Tribals Rally Behind Soren In Jharkhand

With the winning alliance led by the BJP in a tizzy following Eknath Shinde’s antics since last one week, the uneasy scenario seems to be finally settling down in Maharashtra. However, in contrast, it has been ‘all is well’ in the tribal state of Jharkhand with Hemant Soren leading the INDIA alliance to a decisive victory yet again against the BJP.

Politically significant is the fact that the small ‘green’ state’s tribal voters have united across the beautiful landscape and voted overwhelmingly for the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and the INDIA alliance. In a state where the BJP had earlier foisted a non-tribal chief minister, Raghubir Das, the resurrection of the united tribal identity is good news in mainstream Indian politics.

It was during the regime of Raghubir Das, with the BJP firmly entrenched in Delhi after their victory in the summer of 2014, that a series of mob-lynchings started happening across the towns and rural areas of Jharkhand. Usually enacted as public spectacles, often in market places and congested residential areas, innocent Muslim citizens were targeted by well-organised mobs on flimsy charges such as ‘child-lifters’. This reporter travelled across the state and found that one such ‘child-lifter’ was a prominent second-hand car dealer with a sprawling house whose two daughters were studying in an English-medium school. Another was a plumber with a graduate wife who had just returned from Dubai.

The public lynchings were to dominate the political and social space, and to send a message to the Muslim community that they are second class citizens. Many such lynchings would be followed by Hindutva mobs going into Muslim areas and shouting provocative and inflammatory slogans, often right outside the home of the dead man.-

In a tribal state, with no history of polarisation between the tribals and Muslim community, this was a new communal card which was systematically used in an otherwise peaceful state. The entire administration and police, often, would choose to remain absent from the spot, or, tactically silent, when these public killings were enacted.

The mob-lynchings stopped due to mass protests in Delhi and elsewhere, and after the defeat of the BJP in Jharkhand. With Soren in power, the hounding of the Muslims seemed to have ended, though human rights activists still argue that justice seems to be still far away for the families of the people killed so brutally.

Besides, for decades, and even during the British era, the tribals of the state have suffered at the hands of the ‘diku’ -- the outsider. Such is the perception that still prevails. These non-tribals would exploit the indigenous communities, cheat them of their land, money and forest resources, and use armed power to suppress them when they rose up in revolt with nothing but bows and arrows. The massive guerilla-like uprising led by Birsa Munda in the late 19th century is a case in point, as is the first Santhal rebellion in 1855.

The Santhal rebellion was led by four brothers: Sidhu, Kanhu, Chand and Bairab. There are reports that their sisters were also leaders of the uprising with thousands of women and men fighting pitched battles against the exploitation done by moneylenders, landlords who had captured their land, government officials and British authorities. Sidhu and Kanhu were later caught and reportedly hanged on a tree.

A very young Birsa Munda was imprisoned, and died quickly, apparently of poisoning. There was no trial. It is widely believed that he was tortured and murdered in jail. Since then, he has become a legend in Jharkhand and in the tribal regions of Bengal. His comrades were either shot dead, or put in chains and shackles, and transferred to the torture chambers of ‘kala pani’ in the Andaman.

The tribal factor is important in Jharkhand because the JMM is victorious in 27 of the 28 seats reserved for tribal communities. With his wife Kalpana Soren also leading the campaign, the dominant tribal communities of the Mundas, Santhals, Bhumij and Ho seemed to have voted overwhelmingly for the party. Kalpana Soren won in Gandey defeating her BJP rival.

Gandey is an interesting constituency located in the district of Giridih, and is also part of the Koderma parliamentary constituency. Muslims constitute almost 27 per cent of the voting population. In a majority rural voter area, the tribals constitute 20 per cent and the scheduled caste 11 per cent of the voters, with a very low urban voters’ population. Kalpana Soren’s victory therefore becomes more significant because people across the communities have voted for her.

Indeed, with Hemant Soren in prison, she was a leading icon of her party, leading from the front in his absence. Besides, Soren’s imprisonment, reportedly based on weak evidence, was resented by the people of the state. This factor too played an important role in the victory of his party.

In the final tally, the JMM won the majority of 34 of the 56 assembly seats won by the INDIA bloc which included the Congress and RJD, in a total of 81 assembly seats. The Congress won 16 seats, while the BJP was victorious in 19 seats. The CPI-ML (Liberation) won 2 seats.

Clearly, the BJP’s time-tested electoral card failed in the state. The entire top brass of the party led by the prime minister campaigned in the state. The slogan of ‘Bangladeshi ghuspethiya’ -- infiltrators, failed miserably in a state which has a border with West Bengal, and not Bangladesh. Besides, there has been no evidence on the ground that people of Bangladesh have illegally settled in Jharkhand. Indeed, this card failed in West Bengal too in the last parliamentary and assembly polls with the BJP losing the elections.

Another factor which has been crucial is the Mukhyamantri Maiya Samman Yojana initiated by the JMM government. As per the scheme, all women from the age of 21 to 50 would receive Rs 1000 every month from the government. Across the rural belt, women, including tribal women, have benefited from this scheme, and in response they voted overwhelmingly for the party. On the flip side it also shows that in a state rich with its natural and forest resources, a large number of people are still trapped in abject poverty.

A new political twist is the emergence of ‘Tiger’ Jairam Mahato in the political scenario of the state. He has won from Dumri in the district of Giridih. Significantly, he defeated a heavy-weight candidate, Bebi Devi of the JMM, the wife of late ‘Tigerda’ Jagarnath Mahato, a former minister — by 10,945 votes.

Jairam’s Jharkhand Loktantrik Krantikari Morcha (JLKM) has scored an impressive number of votes in the Chotanagpur area, and has come second or third in some constituencies. Political observers believe that the emergence of this party will be a setback for the All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) party (an ally of the BJP), with a crop of young voters backing Jairam’s party. Jairam came to the limelight when he led a movement against the entry of Magahi and Bhojpuri (non-tribal languages) in the recruitment exams conducted by the government in Bokaro and Dhanbad in 2021.

Strangely, the CPI-ML, which is integral to the INDIA alliance in Bihar and elsewhere, was not included in the alliance in Jharkhand. However, it has won two seats, despite their strong leader, Vinod Singh, losing the Bagodar seat. The party won in the coal-belt of Dhanbad. This has been a bastion of the Marxist Coordination Committee (MCC) led by legendary trade union leader, (late) AK Roy, who was elected as an MP from this area many times. The MCC has merged with the CPI-ML, and both the candidates who won belong to the MCC.

Rahul Gandhi said after the victory, that it is a victory for the protection of water,

forest and land, along with that of the Constitution”. Himanta Biswa Sarma, the chief minister of Assam, and election in-charge of the BJP, said that Jharkhand was always a “difficult state”. “Whenever you (media) asked me here about Jharkhand, I said that it is a difficult state. I never claimed that we would win.”