He died later. Gurudas Chatterjee fought against the mafia and for a separate Jharkhand State. Mahendra Pratap of Vishnugarh was murdered by exploiters in 1982. People from other regions also played an important role in the Jharkhand Movement. Many were martyred. Gurubachan Singh who hailed from Punjab and worked at the Shyampur Colliery was murdered in 1987. He was with the Bihar Colliery Kamgar Union. Who can forget the Jharkhand Party leader Sohan Lal Aneja? He lived in Jamshedpur. The memorandum which was handed over to the team from the State Reorganization Commission had his signature on it. N.E. Horo’s close friend Aneja was the General Secretary of the Jharkhand Party then. These people who were from out of Jharkhand made a remarkable contribution towards the Jharkhand Movement. Kedar Pandey was originally from Gorakhpur, Uttar

Pradesh. He was with A.K. Roy in the Movement. He was murdered in 1978. Many intellectuals who were non-tribals played many such important roles in the Jharkhand Movement. One of the leading names is that of Prof. Veer Bharat Talwar from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. He did rounds of villages during the Jharkhand Movement. He helped making strategies. He wrote many books on Jharkhand and made people aware of the Jharkhand Movement. Sitaram Shastri was another non-tribal intellectual who started the Singhbhumi Akta (weekly magazine), in those days when the Movement had a scarcity of newspapers. This magazine strengthened the voice of Jharkhand. Prof BP Kesri, Dr. Ram Dayal Munda, Sanjay Basu Mallik played a major and active role in Jharkhand Movement. Though Congress was against a separate State in the beginning, there were some Congress leaders who openly fought for Jharkhand. One such leader (non-tribal) was Gyanranjan, Former MLA from Ranchi. He demanded for a separate State without thinking about the Party. He conducted many rallies for the same. In 1997, he led the Jharkhand Ulgulaan Rally in Ranchi, which received national recognition. q

Role of Muslims This topic would be considered incomplete if the role of Muslims amongst the non-tribals is not discussed. The Jharkhand Muslims were also involved wholeheartedly in the Freedom Movement as well as Jharkhand Movement. Who can forget Sheikh Bhikhari, Nadar Ali (Chatra), Salamat Ali (Chaibasa) and Sheikharu (Chaibasa). Asmat Ali and Chirag Ali’s names are taken among the oldest leaders of the Jharkhand Movement. The Muslims did not stay back in the fight for a separate Jharkhand. Neither were they behind in the matter of martyrdom. When Chota Nagpur Unnati Samaj was formed under the leadership of Teble Oraon, the Momin Conference had openly supported them. Sir Haji Imam Ali, Nejavat Hussain, Abdulla Sardar, Farzand Ali, Sheikh Ali Jon, Maulvi Dukhu Miyan and Sir Moiuddin Vakil played important roles. Jahur Ali was prominent leader of Jaipal Singh and Sushil Kumar team. He had set a meeting at his own house to discuss on the separate Jharkhand State with the then Chief Minister of Bihar, Babu Anugrah Narayan Singh. Several Muslim leaders-agitators were killed in movement. In 1973, when the goons of the contractors attacked Basuria (Dhanbad), Qadir Miyan was martyred during the confrontation. When the Police station was attacked at Mandar against the Police atrocities, a young man named Sarful was killed in the Police firing. He was from the neighbouring village. Kalimuddin Ansari who fought at coalfield under the banner of Marxist Coordination Committee against the mafia was murdered at Kaladabar on 15 May, 1994. Sadan leader Shahid Hasan strengthened the Jharkhand Movement through the Sadan Vikas Parishad. He was present in many important negotiations. Badruddin of Jamshedpur was another such leader who also suffered under the Police. He was involved in the success of the economic blockade. He was arrested and beaten up so badly with the rifle butt that the butt broke off. Later, the Police accused him of breaking the butt. Hundreds of Muslim leaders and workers like Talis Ansari, Haji Ansari, Amin Khan (Dumka) and Mumtaz Khan (Ranchi) were involved in the movement. AJSU and Jharkhand Kaumi Tehriq came to an agreement in 1991. After that, many Muslim agitators supported the Movement openly along with AJSU. Mohd. Zikrul, Samiullah Ansari and Ekbal Khan

organised seminars at Chaibasa and discussed about the involvement of Muslims in the Movement. Khalik Ahmed, Najam Ansari, Aftab Jamil, Bashir Ahmed, Farooq Ajam, Abu Talim Ansari, Mohd. Faiji, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Mushtaq Ahmed, Imran Ansari, Mujibur Rehman, Mohd. Sajid, Sarvar Sajad, Sobran Islam Ansari and Mohd. Ulauddin Ansari participated largely in the Jharkhand Movement. q

Dragged from the Vehicle and Murdered Ramdev Singh: 18 September, 1969 The owners of the coalmines in Koylanchal (Coalfield) along with their goons had created terror in the entire region. The murder of those who raised their voices against exploitation or their leaders was common. The owners of the coalmines had taken some Union leaders on their side. So, the workers could not raise their voice. One such leader who raised his voice against the owners of the coalmines was Ramdev Singh. The goons of the owners murdered him on 18 September, 1969 at the Madhuban Colliery. In those days, the owners controlled the majority of the Union. A.K. Roy worked as an engineer at the Sindri factory. When he saw that nobody came forward to fight for the workers, he resigned from his job and handled the strike. Comrade A.K. Roy united the workers under the banner of Marxist Communist Party and prepared them to fight against injustice. As a result, the owners of the coalmines increased their oppression. The government and administration were on the side of the owners. These owners of the coalmines were so powerful that Sadhan Gupta, who fought for the workers, was given lifetime imprisonment. In spite of all this, the workers continued their fight. There was a meeting at Nadkharki Colliery on 19 September, 1969. It was being publicized. On 18 September, Comrade Ramdev Singh along with his colleagues, were in the vehicle publicizing. When they reached a quarter at the Madhuban Colliery, the Manager of the coalmine owner, Dewan and some goons stopped the vehicle. As soon as the vehicle stopped, the goons attacked it. They dragged Comrade Ramdev Singh from the vehicle. He escaped from them and ran till a distance, but they caught up and killed him. All those who were in the vehicle with Ramdev Singh, informed of the incident at the Police station. But the Police ignored saying there was no vehicle. After the murder, Ramdev’s body was left at the place for a long time. There was a strong retaliation to this murder. There was a demonstration of 75 thousand people. In spite of Section 144 being enforce,

a huge crowd turned out at Comrade Ramdev Singh’s funeral. After this, the Police increased their oppression. They arrested the workers who were returning from the funeral. An altar of martyrdom was built at the place Ramdev Singh was murdered. He is remembered every year. q

The Rivals Murdered Him Sadanand Jha: 11 March, 1974 When the Jharkhand Movement started, it was considered to be a demand of only the tribals and the indigenous people. It was assumed that no Bihari would support the demand for a separate State. Sadanand Jha put an end to this assumption. He was not born in Jharkhand, but was not lesser than any Jharkhandi in any way.

