RANCHI: Two days after chief minister Hemant Soren’s "tribals are not Hindu" remark during his address at the Harvard India conclave, the “Pathalgadi” movement has picked up pace again with an Adivasi group camping here to demand implementation of the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution (administration of the Scheduled areas).
Members of the group that has been recently formed and named 'Padha Samiti', however, said their demand is different from Pathalgadi, which is a tradition to remember their ancestors, and termed it as shilapath (plaque) to demand their constitutional rights.
On Monday, they came to the city and tried to install a plaque near the Jharkhand high court in Doranda claiming it as tribal land where the state government has no executive powers. They were, however, stopped by police. Later on Tuesday, they met governor Droupadi Murmu with their demands.
Jahan Ara Kachchap, who came from Khunti and granddaughter of the legendary tribal leader Jaipal Singh Munda, said, “We have apprised the governor that executive powers of the state are not applicable in areas that are under the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution. These areas are heritage sites of the tribals and the general public has no right to these areas without our consent.”
Stating that they are planning for a decisive fight to reclaim their rights, she termed the elected government in the state as unconstitutional. “As per the law and the constitutional provisions, Ranchi, including all Scheduled districts, are out of bounds for the state's executive powers,” Kachchap claimed.
Displaying a replica of the Union law and justice ministry’s 2007 gazette, which notified the provisions of Scheduled areas and signed by former President APJ Abdul Kalam, another tribal leader said, "We demand the state government to give us our rights. We have decided to install plaques announcing our rights in Ranchi now and we are working on it."
However, the tribal leader, who was part of the delegation that met Murmu, did not give any timeline on the installation of the plaques. He added that the tribals from 13 Scheduled areas of the state are now united to take up the fight for their rights and survival.
Notably, Soren in response to a question during the 18th Annual India Conference of the Harvard University held online on Saturday night had termed Pathalgadi as a custom among the Adivasi but said the violent incidents which occurred during the BJP regime in 2017-18 were triggered by anti-social elements having links with a movement in Gujarat.
To thwart the movement, the then BJP government had slapped sedition charges on thousands of activists. Soon after Soren took the oath of office, he announced that the charges were dropped.
The fresh resurgence of the movement could be another challenge for the current government at a time when the state is dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic.