PATNA, INDIA: An All-Party meeting here Sept.10 termed as “unfortunate and irresponsible” the statement of the federal home (Interior) Minister S.B.Chavan that creation of a separate state or union territory could alone solve the protected Jharkhand problem.
The protest meeting convened by Bihar Chief Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav was all ended by leaders of the Janata Dal, Congress-I, Bharatiya Janata Party, Communist Party of India, Communist Party of India (Marxist), Marxist Coordination Committee, Forward Bloc, Samajwadi Janata Party, India People’s Front and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (Mardi).
Briefing reporters after the meeting, Prasad said the statement which had been made without consulting all the recognized political parties of the country and the state government, had created an atmosphere of instability and the meeting, therefore, condemned it
The meeting authorized him to convene a meeting of National leaders of all political parties and their state units for eliciting their views on the issue. The tribals of the Jharkhand area in Bihar bordering West Bengal and Orissa are demanding a separate state to assert their district cultural and linguistic identity and also for better administration. Bihar is one of the largest states of India and faces a host of problems due to its vast size, poverty and unemployment.
Article extracted from this publication >> September 25, 1992