Statue of Sadanand Jha

Sadanand was not a tribal. He was Brahmin, born at Manikpur village (Munger) in 1946. He was from a poor family. His parents died when he was young. Fighting against hunger and unemployment, Sadanand became an activist at a very young age. In 1965-66, he joined the Railways and lived with his uncle at Gomo. Gomo is an important station on the Eastern Railway. This station comes under Dhanbad. Topchanchi is a block in Dhanbad, which has the workshop. In those days, iron thief gangs were active around Topchanchi who used to rob Railways property. They were strong and nobody dared to go against them. Punit Mahto was connected to the Shivaji Samaj at Jeetpur village. He also worked for the JMM. Sadanand Jha lived with him. That is how he got connected with JMM. Sadanand was very combative. He also had leadership qualities. The workers realized that they need someone like him to go ahead in the fight. He became the workers leader at Gomo. His political life started from this workers’ movement. He led many small and big movements. He went against all such officers and goons who exploited and tortured the workers. He never showed his back to a fight, nor did he compromise. Thus, he became an eyesore for a certain class of people. There was a movement against the moneylending practice then. The work for social betterment was undergoing among the tribals of Tundi. This

Movement led by Shibu Soren was supported by Binod Bihari Mahto. Slowly, Sadanand Jha became close to Shibu Soren. Later, he was regarded as one of Shibu Soren’s right hand. Shibu Soren trusted him completely. Sadanand was always present in movements against injustice and exploitation. Besides Shibu Soren and Binod Bihari Mahto, Sadanand Jha had very good relations with worker leader, Imamul Hai Khan and George Fernandes. In 1973 he revolted, against the rise in prices of daily commodities because of which he was imprisoned. The news of his arrest spread like wildfire in Gomo and the neighbouring villages. The public was angry. Thousands of women, men and children jammed the wheels of the rail in revolt. Finally, under public pressure, the Deputy Commissioner of Dhanbad, Chandra Mohan released him. Sadanand was popular in his area. Wherever there was a movement, rally or meeting for the Jharkhand State, he would reach there with the railway engine. Because of the movement, he broke the Railway rules many times. Action was taken against him many times, but he never bowed down. Sadanand also revolted against irregularities in contracts, misuse of resources and the high-handedness of the officers. He made many enemies due to his constant oppositions. The criminals shot and killed him on 11 March, 1974 . His murder was blamed on some of the workers of the Youth Congress. But later, even those who stood by him for the Movement maintained silence. In 1985, his supporters raised a life-size statue in his memory next to the All India Loco Running Staff Association Office. There is the Martyr Sadanand Jha Railway Market in his name near Gomo station. The shopkeepers of the market keep their shops closed on Martyrdom Day. After the murder, the then shopkeepers of Gomo named the bazaar after him. They erected his statue. Every year JMM conducts a ten-day fair on his Memorial Day. The topmost leaders of the JMM also miss him. Even Shibu Soren says that another brave and passionate leader like Sadanand Jha cannot be. q

Murder by Deceit Abhay Charan Tiwari: 30 September, 1978 Abhay Charan Tiwari’s name is taken along with those leaders who fought fearlessly against the moneylenders. He had a long battle against them. Abhay Charan, who won every fight, lost the battle of life on 30 September, 1978 when the moneylenders murdered him. He was a resident of Ghaghra from Nirsa Block.

Abhay Charan Tiwari

When the trio of Shibu Soren, A.K. Roy and Binod Bihari Mahto fought against the usurers, Abhay Charan Tiwari was in the team. After passing his Matric, he completed his graduation from B.B. College at Asansol. He was active in politics from college days. Later, he got a job at Chinakudi. He passed the exam for Head of Mining and was appointed as Overman at Gopalichak Colliery. Later, he also worked at Rajpura, Lakhimata and Chapapur forests of ECL. He was also the Head of Ghaghra Panchayat from 1965 to 1970. He stood for elections as a candidate from Jan Sangh at the Nirsa Assembly seat. He gave a tough competition to Nirmal Chatterjee of CPI. Later, Abhay Charan became a member of the BCKU in 1975. He started a campaign against the usurers of Chapapur, Mukund Singh and Manager, Mr. Bansal. People saw his bravery when he fought along with the villagers against the dacoits in Chakalata village and killed three of them and handed all the three to the Police. Abhay Charan handled the safety of the villagers and along with the administration, gave the villagers licenses to keep guns. He fought against alcoholism, because of which a fake case was registered against him. While living at MCC, he conducted mutation camps in the villages under the trees, so that the raiyats have no problems.

Abhay Charan’s work file was increasing. This caused losses to many moneylenders. On 30 September, 1978, he left for Chapapur on his motorcycle. It was raining heavily. His opponents took advantage of the rain and murdered him. More than ten thousand people along with his comrades A.K. Roy, Shibu Soren, Binod Bihari Mahto and Sarkar Murmu attended his funeral on 1 October. After his death, his elder son Sapan Tiwari got a job at the Chapapur Colliery. His wife Anandmai Devi and their six sons have kept Abhay Charan’s memory alive. In 2004, MLA, Arup Chatterjee erected a memorial near the village, where he is remembered every year. Even today, people from the neighbouring villages remember Abhay Charan’s struggle. q

The Martyrdom of a Brave Activist Basant Pathak: 22 June, 1979 The martyrdom of Basant Pathak is an important part of the Jharkhand Movement. In those days, it was assumed that only tribals and the indigenous people demanded a separate Jharkhand State and that the nontribals were against it. Basant Pathak broke this belief. When Shibu Soren was conducting movements against the moneylenders and usurers in Tundi and the neighbouring areas, Basant Pathak was with him. He was one of Shibu Soren’s trusted people and also believed in him. On Shibu Soren’s behest, he spread the movement against the moneylenders far and wide.

Basant Pathak

Memorial of Basant Pathak

Basant was from Gandey. His brother, Bishweshwar Pathak was the Pramukh (Head) of the Block. Basant also had an interest in politics. There was the problem of moneylenders in his area too. He had suffered under them at a very young age, which lit a fire in his heart. As he grew older, he started taking part in small movements. When JMM was formed he took an active participation. He became the bolck Secretary. Shibu Soren trusted him a lot. So, whenever there was a big rally or meeting for a separate Jharkhand State, he would give Basant the big responsibilities. They created strategies together. Basant Pathak was influential in his area. It benefitted

him. When he went all out in his struggle against oppression and took action against the moneylenders, there was an increase in the number of his enemies. During this time, when he was sleeping in his house in Gandey, enemies broke in and murdered him on 22 June, 1979. An FIR was also lodged in the Police station, but the murderers couldn’t be found. After his murdered, on JMM’s orders, Gandey Bazzar was shut down, atmosphere had become tensed. The JMM workers had shut down the work in government offices. A statue was built in Basant Pathak’s memory in Joraam. Every year, on 22 June, the JMM workers and leaders gather at Joraam and remember their leader who bravely fought against injustice. q

Spent a Lifetime in Prison Durga Tiwari Jharkhand has forgotten those heroes because of whose struggles and sacrifices the State was formed. Most of them are still anonymous. The present generation does not know them. It is because no efforts are being made to pay tribute to the heroes. One such hero was Durga Tiwari aka Jharkhandi Baba.

