Ranchi, Dec 29, 2019: Within hours of being sworn-in as the chief minister of Jharkhand on December 29, Hemant Soren announced his government’s first cabinet decision to drop all cases against tribals in connection with the Pathalgadi movement of 2017.
In a tweet posted by its Information and Public Relations department, the government said its council of ministers had opposed amendments to the Chhotanagpur Tenancy Act (CNT) and the Santhal Paragana Tenancy (SPT) Act – both of which protect tribals’ land rights – and had withdrawn all sedition cases filed as a result of massive protests against the state government.
The move signifies that Soren is aware of the simmering discontent among tribals over cases lodged against them and, after sweeping seats reserved for that community in the election, has decided to address their grievances on a priority basis.
In 2016 the previous government – led by the BJP’s Raghubar Das – proposed changes in the CNT and SPT Acts. The changes opened land used only for mining and industries to roads, power, development work and other things and led to a sharp division within the party.
A BJP tribal leader was quoted by news agency IANS as saying Das was “playing with the sentiments of the Advasis and Moolvasi” and warning him of repercussions to the party.
In last week’s election, which saw the JMM-Congress-RJD alliance win 47 seats in the 81-member Assembly, the party faced significant reverses in the tribal belt; it won just two of 28 seats reserved for Scheduled Tribes.
The Pathalgadi movement became a major issue in campaigning for the Jharkhand Assembly elections. The BJP came up with a fact file on the matter that said only 172 people had been named in 23 FIRs.
“This news report of sedition charge against more than 10,000 people was wrong. We did take stern action against those indulging against anti-national activities. It was so especially in this case, for people behind opium business tried to exploit poor tribals,” Das told NDTV.