Dumka, Feb. 12: The streets of Dumka today brimmed with roaring Paharias who paraded down the main thoroughfare with slogans demanding an “Anga Pradesh” — a new territory comprising Santhal Pargana and Bhagalpur in neighbouring Bihar.

Traffic came to a grinding halt and stupefied pedestrians lined up along the streets as the tribal men under the aegis of the Adim Janjati Jagriti Evam Vikas Samiti rent the air with anti-government slogans.

The event was a follow-up of their demands scripted during their 12th convention, which started yesterday on the occasion of the 257th birth anniversary Tilka Manjhi. The Paharias also demanded that Santhal Pargana be renamed as “Paharia Santhal Pargana” that the local administration should remove a plaque that states Manjhi as a Santhal. “Tilka Manjhi, whose original name was Jobra Paharia, was not a Santhal by birth. He belonged to the Paharia community,” said Kali Charan Deheri, the president of the body.

Later, a 26-point charter of demands addressed to the President of India was handed over to the divisional commissioner by the Paharias, where they urged the government to arrange a separate reservation status for them.