Durga Tiwari aka Jharkhandi Baba

Durga Tiwari Family

Durga Tiwari was born to a Brahmin family at Sadam, Gomia block which was about 50 km away from the Bokaro. He was the youngest among three brothers. Rameshwar Tiwari and Bhuvaneshwar Tiwari were elder to him. Jharkhandi Baba who was six and half feet tall was one of those sons of the Jharkhand Movement who did not expect private aspirations from it. He never accumulated wealth under the cover of the movement. He had accepted all the pain and sadness happily throughout his life which was dedicated for the movement. His strong intentions and sacrifice are reflected in the way he kept the fire going on and took the blame of murder to protect other main leaders. Even though he knew that he could be hanged till death, he took this step. It was a case of murder. The court sentenced

him to imprisonment for life. Durga Tiwari has become immortal because of his sacrifice and deep dedication towards the movement. When he grew older, Durga Tiwari felt the need for a job. He got a job as a constable with the West Bengal Police, but he gave it up for the call of the motherland. He grew so passionate about the Jharkhand Movement that he left his family on the brink of starvation and went village-to-village to bring awareness of a separate Jharkhand State. Around the year 1960, he reached Ichagarh. Later, he stood for elections from the Jharkhand Party. But he could not win. He decided to take part in the movement in a more active way. He then left for his paternal village, Sadam. Jharkhandi Baba, who had an aggressive streak, soon got in touch with Shibu Soren. Whenever Shibu Soren and Binod Bihari Mahto travelled the jungles and hills from Tundi to Giridih, Hazaribagh, Ramgarh, Ranchi, Bokaro and other far off villages, Durga Tiwari would accompany them. When Shibu Soren would get tired, Jharkhandi Baba would carry him on his shoulders and continue the rest of the journey. The real story of Jharkhandi Baba’s struggle and sacrifice started in 1973. In those days, the people were exploited by the moneylenders and goons. They had taken over the lands of the tribals. The Dhan Kato movement was started under the banner of JMM to free these lands. A revolt had started to free the land of the poor farmers of Nawadih from the hands of the goons. Koka Babu had taken over the lands of some tribals in Goniyato village. It was 27 November, 1973, when this movement reached the land of Koka Babu. He went against it. It resulted in a fight between both the groups in which Koka Babu was killed. The three leaders (Shibu Soren, Binod Bihari Mahto and Durga Tiwari), were blamed for this tragedy. But after the hearing, Jharkhandi Baba realized the importance of the leadership of Shibu Soren and Binod Bihari Mahto for the Jharkhand Movement and took the blame of the murder on himself. He was given a life-term sentence. After spending eight years in Giridih jail and 12 years in Hazaribagh Central Jail, he was released in 1993. He spent his entire early life in prison. His wife died of bereavement. He could not attend his daughter’s wedding. She got married when he was in jail. He was around 60 years when he was released from jail. His body was weak, but he was courageous as before. This made him join the Jharkhand Movement actively again, instead of just sitting at home. Jharkhandi Baba underwent a lot of torture, but he never

regretted any of it. Maybe that was the reason he rejoined the movement after his release. He was taking part in the JMM meeting at Odisha when he died. Durga Tiwari still had relatives in Sadam. As soon as one enters his house one gets the feeling that this revolutionist never thought about his family. He did not make money. His nephew Lal Bahadur Tiwari says–‘After uncle went to jail the entire family was shattered. The financial situation was very bad’. The entire family was financially dependent on Durga Tiwari. Three ponds and one shop were in his name. The family survived on it. Everything went out of control after he went to jail. The family’s maintenance depended on the wages of the two brothers. Even today, the family is living in a bad condition. q

Part—4 Role of Women No revolution in the world has been successful without women and girls. History is a witness that women and girls have changed the face of revolutions with their courage. This has been going on since ancient times. Courageous girls like Hameer-Mata, Surya-Parmal, Sardarbai, Lalbai, Madeline (Canada), Jane (America), Marichi, Chanchal Kumari, Bala Pada, Manaba, Champa, Ratnavati, Veermati, Bhagwati and Krishna were born on this earth. Who doesn’t know Lakshmibai, Kalpana Dutt, Amrit Kaur, Bikaji Roostamji Cama, Durgabai Deshmukh, Aruna Asif Ali, Rukmini Lakshmipati, Sarojini Naidu, Tilaiyadi Valliyamai and S. Abjumal who played decisive roles in the fight for India’s freedom? Jharkhand Movement also saw something like this, even though there is a huge difference between the Indian freedom struggle and the fight for a separate Jharkhand State. The Jharkhand Movement went on for a long time. It is being said that during this time there were no popular women leaders. But the truth is that women played an important role in the Movement. The Jharkhand women fought courageously not only in the Jharkhand Movement, but also from outside attacks and revolts against the Britishers. The history of the Jharkhand women’s struggle is very old. Jharkhand has given birth to many brave women.

When the Turks attacked Rohtasgarh, the Sendra men were in the jungle. In this situation, Sinagi Dai, Kaili Dai and Champa Dai, the daughters of King Ruidas gathered the women together and dressed up like men to fight against the enemies. The attackers had to return. A young tribal man named Ramna Marandi had played an important role in the revolt in the hills. When he was murdered, his wife herself came forward to take revenge.

When under the leadership of Baba Tilka Majhi, all the Santhals agitated, Paika Murmu’s mother and Lal Baba Marandi’s mother Fulmani Majiain called out antiland revenue slogans and led a strike against the British. The women from the homes of Chero farmers handled the strike during the Chero Revolt, under the leadership of Bhukan Singh. During the Kol Revolt in 1831, when two brothers Bindrai and Sindrai were fighting, their two sisters gathered the women and handled the strike. Both these sisters were later abducted by the Britishers. In 1855, when there was Santhal revolt in Bhognadih under the leadership of Sido-Kanhu and Chand-Bhairav, their two sisters Phulo and Jhano showed their bravery by shooting and killing 21 Britishers. The Santhal women used to go to the jungles and bring food and weapons to the men fighting there with the British. The women were also active during the movement of Birsa Munda. The main leaders were Nagi Thigi, Mahi, Lembu, Bankan Munda’s wife, Majhiya Munda’s wife, Dundag Munda’s wife and sister-in-law. One should not forget that when Birsa Munda’s right hand, Gaya Munda’s house was surrounded by the Britishers to arrest him, his wife Paki and other people attacked on Police. Paki was sentenced to three months of imprisonment. More than 400 women led by Devmania aka Bandhani took part in the Tana Bhagat Movement. Roben Soren, a Santhal woman also united the women at Kolhan. The Jharkhand women also played their role in the freedom movement. Sashibhushan and his wife were very active during the Salt Satyagraha. Saraswati Devi from the Ramnarayan Singh Movement is remembered even today. When Bogam Majhi was arrested at Boribora village in Gomia, his wife encouraged the agitators. Hundreds of women like Indrani Mukherji, Chanda Tudu, Virani Majiyain, Prema Devi and Sharda Devi played an important role in the freedom movement. It is in the history of Jharkhand that the women here never bow their heads to injustice but struggle against it. This was the reason that the women did not stay back during the Jharkhand Movement. Whenever the Jharkhand Movement had a big meeting, rally or strike in the State, the women took part in them while handling their house work. History is witness to the deaths of many women and girls during the movement. Whenever a Police station was seized, an attack by the moneylenders’ goons or revolt against Police torture, women and students

were always in the front. The killing of two school students Bhilai Topo and Jemma Topo in 1968 proves that even 32 years before the State was formed, women and girls participated in the movements. It should also not be forgotten that during the Police firing in Jamshedpur, Sabita Bhuiyan was killed while saving Dulal Bhuiyan and Rangini Bhuiyan lost a leg. If in Serengda (1978), the two sisters, Rahil Dang and Ajarmani Lugun did not show their courage and attacked the Police and raised the rifle’s point up, Shailendra Mahto and Thomas Bhuiyan would most probably not have escaped. When in 1994, the leader of the Jungle Movement and ex MLA Devendra Majhi was murdered, his wife, Joba Majhi dived into the Movement and took the campaign forward. She fought for a separate State and the tribal rights over the jungle. She later became a Minister. During the Dhan Kato campaign, the agitators used to cut the crops in the moneylenders fields. When the Police came, the men took shelter in the jungles and hills, but the women had to bear the brunt. When the moneylenders or the Police attacked, burned and looted their homes, the women fought back. In many cases, the Police misbehaved with them. Many women were killed after public misdemeanour. The incidents at Beldiha, Pakaria and Pararia are examples. When the Police broke and burnt the homes of the tribals at Kolhan, the women didn’t sit back quietly. They used to angrily beat up the Police and leave them severely injured. On 21 January, 1983, at Borta (Novamundi), the Police beat Ram Purti’s wife till she fell unconscious. They broke her hand. On 25 February, 1983, the Police assaulted Barai Munda’s wife Sushila when she fought against breaking into the house. They left her standing in the sun for hours with her child. Gutva Munda’s wife Saloma was hit with an iron rod. The wife of Sula Purti, a leader of the Jungle Movement at Baibera, was also beaten a lot. One constable held her hand, while another kept beating her with a baton. The women suffered all this for a separate State. This contribution is nothing less. The agitators could not give time at home, some were in the jungles. During this time, the women took the entire responsibility of the house. They had to also deal with the opponents. Whenever they got the chance, they would carry the children on their back and go for rallies. There were also times when the women stopped the Police with bows and arrows. At Kolhan, during the Jungle Movement, a woman named Nandi Kui along

