RAJ KUMAR
Ranchi, Sept 19: To silence the critics of the state government’s decision to use the 1932 Khatiyan census to define locals, the administration in Jharkhand’s capital invoked Section 107 of the CrPC.
Kailash Yadav, who launched the Jharkhand Navnirman Manch on Sunday with the intention of launching a statewide agitation against the state government’s policy, told lagatar24.com that he and five others including Pradeep Tiwari, Ranjan Kumar alias Chotu, Navneet Kumar, Bittu Mishra, and Ram Kumar Yadav, had been served notice under the said section.
“Jharkhand government intends to ensure that people in the state do not exercise their fundamental right to free speech and expression, allowing it to rule like an autocrat in order to enjoy the freedom of loot. The district administration anticipated a breach of peace and issued us a notice as we spoke out against the new local policy,” said Yadav, president of the newly formed organisation.
Yadav, who appeared before the SDO court in response to the notice served under Section 107 of the CrPC, stated that he will take time to respond today, stating that his intention is not to disrupt the state on the issue but to raise the demand democratically as a citizen of Independent India.
He stated that his organisation is not the only one speaking out against the Hemant Soren government’s local policy and that he plans to organise all forces very soon.
“In addition to myself, veteran leader Saryu Roy, former chief minister Madhu Koda, Congress leaders Purnima Neeraj Singh, Dr Ajoy, Nationalist Congress leader Kamlesh Singh, former speaker Inder Singh Namdhari, and senior Congress leader KN Tripathy, among others, have raised their voices. My organisation will contact them all very soon for a massive democratic agitation,” Yadav said.
He further stated that his organisation requires those who were in Jharkhand at the time of the bifurcation of old Bihar to be identified as locals using the same criteria that two other states, Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand, which came into existence with Jharkhand, have already followed.
According to an SDO official, the notice was issued based on the report of Dhurwa police station officer-in-charge Praveen Kumar.
“The officer-in-charge informed that how the statement was delivered in violation of the government’s local policy may cause law and order problems in Jharkhand. A notice was issued based on his report,” the official explained.
“When the administration receives information that a person is likely to commit a breach of the peace or disturb public tranquillity, or to commit any wrongful act that may likely occasion a breach of the peace or disturb public tranquillity, and believes that there is sufficient ground for proceeding, he may order such person to show cause why he should not be ordered to execute a bond, with or without sureties, for keeping the peace for such period, not exceeding one year. There is nothing wrong with it,” said the official.
When contacted for comment, officer-in-charge of Dhurwa police station Praveen Kumar stated that the administration’s top priority is the safety of the general public. “I informed the administration after I noticed people becoming polarised on the issue of local versus outsider,” Kumar said.
A police official, who worked at Dhurwa police station in 2002, justified the action by claiming that Dhurwa was the epicentre of trouble that erupted when then-chief minister Babulal Marandi implemented the same policy that Soren had now implemented.
When contacted for comment, officer-in-charge of Dhurwa police station Praveen Kumar stated that the administration’s top priority is the safety of the general public. “I informed the administration after I noticed people becoming polarised on the issue of local versus outsider,” Kumar said.
“As many as three of the six people killed in the district were from Dhurwa. Entire Dhurwa, where people from all over the country had settled, had become a battlefield. In such a situation, taking preventive measures was essential, and I don’t believe the officer-in-charge did anything wrong,” said the retired police official.
