Ranchi, Aug. 25: After having exhausted all avenues of protest, the tribals of Pithoria block have knocked on the door of their traditional “king” — Parharaja — to lead the agitation against the administration’s plan to acquire ryati (ancestral) land for the new Ranchi University campus.
Parha king of the traditional Pithoria “kingdom” Suryanarayan Pahan today addressed the tribals at Jamuari Aam Bagicha, nearly 24 km from district headquarters. Over 500 tribals armed with dhel-phodawa (a wooden hammer), bows and arrows rent the air with slogans against the district administration.
Grabbing the microphone, the Pahan thundered: “Jal, jungle aur jameen ka malik raiyat mane hanke aur hameen man apanjaan debaye par jameen nai debeya! Raure man lade le taiyar rahun (We are the owners of our land and we will part with our lives, but not with our land! You should be prepared to fight!)”.
The Pahan responded to their call by promising support to the cause of 500 villagers as the tribals pointed their traditional weapons skyward and roared back: “Jaan denge! Par jameen nahin denge (we will give our lives, but not our land).”
The Pithoria raiyats had been campaigning under the banner of Ranchi University Visthapit Sangharsh Samiti (RUVSS) against the administration’s plan to acquire 133.465 acres of raiyati land at “throwaway” price.
The Parharaja called upon the tribals to unite and put up a fierce fight to retain their land. “For centuries, the land belonged to us. Our forefathers vested all the rights with us. Now the administration comes and measures our land and forcibly purchases it. This is undemocratic. Before floating a proposal to build a new campus, the administration should have arrived at a consensus. We are not against a new Ranchi University campus, as our own children will study there. But we cannot allow it at the cost of our existence,” he said.
“If the land is snatched from us, what shall we do? Like the lakhs of displaced tribals, who lost their ancestral land when major industrial units were set in the region, the tribals of Pithoria will be left at the mercy of outsiders. The land is the lifeline of tribals, without which they will lose everything. Even if our land is acquired at the rate of Rs 2 lakh per decimal, we will not sell it,” the Pahan said.
The Jharkhand Janadhikar Party (JJP), which was also invited to join the fight, called upon the tribals to chalk out an action plan. JPP leaders, including central vice-president Ratan Tirkey, spokesperson Amul Niraj Khalko and RUVSS members Ashok Oraon Yamua Gadi and Shibu Ganju, addressed the gathering.