with her comrades stopped the CRPF for hours at arrow point. Mariyam Cherova who lived near Manoharpur did not even marry because of the Jharkhand Movement. She went from village-to-village and united the women. She took part in movements. Shakuntala Tudu, Malti Kichingya, Jyotsna Tirkey and Kiran Minj lead the women’s side of the Movement. Nobody can deny the role of Badoli Murmu from Pokharia, Tundi of Dhanbad district. She is no more. In 1971, Shibu Soren had started the movement against the moneylenders from Pokharia, Tundi. In those days, he stayed at Badoli Murmu’s house. He lived there for around two years. Later, in 1973, he started the Shibu Ashram there. She fed him and took care of him like a son. Her son Shyamlal Murmu also lived with her. In 1980, when Shibu Soren left for Dumka, he handed over the responsibility of the Ashram to Shyamlal Murmu. Shyamlal Murmu was later murdered and Badoli Murmu’s support in her old age was taken away. Many women from the Jharkhand Movement formed groups and with the help of NGOs made the people aware through seminars or folk music. Thousands of women like Guni Oraon, Urmila Singh, Mini Soy, Jyotsna, Lado Jonko, Sister Jemma, Sukur Hembram, Miru Mardi and Kandin Mardi have contributed in one way or another to the Jharkhand Movement. They have also contributed to the fight against the exploitation and displacement. The Netarhat Field Firing Range Movement is an example. Many women workers and leaders of the Jharkhand Workers and Farmers Party around Bhurkunda have made their own identity on the basis of their struggle. The main names are Aiti, Meena and Seema Chaudhari. At the same time, the Jharkhand Movement also got an advantage through the campaign set by Dayamani Birla, Malanch Ghosh, Vasavi and Rose Kerkatta in and around Ranchi to empower women. This is why no one can deny the role of women in this Movement. q

Became a Martyr Trying to Save Dulal Sabita Bhuiyan from Jamshedpur The women and students played an important role in the Jharkhand Movement. Two sisters saved the life of Shailendra Mahto at Serengda. Nandi Kui had started a campaign against the CRPF during the Baipi firing. Bhilani Topo and Jemma Topo became martyrs in Chainpur. In Jamshedpur city, when the entire slum was surrounded by the Police to arrest Dulal Bhuiyan, the women came forward to protect him. The Police opened fire which caused the death of Sabita Bhuiyan, while Rangini Bhuiyan was shot in the leg. Later, her leg was amputated. Sabita was Dulal Bhuiyan’s aunt. The eyewitnesses say that if Sabita Bhuiyan and Rangini Bhuiyan did not come in front of Dulal Bhuiyan, then he would have died in the Police firing. Sabita sacrificed her life to save Dulal. Dulal became minister after creation of Jharkhand.

Rangini Bhuiyan

The incident occurred in 1992-93 when there was an economic blockade going on. Under the leadership of Dulal Bhuiyan, the agitators set a cement truck on fire near Bhuiyandih bridge. The Police force was very upset with this. They surrounded the entire Bhuiyandih slum overnight to arrest Dulal. On the other side hundreds of agitators under the leadership of Dulal came out with bows and arrows and confronted the Police. Meanwhile, the Police opened fire on Dulal. His aunt, Sabita Bhuiyan came forward to protect him from the firing. She got shot and died. Another bullet hit his other aunt,

Rangini Bhuiyan and she was hurt. She was shot in the leg. Later, the leg was amputated. Since then, she has been walking on crutches.

Dulal Bhuiyan

The Police actually wanted to kill Dulal. During the Movement there were 60 to 70 cases in his name. He was an active worker and leader of the JMM. He not only took part in the Movement demanding a separate State, but also fought against the moneylenders. Crime Control Act was imposed twice (1988 and 1991) on Dulal. He was freed both the times. His house was razed down with a bulldozer twice. Still, Dulal did not give up. In 1988, he started a movement against capitalism and moneylending. In June 1988, there was an gathering of 10 thousand dump workers, train workers, loading-unloading workers and the poor workers of the tribal society against exploitation and torture. The procession started from Bhuiyandih Durgapuja Ground till Govindpur-Rahargora against the moneylenders Ganga Seth, Manik, Tara Singh, Choten and Nandlal Singh. After the meeting, they seized the house of the moneylender Ganga Seth at Rahargora. Seeing the angry workers, he escaped on his motorcycle. This led to Dulal spending 27 months in jail. Dulal remembers the past. He says–After applying CCA, when the Police tried to bind him with handcuffs and rope, he fought back. He was then beaten a lot. He was taken from Jamshedpur to Bankipur (Patna) Central Jail. Meanwhile, when the Police wanted to handcuff him, it led to a scuffle. Jailer Mahjit Khan mediated. After taking him to the Central Jail, Dulal was mentally and physically tortured for 15 days. He was given one chapati to eat. There were always 2-3 Policemen with him. He was slapped when he felt sleepy and sometimes, he was kicked on the chest. Since he did not have any money, he could not appoint a lawyer. He himself gave the judge answers. The judge agreed with him and freed him from the CCA. He also arranged the fare to go to Jamshedpur.

In 1992, Dulal Bhuiyan and Ramdas Soren were arrested from Gorabandha. Dulal was beaten a lot. When his house was being torn down by a bulldozer, his pregnant wife, Anjana Bhuiyan protested. The Police beat her even in that condition. After getting the news, Subodh Kant Sahay, Shibu Soren, Suraj Mandal, Stephan Marandi and Shailendra Mahto went to investigate the situation. Even today Dulal, at the Patna Jail remembers the Police torture and cries. q

Two Female Students were Killed Chainpur Firing: 27 October, 1968 The Chainpur firing is also known for the martyrdom of two school students. This was the first firing during the Jharkhand Movement which caused the death of two girls. It is generally believed that Police do not shot girls, but the incident at Chainpur shows that the Police can do anything in anger. It happened on 27 October, 1968. According to the Police records, altogether, three people including the students were killed, but witnesses give a higher number.

Helena Lakra

Eyewitness Dayal Kujur

After the Jharkhand Party merged with the Congress, there was an emptiness within the Jharkhand Movement. To get rid of it, a group called Birsa Seva Dal (BSD) was formed quickly. It was more active in the regions of Gumla, Simdega, Ranchi, Khunti and Lohardaga. The number of members kept on increasing. BSD had a different way of working. Most of its workers and leaders believed in radical movements and sharp retorts. BSD was led by Lalit Kujur. On 27 October, 1968, the Police fired at the crowd (it had more of BSD workers and school children) surrounding the Police station. Three people were killed in the firing.

