NEW DELHI: India is almost ready to capitulate to the Jharkhand tribal pressure for creating a new state to be called Jharkhand. This was hinted at by home minister S.B.Chavan at a press conference at Poone this week. The new state will comprise districts of Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and West Bengal. These districts are inhabited mostly by tribals. The demand for the new state is decades old and the tribals built up a strong pressure on India in the wake of unrest in Punjab and Kashmir in the recent months. They observed “he ands” twice this blocked the movement of coal and other mineral materials to other states, The tribals grievances arc that they are subjected to exploitation by upper caste Hindus dominating the four states and the central Indian government. Their economic resources are plundered by big business houses and they are not even given employment in the local projects.
The Indian government authorities arc trying to water down the tribal demand by proposing the carving of a territory to be administered by the central Indian government for the present. This arrangement will be known as union territory and will be on the same footing as the town of Chandigarh which is controlled by India’s bureaucracy. Will the tribals accept this arrangement is the point.
Another complicating factor is resistance being put up by ruling politicians, bureaucrats and other upper caste groups against the tribal state. For instance, the Bihar and West Bengal governments headed by Janata Dal and Marxists are opposed to the demand. However, of late the Congress (I) under Rao’s leadership finds the going tough vis-a-vis the demand for Jharkhand state. It is willing to depart from a no compromise posture the outgoing regimes in Delhi adopted. India appears to feel that a situation akin to Punjab’s. or Kashmir’s will develop if the demand for Jharkhand state is resisted any longer.
Article extracted from this publication >> September 18, 1992
