JHARKHAND  

Left Delegation Meets Governor To Press Demands

ON June 3, a delegation of six Left parties met the Jharkhand governor M Rama Jois and, through a memorandum, demanded a CBI enquiry into the corruption charges against some ministers in the Arjun Munda government. The other demands put forward included --- holding of immediate panchayat elections in the state, initiation of a political process by convening an all party meeting to determine the local inhabitant policy, stop to saffronisation of education and institution of a judicial enquiry into the communal attack on minorities at Panki in Palamu district by the VHP, Bajrang and associates in connivance with the police and administration.

The delegation comprised the CPI(M) state secretary J S Majumdar, CPI state secretariat member Upendra Chaurasia, CPI(ML) state secretary Suvendu Sen, Marxist Coordination Committee’s Mithilesh Singh, S K Das (RSP), a leader of the Forward Bloc and CPI(M) state secretariat member Rajendra Singh Munda.

The memorandum recalled that the former chief minister of Jharkhand, Babulal Marandi, had made some statements that were widely published in the press on March 24 and 25. According to him, some ministers in the earlier Marandi ministry and now members of the Arjun Munda ministry are corrupt. Marandi brought some specific charges against these ministers, adding that he was in possession of certain incriminating documents about the corruption of these ministers.

The delegation was of the view that these documents should have been handed over to the appropriate authorities for investigation and appropriate action when they became available to Marandi when he was the chief minister, and he had no right to keep these as his personal property. Anyhow, Babulal Marandi’s public statements do present a fit case for CBI probe, the Left delegation added.

As for the delay in holding panchayat elections in Jharkhand, the delegation pointed out that the state has been deprived of panchayati raj bodies for the last 24 years. In this regard, the Left delegation’s memorandum drew attention to an order of the Patna High Court that said the constitution of India ordained a five-tiered structure for democracy in India (parliament, state legislatures and three lower tiers) and that the absence of any one of these tiers would render a constitutional void. Obviously, the order, promulgated before the bifurcation of Bihar, is applicable for Jharkhand as well. Yet, while panchayat elections have been held in the present-day Bihar and while the state of Jharkhand has enacted a panchayat raj act, no such elections have been held here because it does not suit the present ruling alliance in the state.

Another issue raised by the delegation was that of the high-handed actions of Arjun Munda government including the killing of a child and a woman when the police targeted the tribals and Christian missionaries. On the issue of a local inhabitant policy, the state government has ignored the political process initiated in the all-party assembly group meeting, the opinion of the committee formed by the then chief minister, the suggestion of the 5-member special bench of Ranchi High Court, and all opposition views. Chief minister Arjun Munda arbitrarily ordered recruitment of 10,000 primary teachers; issued provocative statements containing threats of violence and retaliatory actions against any opposition to holding of primary teachers’ examination. This was the main reason of an agitation, against which the police opened fire killing an innocent child and a woman. Moreover, Munda praised the police for this firing and, instead of finding out the culprits who incited violence, he started publicly accusing all the Christian missionaries and minorities in the infamous Gujarat style.

The delegation demanded that the Arjun Munda government be made to act democratically and continue the political process for formulating a local inhabitant policy for jobs within the framework of the constitution and the Ranchi High Court’s directions. The chief minister and the ruling alliance must also be advised to refrain from attacking the tribals, Christian missionaries and minorities.

Another major demand the Left delegation put forward was about a judicial enquiry into the communal attacks on minorities at Panki, Palamu district. On April 14, some unknown criminals burnt the jhanda of the Ram Janki Mandir at Panki, after which communal elements, particularly the VHP and Bajrang Dal, attacked the Muslims in a planned manner next day, killing two persons, injuring many others, and burning properties in presence of the SDO. The police remained inactive police while the Panki BDO and some Samata Party leaders were the active participants. The conspiracy needs to be unearthed through an impartial enquiry and the culprits including the administration and police personnel penalised. In this context, the Left parties demanded a judicial enquiry by a sitting judge of Ranchi High Court, immediate arrest of the VHP, Bajrang Dal and Samata Party leaders who have been named as accused, immediate suspension of and legal action against the Panki BDO and SDO, and payment of Rs 2 lakh compensation each to the families of Azamuddin Ansari and Golu Mia who were killed, jobs to their dependents, and Rs 50,000 compensation to each of the injured persons.    

The governor gave a patient hearing, assured to take up these matters with the Arjun Munda government with appropriate advice and was of the view that withholding panchayat elections for more than six months is a subversion of the constitutional provision under the 73rd constitution amendment. He also agreed that a solution of the local inhabitant problem lies in a political process involving a discussion among all political parties and taking a decision either by consensus or by an overwhelming majority within the framework of the constitution.