On 27th October, a religious gathering was organized in the ground opposite the church at Chainpur, Gumla district (then a part of Ranchi district). It was named the Israel Journey. The region had a majority of Christians. On the day of the incident, there were around five thousand people gathered. It included school students too. After the gathering came to an end, everyone started going home. Meanwhile, the promotion vehicle of BSD was called to march all the people from the gathering to the Police station. During the Police firing, one bullet hit 61-years old, Helena Lakra who is a resident of Chainpur Head Office. She was only 17 years at the time. Helena says – The Police bullet pierced my left leg. I was unconscious for 8 days at Bariyatu Hospital and when I regained consciousness, I found myself under Police security on the hospital bed. Helena, who is now the owner of Kamla Medical Hall, an Ayurvedic medical shop at Chainpur says – We were all gathered at Tongo village, Chainpur for the festival feast. There we were informed that the Police had arrested some innocent young men at the Police station. All of us went to inform that they were innocent. We split into two groups. One took the direct road towards the Police station and the other took the Church road towards the Police station. The crowd was in hundreds. When our group reached Green Gola Office near the Police station, the Police warned us not to move any further. And then suddenly, the firing started. People started running helter-skelter. I too tried to run, but that was when the Police bullet pierced my left thigh and I fell down unconscious. Another witness from Raintoli, Dayal Kujur says that one doctor lived near Chainpur Hospital. An old patient went to his house by mistake. This angered the doctor and he slapped the old man. This was an insult. He complained about it to the Student Union. The leaders of the Student Union beat up the doctor and told him to leave Chainpur. The CO Pitamber Jha transferred the doctor from Chainpur. The Police arrested the student’s leader Ishak, Christopher Kujur, John Kujur and Shanti Prakash Tigga for assaulting the doctor. It was the time of the festival feast. Everyone was gathered at Tongo. We got the information that the youth were arrested. Hundreds started towards the Police station. When they reached close to the Police station, they were told to stop. Around five thousand people had reached the Police station. After

surrounding the Police station, the situation became tense. The Police faced more problems because there were students in the crowd. They were demanding the release of the arrested youth. It was evening by then. The people started throwing stones at the Police station. The Police and the crowd were face to face. The Police kept warning the crowd to move away or action would be taken. The Police were trying to get rid of the people. Meanwhile, someone from the crowd started firing. The Police was waiting for an opportunity. As soon as the firing started, they started attacking. In the meantime, Magistrate R.R. Prasad had given orders to fire. The Police continued firing at the crowd of five thousand and they all ran helter-skelter. The Police fired 17 rounds. School students Bhilani Topo (Class 10), Jemma (Class 7) and a boy named Samuel Tirkey, died on the spot. Bhilani and Jemma were aged between 14-17. They both were from St. Anne’s Girls School. Many other people were shot in the firing. Helena Lakra (Class 10), Catherine Topo (Class 10), Bakhla (Class 9), Arvin Vegh (Class 6), Vimla Tirkey (Class 10) and Ajila Tirkey (Class 8) were injured. After the incident, there was tension in the whole region. This continued for many days. This incident took a political turn. Congress was the ruling party in the State. K.B. Sahay came to Ranchi after the incident. He had a meeting with the Congress leaders. Jaipal Singh Munda was with the Congress those days. He indirectly accused BSD regarding the firing and stated that they were creating problems to get an advantage in the elections. The Congress leaders slowly changed the direction of BSD politically. q

Part—5 The Role of AJSU There was a time during the Jharkhand Movement when the protestors felt that the government would not listen to them unless they resorted to violence. They had already witnessed the results of Assam, Gorkhaland movements. When All Jharkhand Student Union (AJSU) was formed in 1986, this was taken up by AJSU. Prabhakar Tirkey was the founder President and Suraj Singh Besra was the General Secretary. In this part of the book, AJSU’s movement, attitude, violence and incidents have been mentioned. It also mentions the agitators who lost their hands or legs during explosions in the movement. Explosions were common. This chapter also has the stories of revolutionaries who left the mortal world before they could see a Independent Jharkhand. Independent Jharkhand was built on the moral support and path laid down by these people. This chapter also focuses on those revolutionaries who gave themselves towards the movement and did umpteen sacrifices. Dr Ram Dayal Munda resigned from ViceChancellor post. Suraj Singh Besra resigned from Bihar Assembly.

Binod Bhagat, Anand, Prabhakar, Besra and Harishankar (sitting)

There is no second opinion to the fact that AJSU chose a violent path for the movement. They had destructive weapons with them. AJSU leaders used them according to situations. They believed all this was necessary for the success of the movement. Railway tracks were their common targets. It is true that had AJSU not resorted to their violent path, the central government would not have called them for talks. And this would have delayed the formation of a Jharkhand State. Since its inception, AJSU has had many fresh faces and their roles have also changed. From an extreme and aggressive role, to a silent and controlled movement and later, in the form of a responsible democratic

party. In the beginning, Prabhakar Tirkey and Suraj Singh Besra were leading the movement. Later Binod Bhagat, Devsharan Bhagat, Lalit Mahto, Bablu Murmu, Rajendra Mahto lead this movement forward. After formation of Jharkhand State, AJSU reorganized under Sudesh Mahto. Now the party’s role was different. Sudesh Mahto’s AJSU was different from AJSU formed during demand for a separate state. This New AJSU had old active members of 1986-1989. From a student organization, AJSU changed itself into a political party.

Vidyut Mahto

There was a reason why AJSU was formed in 1986. Then President of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, Nirmal Mahto felt that JMM required a student organization. Whatever JMM couldn’t indulge in, was planned to be done via AJSU. Though the decision was taken by JMM central committee members the mastermind behind this was Nirmal Mahto. On 1 June, 1986, he asked Suraj Singh Besra to form a student organization. Besra had won student union election of Ghatshila College. This (AJSU) name was in his mind from long. Nirmal Mahto was inspired by All Assam Students Union. Under the leadership of Praful Mohanthi and Bhrigu Funkan, students of Assam started a long historic movement. It was culminated by 1985 and hence it was decided to start AJSU in lines of AASU. On 22 June, 1986, AJSU was officially formed. Prabhakar Tirkey and Suraj Singh Besra became the President and General Secretary respectively. Though AJSU was formed, it did not receive much recognition. Differences arose between AJSU and JMM. AJSU members were generally aggressive in nature. When Nirmal Mahto was murdered on 8 August, 1987, in Jamshedpur, AJSU was discussed for the first time throughout the country. AJSU declared strikes throughout the nation. For three days, there were strikes in Jharkhand. Violence spread throughout the Jamshedpur and some other districts. AJSU showed their mettle for the first time. AJSU had become a reflection of turmoil by then. People were mortified.

Ramdas Soren

AJSU members were guided by Nirmal Mahto. On 23 July, 1986, he had sent Suraj Singh Besra, Harishankar Mahto and Bablu Murmu to Gorkhaland so that they could learn fighting techniques from AASU and Gorkhaland National Liberation Front (GNLF). They met Pioneer of GNLF, Subhash Gheesing. The flame shown by AJSU in 1987 burnt till 1989. This was the golden time in the history of AJSU. In those days, the demand for a separate Jharkhand had not reached Delhi. Their first task was to bring this to central government’s (New Delhi) with the right impact. In those days, apart from Prabhakar, Bablu and Devsharan, there were leaders like Binod Bhagat, Rajendra Mahto, Khelaram Mahali, Anand Oraon, Harishankar Mahto, Sunil Mahto (deceased parliamentarian), Ramdas Soren, Vidyut Mahto, Vir Singh Soren, Babu Lal Murmu, Sudama Marandi, Sudarshan Bhagat, Vimal Kachhap, Lalit Mahto, Kamal Kishor Bhagat, Damu Lakshman Tudu, Saiba Sushil Hansda, Praveen Prabhakar and Praveen Oraon in AJSU team. Some old AJSU members later joined Maoist organizations. In 1989, there was a massive movement by AJSU in Jharkhand. Rail tracks were the benchmarks. Ranchi-Silli and Ranchi-Lahardaga were the premier ones. They tried to blow off the trains through Bombay-Howrah line, so that their voices could reach New Delhi. And this happened. Then Home Minister Buta Singh called AJSU leaders for discussion in New Delhi. It was felt that Centre had estimated AJSU strength for the first time. To negotiate with Buta Singh, Besra, Tirkey, Devsharan Bhagat, Anand Oraon, Harisankar Mahto went to New Delhi.

Sudesh Kumar Mahto

Post Delhi Discussion, AJSU activities were softened. There was a change in the leadership of AJSU. JMM was also moving ahead with the revolt. AJSU expectations were on the 1990 Bihar Legislative Assembly elections. Suraj Singh won from Ghatshila. And later Besra resigned from Legislation. This was a great sacrifice. Not a single member of Legislative Assembly had sacrificed their post for voicing this demand. From 19891993, conditions existed that shops had to close down due to AJSU rally. The turmoil stopped. AJSU became disorgranized. Gradually in the years that followed, AJSU became a weak body and their violence culminated. In-between this, in 2000, Jharkhand became a state. After the formation of Jharkhand, Sudesh Mahto tried to reorganize AJSU. The strength of AJSU increased. And AJSU got an opportunity to reclaim its existence in Jharkhand. From 1991, Sudesh Mahto was active in Jharkhand movement. He had been arrested at Silli on account of sabotage attempts. He was in jail for 3 months. Post the formation of a separate state, he became the deputy Chief Minister. AJSU was still in existence and they had made lot of mistakes. But everyone knew that Jharkhand State came at the cost of the innumerable AJSU leaders who gave their lives for this quest. Even today, many AJSU leaders are spending their lives fighting their cases in court. Some of them were still in jail after formation of Jharkhand. Many lost power due to loss of wealth and materialistic properties. A great leader of AJSU is now a daily wage labourer. He carries sand and dowel on his head daily. This is extremely shameful. In spite of still being in existence, AJSU could not do anything for their old leaders. Sudesh Mahto was extremely young when he took the reins of the Party. It was not easy for him to carry off the legacy without the help of the old warhorses. The role of AJSU in formation of Jharkhand State was huge. Old incidents are a proof to this. In 1993, there was a blockade made through Sarvadaleeya Sangharsh Samiti. Some AJSU leaders also were on fast. Fasting was forcefully stopped immediately and soon, the situation became violent. Patratu-Chandil electric lines blown off using dynamite. In Ghaghra, the AJSU agitators kept a bomb on the truck. A foreman of Hindalco was killed in this chaos. District administration imposed curfew in Nawadih. Violence was getting intensified. It was the first time in the Jharkhand Movement that in Ranchi-Lohargadha railway line, a train came

within their grip, leading to death of 15 travellers. The controversy was regarding if this was a natural disaster or whether the agitators played a role in this by opening fishplate. There was a conflict between railways and district administration. This incident happened on 20 April, 1993, near Tangerbasali Narkopi. The national impact of this act was tremendous. The blockade was suspended only after intervention of then Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao. q

Narayan Sahu

Narayan Sahu’s Leg had to be Amputated Narayan Sahu

In order to make the blockades that happened during movement, a success, the revolutionaries gave their heart and soul. To get the attention of Central Government they indulged in violent activities. Violent elements in AJSU programs were overboard. They could even jeopardize their lives with a bomb in their hands in order to blow a railway track. Such incidents happened occasionally.

Narayan Sahu

One such agitator was Narayan Sahu. He lost his leg in the movement. Son of Gopal Chandra Sahu, who was a resident of Saraikela-Kharsavan district Rajnagar block, Narayan did not have a great academic background to his credential. He was a Manager in Adityapur Petrol Pump. In 1989, he involved himself with JMM. He started his activities with blockade, at Rajnagar Street. He was involved in many blockades later, including the one at Govindpur. When there was workers movement in TISCO, under the leadership of Champai Soren, Narayan Sahu also played an important role. He was also involved in the workers movement of Gamharia. When Shibu Soren wanted to transform the blockade into a historic movement in 1993, Narayan Sahu also became a part of it. The agitators had planned to blow off railway tracks in Kandra, Manikuyi. There was a bomb blast and two of their friends were killed. There was also a plan to blow off NTPC main electric tower. There were four bombs,

which were planned to be blasted. There was a flaw in the plan and a bomb blasted early. In this incident, Narayan Sahu’s friend Devashish Goswami of Gamharia, Chandra Mohan Tudu of Saraikela and Don Majhi of Rajnagar died on spot. Narayan Sahu was also with these people at the time of incident, but luck was on his side. He, however, lost his right leg in this mishap. After the death of three revolutionaries, the Police became active. In order to escape from Police, Narayan Sahu went without treatment and hid near a forest in Mahuldih for a day. When the situation cooled down, on the second day, he was taken to a nursing home in Jugsalai. His primary treatment was done there. When he was not recuperating well, he was taken to TMH by Sudhir Mahto. His left leg had to be amputated to save his life. By this time, Police had caught them. When his condition improved, he was taken to Saraikela Jail. He remained there from 1993 to January, 1995. He was released in February, 1995. In 1997, he married Sankuni who was a native of Rajnagar. Narayan used to tell that he was the cashier of an undivided JMM in Singhbhum. Later, he was trapped in financial difficulties. Narayan used to say that none other than Champai Soren helped him. Champai gave him a motorcycle in 1995. He regrets that in spite of jeopardizing his life and losing his leg in pursuit of the movement, he was not given the required regard. He lived a life of neglect. q

Death Due to Police Torture Manmath Baske: 24 June, 1995 Kundaluka is a village in Dumria block of East Singhbhum. This village played a major role in Jharkhand Movement. There were many youths from this village who, under the banner of AJSU, had become part of the movement. Manmath Baske was born on 10 February, 1956. He was also called as Karu Baske and he had worked in ICC under this name. He was a resident of New Colony in Musabani. He married in 1979 and became a father of five girls. When entire Musabani was engulfed by the AJSU and JMM revolution, Manmath also became a part of this movement. After the murder of Nirmal Mahto in 1987, AJSU had taken a new avatar. By 1987, the organization had become extremely violent. AJSU members had been involved in blowing off the nearby railway tracks. Manmath was very much involved with AJSU. He knew that if he had given an indication to his wife regarding his involvement, he would be prohibited from doing so. Hence, he carried off as an anonymous activist. He couldn’t give much of his attention in family responsibility.

