Ever since the BJP government came to power in Jharkhand, moves were on to acquire the tribal lands and hand them over to the industrialists close to the BJP. Since May, the tribals have launched a sustained movement against the state's proposed amendments in Santhal and Chotanagpur Tenancy Acts. The BJP government has been contemplating to acquire their lands for facilitating the big industrial houses, like Adani and Jindal, to set up their shops.

The Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI) has deplored the recent 'unconstitutional' and 'divisive' statements of chief minister Raghubar Das, wherein he asked villagers in Dumka gram sabhas to protect their identity without falling prey to allurements. For the CBCI it was a direct attack on the missionaries. The CBCI is the highest policy-making body of the Roman Catholic Church in India.

Bishop Theodore Mascarenhas, CBCI secretary general in New Delhi, in a signed statement said; 'The Catholic Bishops Conference of India is saddened by the unconstitutional and divisive statements being made by the chief minister of Jharkhand Mr Raghubar Das against Christian tribals and Christian leaders...we strongly deplore and condemn the comments made by Mr Raghubar Das against Christians'. The Catholic Church reiterated its commitment to nation building, empowerment of tribals, Dalits and the poor, he said.

Bishop made it categorically clear; 'It will not accept any infringement on the rights of the minorities and the constitutionally guaranteed freedom of conscience and the right freely to profess, practise and propagate religion. The just aspirations of the tribals are being threatened by amendments to the Chotanagpur Tenancy Act and the Santhal Pargana Tenancy Act. We request the chief minister to protect the rights of the tribals'. 'The chief minister should refrain from using divisive tactics and interfering in the legitimate rights given to us under the Constitution and devote himself to serious issues like malnutrition, illiteracy, unemployment,' said Mascarenhas. Incidentally, 35 lakh out of 69 lakh adivasi families in Jharkhand lived below the poverty line and that the state fell far short of the national average in almost all development indicators.

Against this move of the Das government the adivasis hit the streets across the state. But there is one discernible difference; this time on October 23 they did it with vengeance against the cold-blooded killing of their comrade Abraham Munda. What was really interesting to watch was the people of the state spontaneously observed bandh through out Jharkhand. During the last two months at least four incidents of police firing on tribal protestors has taken place in state, killing seven persons, two on August 29 in Gola, Ramgarh, four on October 1 in Barkagaon, Hazaribagh, and one on October 22 in Khunti.

During these months the tribals have been maintaining strict restraint and the agitation has been by and large peaceful. But on October 22 the police fired at a peaceful rally of the adivasis in Khunti killing 58-year-old Abraham Munda, who along with hundreds of other villagers were stopped from attending a rally in Ranchi. The state secretary of the CPI leveled serious allegations against the police of conspiring to kill him in firing. He alleged that an officer of the ASI rank pushed him aside to save him from the bullet.

On October 23, nearly two thousand Khunti villagers protested with the body of the man killed in police firing. Unrepentant police resorted to lathi charge to disperse the agitators. Leader of the Opposition Hemant Soren slammed the Raghubar Das government for 'silencing the poor with guns and sticks'. Congress leader Subodh Kant Sahay and JVM supremo and former chief minister Babulal Marandi alleged that the Das government has asked the district officials to stop the movement of the traffic and stop the adivasis from coming to Ranchi. They alleged that Das was using brute force to silence the adivasis and agree to his move to change the SCT Act.

The Jharkhand Adivasi Sangharsh Morcha, a joint body of various forces and social groups, which has been spearheading the agitation, is committed to fight back the tyrannies and high handedness of the Das government. Opposition bigwigs Hemant Soren, Babulal Marandi and a host of Left and tribal leaders visited Saiko village, where the incident took place.

The leaders nursed the feeling that the Das government wants to silence poor people with guns and sticks. “Killing of commoners and development of the state cannot go hand in hand.” CPM state secretary Gopi Kant Baxi, CPIML (Liberation) state secretary Janardhan Prasad and Jharkhand Adivasi Sangharsh Morcha convener Karma Oraon alleged that the saffron chief minister was resorting to violent actions as he is personally opposed to secular forces.

After getting huge tract of land at cheap rate in Gujarat, courtesy former chief minister Narendra Modi, the Adani group is now striving hard to acquire massive chunk of tribal land in Santhal Paragana of Jharkhand with the support and patronage of the chief minister, Raghubar Das.

Paradoxically, after being sworn in as the chief minister, Das had promised that tribal land would not be put on sale and their land rights would be protected. But now Das is determined to help Adani even with the help of guns and goons. Land acquisition is a sensitive issue in Jharkhand. Just after becoming chief minister Das had announced that he would not allow usurpation of the tribal land. But soon he went back on his promise made to the people of the state. The new land acquisition bill which he framed last year has created a piquant situation in the state and a series of protests and bandhs have surfaced in Jharkhand.

The five criteria that are there in the current bill make it easier for people to take our lands forcefully. The government says that we are taking the lands for janhit (public interest), then who is going to define this janhit. Now what we are trying to say is that whether your proposed bill is for public welfare or not, let the Gram sabha (village assembly) decide that and not the government. Since the central government is not there, the Gram sabha should decide whether it is for janhit or not. The government wants land for corporate purpose and they want to take the land in their own way; that is why they feel that these tribal areas present complications because of the opposition they face.

The same Das now argues; “Land acquisition Act is the need of the hour. It will help speed up development” and those opposing the bill were “obstructionists” to rural development. There is lingering suspicion in the minds of the adivasi that Das was determined to help Adani by providing cheap Santhal Pargana land, especially in Godda district. Jharkhand BJP government had agreed to provide the land for setting up Adani’s thermal power plant either in Godda or Sahebganj. In fact, the MoU has already been signed during the recent Make in India event in Mumbai.

The adivasis of Jharkhand have been the worst victims of forced land eviction. According to the Ministry of Rural Development’s Annual Report 2004-2005, Jharkhand topped the list of adivasi land alienation with 86,291 cases involving 10,48,93 acres of land. More than 15 lakh people who were displaced in Jharia, Bokaro, and Ranchi are yet to get compensation.

One interesting development has emerged in recent times. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) spending by both public sector and corporate firms in Jharkhand has increased around 2.5 times in the ongoing 2015-16 fiscal compared to the 2014-15 fiscal. This is a tactical public relations move of the industries and the government to present a pro-poor face of the industrial houses. In 2014-15, CSR spending in Jharkhand was calculated as Rs 376.94 crore. This has now shot up to Rs 913.73 crore in this ongoing financial year 2015-16.'It is almost an increase of 2.5 times and a highly encouraging response. But it is yet not clear on which project or programme this huge money was spent. Interestingly instead of companies spending CSR funds it is the Das government which tells them where, what and when to spend, depending on community needs.

The alienation and restoration of adivasi land and land rights has been one of the most complex and sensitive issues in Jharkhand. Over the years, the adivasis have witnessed continued dispossession of both individual and community control over their resources. The Chotanagpur Tenancy Act 1908 (CNTA), the Santal Pargana Tenancy Act 1949 (SPTA), the Land Acquisition Act 1894 (LAA), the Scheduled Area Regulation 1969 (SAR), the Coal Bearing Areas Act 1957 and the SC and ST Prevention of Atrocities Act 1989, are some of the laws which govern land rights, regulate acquisition for public purpose and give adivasis an executive protection from individual resource alienation. (IPA Service)