J’khand murders expose fault lines in tribal village
Tension simmers after killings over a suspected dispute related to Pathalgadi
BURUGULIKERA (JHARKHAND): Paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force and India Reserve Battalion troopers patrolled Burugulikera, located in the middle of thick jungles in Jharkhand’s Gulikera hills, on Thursday amid tensions in the village days after seven villagers were beheaded allegedly over a dispute related to the Pathalgadi movement.
Officials said additional forces were deployed to prevent further escalation in violence amid strong sentiments for and against the movement, through which several villages in the region have declared self-governance.
Officials said that in many villages, government officials are not allowed to enter to carry any developmental work.
Pathalgadi refers to a practice among tribals of erecting stone slabs in honour of their ancestors, to announce important decisions and demarcate boundaries of villages.
Many tribal villages erected slabs quoting the Provisions of the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act when it was enacted in 1996 to allow selfrule through gram sabhas.
In 2017, these slabs resurfaced in several villages in protest against then Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government’s attempt to acquire tribal land for development projects. This came to be called the Pathalgadi movement, which involved refusal to accept government services.
A day after the decapitated bodies were recovered, Burugulikera village of 184 families appeared divided over the movement on Thursday.
“...84 families are against Pathalgadi and take every benefit offered by the government. Our children go to schools. We have voter and Aadhaar cards. We get rice as subsidised ration,’’ said Nathuram Budh, whose brother James was one of the seven antiPathalgadi villagers killed.
He said the opponents of the movement want them to refuse government schemes and ask them to submit their voter, Aadhaar and ration cards. “My brother James, who was the deputy mukhiya [village head], opposed this. We are now scared as to what will be our fate after the forces leave.” A group of pro-Pathalgadi activists allegedly killed the seven, aged between 23 and 35, on Sunday night.
Residents said the situation flared up on January 16 when the anti-Pathalgadi group led by James attacked the houses of former mukhiya Mukta Horo and her husband, Ranshi Budh, and few others.
“On January 19, four persons came to our village and called nine villagers including the seven for a meeting. We came to know of the murders only after police recovered the dead bodies of seven villagers on January 22,” said a woman, who did not want to be named.
Deputy commissioner Arava Rajkamal, who has been camping in the village with district police superintendent Indrajit Mahatha since January 21, said the Pathalgadi movement in this area was much more violent than in neighbouring Kunti district. “In Khunti and other areas, Pathalgadi supporters collect voter cards, Aadhaar cards etc and sent them to the President of India and the state governor.
But here the pro-Pathalgadi group has burnt government documents and has been much more violent,” said Rajkamal.He said it was the first case when people have been brutally beaten and beheaded.
Local tribals kidnapped body guards of a former Lok Sabha deputy speaker Karia Munda in Kunti when police cracked down on pro-Pathalgadi leaders in 2017.