Manmath Baske

It was 26 January, 1995. AJSU had declared that they will boycott Republic Day functions. Manmath was fully involved in the activities. The activities which were more dangerous, were single-handedly carried out by Manmath. Hence, when it was decided to unfurl a black Flag as a mark of protest, he decided to do it on his own. He unfurled it on 26th January, in Dumaria block office. He was arrested by Police from New Colony. In those days, whoever arrested in the name of the movement was subjected to Police lashing. The same happened with Manmath. He was badly beaten by the Police that he couldn’t outlive it. In a half dead state, he was brought to Sakchi Jail of Jamshedpur. His condition worsened in the Jail and on 14 May, 1995, arrangements for his treatments were made in MGM. His father

was also serious about his failing health. Though he recuperated in the beginning, he passed away on morning of 24 May, 1995. His body was released to his relatives after autopsy on 25th. When his body reached Kundaluka, there was a heavy rush of visitors who came to pay their last respects. He was cremated near Sankh River. In the bereavement of his son’s death, the father also passed away. Hence, in pursuit for a Jharkhand, Manmath Besra sacrificed his family responsibilities and jeopardized his life. o

Died Due to Lack of Treatment Sidhu Tiyu: 9 September, 1987 When Gangaram Kalundia left the army and started a movement against Kuju Dam, Sidhu Tiyu was his comrade. The bright Sidhu Tiyu was already a Messiah of the Displaced. When he was a student of Gyanchand Jain Commerce College, he was already involved in the movement. Hence, when construction of Kuju Dam started on the banks of Subarnarekha River, the agitators chose Sidhu as their leader. The displaced started a movement on the banks of Kharkai River. Sidhu Tiyu was chosen as the President and Gangaram Kalundia, the General Secretary. Gangaram’s responsibility was on the Iligarha side of the river and Sidhu’s was on the Bita side. He was a mastermind in warfare planning and gimmicking the Police. The greatest proof to this exists in the fact that till the day he breathed his last, on 9 September, 1987, the Police could not catch him. They had been on lookout for him from 1982.

Sidhu Tiyu

On 22 March, 1982, (Just 13 days before murder of Gangaram Kalundia), at 5 pm, 11 Police vans reached Sidhu Tiyu’s Bita village. They were searching for Sidhu. He got a whiff of this earlier and had absconded the scene. When Sidhu was not found in his house, Police wreaked havoc. They spent 20 minutes in searching his house and started destroying property. The entire village was present there and nobody uttered a single word against this. The women were more in number. When Police tried to destroy Sidhu’s uncle’s house, the women gang serenaded them. Police started a violent streak against women. Women aged from 17 to 70 years were badly beaten up by the Police. Police beat Sidhu’s sister and misbehaved with his mother. After beating up the womenfolk, Police went to Sura Purti’s house. Even he was not found and they had to return. This revenge was fulfilled by

Police in killing of Gangaram Kalundia. Sidhu knew now that the Police was after him. Hence, he changed his workground. He now focused on Mahuldih, Beradeepa and Gamharia. In these areas, leaders like Champai Soren, Krishna Mardi, Sunil Mahto, Vidyut Mahto etc. had been in the Police list and they couldn’t be arrested. I went Sidhu’s village after 19 years of his death. I met his friend Thakur Hansda. He said that leadership skills of Sidhu was exemplary. Whenever Police made a plan to capture him, he fled the scene immediately. This was possible only because of his networking skills. He became very helpless after Nrmal Mahto’s death. Towards his end, he changed his hold and started living in Sangajhata. He was so involved in the movement that he did not even marry. Towards his end, he was deeply involved in spirituality. He believed that the revolution could take new dimension with spiritual strength. In September, 1987, he fell ill. He was extremely dehydrated due to diarrhoea. On 9 September, 1987, he passed away in Ugadimundi, due to lack of treatment. Champai Soren, Doctor Tudu, Indrajeeth Sinku and Somesh Murmu were with him. In words of Somesh, Sidhu was a person of keen social interest and responsibility. Due to frequent absconding, he always lived in extreme conditions like a leaking house or eating with common people etc. He also did this because he wanted to comprehend the pain of the people. He had a very cooperating attitude. Many a times, he used to plough Thakur Hansda’s fields. He was one among the brave-hearts of the Jharkhand Movement who gave up their entire life for this noble quest. After his death, his statue was erected near Ghaghidih Jail. Javed Mardi, Lakhan Hansda, Markodo Soy, Chhote Soren used to idolize Sidhu. In commemoration of Sidhu, these people started an Annual Football Tournament. q

Part—6 Tyranny of Police Beldiha Misdeed: 30 December, 1978

The Stories of Police Tyranny Beldiha Village is situated two km from Godda. This colony is a Santhal area. In 1978, the population of this village was 300-400. On 30 December, 1978, approximately 150 Jawans of CRPF yielded chaos, misbehaved with women, tortured and raped them. The male members were forced to run away from the village earlier. The remaining were arrested. Due to Police tyranny and misbehaviour, two women died within a year.

Injured Pran Marandi.

The entire issue was related to landlords. They had taken away the Santhal lands. Dhan Kato movement was running under leadership of Shibu Soren. The rightful owners of the land were Santhals and their properties were forcefully taken away from them. Santhals started a revolution to get their lands back. They had also sown seeds in these lands. There was a landlord named Bhagwan Singh. He was the only nonSanthal in the village. He lived in the colony. He had a few acres of land. During November, Santhals had sown seeds in his land. At that time, he did not respond. After a month, he complained to the Police. On 30 December, 1978, at 4 pm, approximately 150 CRPF Jawans came to the village. The men were beaten and made to flee. When a woman opened the doors hearing this chaos, The CRPF barged into the house, forced her father-inlaw out of the house, threw the children on the floor and four jawans forced themselves on her. They barged into all houses. They formed groups of 4-5, raided all houses, molested with young women they could find and raped them. An old woman who was beaten up, was so disturbed mentally, that even after a year of the incident, whenever she came across strangers, she used to cry

out loud–“I have not done anything wrong, please leave me, don’t beat me”. Five Jawans molested a lady who had recently become a mother. Twenty days after this incident, the lady, Moonga Soren (name changed) passed away. Another woman, Tulla Hembram (name changed) was also beaten up and molested by the Jawans. She had heavy migraines due to this incident and passed away after a year, in January. A Hindi Daily “Dinman”, in its February 4-10, 1979 issue, gave a detailed report regarding this incident with an article titled “The Body of a Woman”. It explained how Jawans unleashed a 4 hour terror in the village. Thirty-six men were arrested. When forces were busy in invasion, a 12 year old boy, Pran Marandi, climbed up a tree and tried to organize the people. Jawans reached there by then, made him climb down and fired on both his legs. The menfolk who were out of the village tried to attack the forces using arrows. But the Jawans started firing and a youth was injured. After torturing and misbehaving with Beldiha women, the CRPF Jawans left the scene. A day before this incident, 6 Police vehicles were found at a place 17 km from Godda, called Poraiyahatt. Police had ravaged the place in a similar fashion to Beldiha. Police had raped 11 women there. Similar incidents occurred in Shampur, which was one km away from Dogabandh and Aamgacchi, just 2 km away. In the entire region, on one side Santhals were focused on reaping their lands and on the other, exploiters were busy evacuating them with Police help. There were 7 main landlords in Godda. They were very rich and Police yielded to their fancies. The rampage of Police in Beldiha had started by 21st December. Some landlords in Poraiyahatt had engaged in a tiff with tribal women. When the tribals rose against the exploiters, they fired at them, leading to injuring of 3 tribals. There was a huge chaos in Bihar Legislation against the mass rape of Santhal women by CRPF forces. A enquiry Commission was established. But they just frightened and gimmicked the tribals. The news reached Prime Minister. Seven Parliamentarians wrote to PM expressing their fury over the incident. This letter explained in detail regarding how tribals were exploited in South Bihar. q

Probably No One was Spared Pakaria Misdeed: 17 March, 1979 When Dhan Kato movement was going on, under the leadership of Shibu Soren, the exploiters teamed up with the Police officials to torture the villagers. In Santhal areas, the landlords had seized the Santhal lands. Whatever produce came off seized lands were also forcefully taken away by landlords. Situation came to an extent where, if a villager had taken a pumpkin seed from the landlord, he had to give the entire pumpkin harvest as his due. This extreme exploitation had been going on for quite some time. Nobody had raised voices against this. But when Shibu Soren gathered people to fight against exploitation and started Dhan Kato movement, the landlords could not accept it. They took Police help in fighting against this movement. In order to teach villagers a lesson, Police raped the womenfolk. Such an incident occurred in Beldiha.

