CPI(ML) organized dharna in front of the Commissioner’s office in Dumka on 3 November in which thousands of people took part. A large number of adivasis participated in the protest. The rally which preceded the dharna branched off in two groups—one group marched from the railway station; the other group marched from DC More to reach the Commissioner’s office where the rally culminated in a meeting.
The issues raised by the protest were: amendments to the SPT and CNT should be withdrawn; the erroneous domicile policy should be withdrawn and the 1932 khatiyan or the first electoral rolls should be made the basis for domicile; judicial enquiry should be held into the Barkagaon and Khunti firings and the custodial killing of Minhaj Ansari in Narayanpur thana; the people who vandalized the idol of Siddho-Kanho in Bhognadih should be punished; mid-day meal workers should be regularized and paid a monthly wage of Rs 18000, along with other issues.
The dharna was addressed by CPI(ML) leaders Vinod Singh, Geeta Mandal, Sahdev and others. The main slogan of the dharna was, “Raghuvar Hatao, Jharkhand Bachao” (“Remove Raghuvar, Save Jharkhand”).
The speakers vowed to expand this agitation towards a bigger movement in order to remove Raghuvar Das because the very existence of adivasis and original inhabitants of Jharkhand will be in jeopardy under this government which has made policies to ensure that corporate companies get full control over the forests, land, and minerals of Jharkhand. The society is being divided in a communal and fascist manner. After the incidents at Latehar, Pelawal, Jamtara and the killing of Minhaj Ansari, RSS goons have now vandalized the Siddho-Kanho idol at Bhognadih in a conspiracy to break the Muslim-Adivasi unity in the Santhal Pargana.
At the conclusion of the dharna a 9-point charter of demands was submitted to the Commissioner. The dharna called upon the people to initiate mass mobilization in order to make the gherao of the Vidhan Sabha during the next Assembly session a huge success.