Immediately three months after Beldiha incident (mass rape), a similar incident happened in Pakaria. Pakaria was also part of Godda sub division (Now it has become a district). There was a dispute regarding land ownership between tribals and Brahmins. In those days, the non-tribals had taken away tribal lands for third party farming. Hence, most of the lands (approximately 1. 5 Bheeghas) claimed by Brahmins were Santhal lands. They then gave the land for farming to Dalits. These lands were in Pakaria border, near Saraikeeta. On 16 March, 1979, Santhal, Harijan and Brahmins had all reached the fields. Santhal and Dalits were on one side against the Brahmins who was supported by the Police. Police did not have a warrant and Godda SDO was also out of the station. Hence, without information, the Police reached there.

When Santhals started to reap the grains, Police obstructed them and started firing. An 11-year-old child, who was witness to this incident, lost his two fingers. One more Santhal was shot and he died immediately. Santhals were not ready for this type of firing and hence, they ran away. They reassembled two km away. By dusk, entire Pakaria was in flames. Brahmins was agitated that Dalits went with Santhals. They set fire to Dalits house and spread rumours that Dalits were behind this act. In order to increase suspicion against Dalits, they burnt some of their lands too. This was a strategy deployed by them to lock horns between Dalits and Santhals. Santhals were watching this from outside the village, armed with bows and arrows. On 17th March, the entire CRPF team came in trucks to Pakaria. Santhals hid in fields and in mountains but Dalits were there. Jawans beat them badly. Whatever was left after the firing, were also looted. CRPF and Brahmins started searching Santhal houses. CRPF went to nearby villages and tortured innocent villagers. This ruthlessness continued for two more days. Later, the CRPF went to Kervar village. There was a famous tribal leader there. They could not find him. Most men had left the village and only womenfolk were remaining. On seeing the forces, five women tried to flee. Eight Jawans caught these five women and they forced themselves upon them. Five women who tried to flee the scene were raped by Police. They were also beaten badly. Their jewelry was seized. After the incident, all five women fled from there. They hid in the mountains for three days without any food or water. They returned to their villages when CRPF rampage was over. During May, 1980, a study thesis by ‘Stri Sangharsh’ titled ‘Mass Rape in Santhal’, was released regarding this incident. This article talks about Police atrocities. The crux of the article was the Police restlessness in spite of the chaos created and continued the streaks of savagery by continuing these activities in the next village. When CRPF team, after their atrocities in Kervar, reached Bakhadda, they seized a new-born baby from mother’s lap and threw her on the floor. They also misbehaved with the mother. The CRPF forces returned from Karvar and Bakhadda by noon. They were 150 in number. The womenfolk were assembled beneath the Peepal tree. They started beating them vigorously and misbehaving with them again. Only a few escaped this torture. Women who were inside the

houses were beaten first. A young girl disappeared after the incident and she was neither found alive or dead. These incidents created fiasco in Legislative Assembly, committees were formed. And the report that came out was crushed. q

Didn’t Even Spare the Little Girl Pararia Misdeed: 18 February, 1988 Pararia colony is 15 km from Deoghar. This is a village of farmers and cultivators. This is the colony where fiasco that shook entire nation on 18 February, 1988, occurred. Police had beaten the menfolk and the elderly and driven them out of the village. The Police tortured womenfolk and girls and forced themselves upon them. Those who resisted were almost flogged to death. This shameful incident was condescended by the whole nation. Atal Bihari Vajpayee, V. P. Singh and HN Bahaguna came to Pararia to share their grief. On 11th February, a soldier named Ramprasad Rai had along with three chowkidars–Eklal Paswan, Reva Turi and Baiju Paswan, came to arrest a youth named Binod Marandi. Police had made a hefty accusation on Binod Marandi. He was not found in the house. Hence, the Police threatened to arrest his father Mangal Marandi. Police took 400 rupees from Mangal Marandi and indulged themselves in alcohol and other intoxications. At that time, Devi Mahto complained to Police that someone named, Yogendra Yadav from Pararia has forcefully abducted his daughter from Punasi. On hearing this, officials immediately reached Pararia and went to Yogendra Yadav’s house. As soon as Yogendra Yadav’s father opened the door, Police started beating him. Police forces were heavily intoxicated and hearing the chaos, the villagers assembled and swore at the Policemen. On seeing the harsh stand taken by villagers, the Police tried to escape. They reached the station and broadcasted the incident in a different manner. The Police decided to take revenge and brought together their friends. Police had already made a wrong interpretation of the incident in Jasidih station. An FIR was forcefully charged by Devi Mahto and his wife. The truth was opposite. Devi Mahto was drunk and had taken money from his son-in-law. Without receiving the money, he did not allow his daughter to go to her in-laws place. On the day of incident, Yogendra Yadav had not forcefully taken away the women but both of them had consensually met and Devi’s daughter went to her husband’s house. When Devi Mahto came to realize this, he created a fake complaint to torture his son-in-law. Police

were already against the villagers. On receiving an opportunity, they used it to unleash their anger again. The Police brutality was at its pinnacle on February 18th. When Police started unleashing terror in Pararia, the womenfolk locked themselves inside the houses. Police broke the doors and barged in. The Police flogged on 65-years old Jayaram Mahto, who begged to keep his daughters honour intact. The fact was if anyone’s daughter came over to protect their parents, Police forced themselves upon these girls. The Policemen raped with a 40 year old mother and her two teenage (Age 13 and 16 years) daughters. The younger daughter’s marriage had been fixed and she was ready to leave for her husband’s house. There was also an incident where a women was raped by six officers. Police made victims out of the helpless villagers as per their whims. This included women and girls from 13 to 50 years old. Police also raided the houses after this. They seized jewelry, vessels and cash. Police took 14 villagers along with them. There were four small children in the group who were released the next day. Whether it was this social malice and vandalism by Police or haunting of village because of Devi Mahto Case, the reasons behind these incidents were an altogether different story. Police were already against the villagers due to Jharkhand Movement. There was strong movement against the Punasi project. When villagers put forward their rehabilitation queries, contractors wanted to teach them a lesson. They combined with the Police forces. A contractor in Dhanbad threatened the villagers that if there were any barriers to the projects, there would be dire consequences. This contractor had the main contract for building the Dam. The coalition between the contractors and the Police forces could be revealed from the bogus FIR in name of Devi Mahto’s wife. Here, these displaced villagers were made the accused. In those days, Bhagawat Jha Azad was ruling Bihar and he had become the Chief Minister just four days back. He reached Pararia and tried to console the villagers and suspended 14 Police Officials. q

References Jharkhand: History and Culture–Dr. V. Veerottam Jharkhand Andolan ke Messiah–Raj Kishore Mahto Jharkhand ke Amar Shaheed: Ekta Publication Newspapers: Prabhat Khabar, Ranchi Express, Singhbhoomi Ekta, Sunday, The Telegraph, The Statesman, The Indian Nation, Jansatta, Times of India Journals: Jharkhand Darshan, Maya, Dinman, Raviwar Naxalbari ke daur main: Veer Bharat Talwar Jharkhand ki samargatha: Shailendra Mahto Tribal Revolt of 1949 in Mayurbhanj: Dr. Kalpana Das Memoirs of a Bygone Era: PK Dev Mass Rape in Santhal Pargana (Study): Women Struggle Abua: Raj-Matthew Ariparampil Shaheed Visheshank: Bulletin of Bihar Tribal Welfare Research Institute Singhbhum Main Daman: Report of PUCL Jharkhand ki Ulgulan Mahilayen: Dr. Francisca Kujur Jharkhand, AJSU Aur Main: Suraj Singh Besra qqq