Ranchi, March 12: Santhal Pargana emerged as a flashpoint of a pro-reservation agitation today with thousands of people belonging to Bhuiyan-Ghatwal/Ghatwar, Khetauri and Paharia castes squatting on rail tracks through the day at Pakur and Madankatta stations demanding elevation from OBC to Scheduled Tribes category.
Timelines of more than a dozen of express and passenger trains passing through the districts of Pakur and Deoghar were disrupted for over 8 hours with some of them either having to be cancelled or diverted or halted at nearby stations.
The protesters, carrying traditional weapons, gathered at the two stations under the banner of Melar Adim Janjati Sangharsh Morcha (MAJSM) from early morning. The morcha claims to represent the interests of around 72 lakh people of the Santhal Pargana region and Bokaro district, all of whom belong to these castes.
At Pakur, around 200 of them trooped in around 8.15am and squatted on railway tracks near Pyarpur. But, within two hours their numbers swelled to 2,000, forcing Pakur district administration and railways to deploy security forces to prevent violence.
"Pakur is a loop line but several important trains pass through the station," said station manager B.K Das. "Kanchenjunga Express, Balurghat-Kolkata Express, Patna Shatabdi Express, Malda-Surat Express and Haldiwari-Kolkata Express had to be diverted, while several passenger and goods trains had to be cancelled."
Das maintained that thankfully, the agitation was peaceful and the protesters did not resort to damaging railway property.
At Madankatta, around 3,000 protesters blockade trains from 6am. Passengers remained stranded as many trains, including Jainagar Ranchi Express, Bagh Express and Jasidih-Kolkata Express, had to halted, while several others were cancelled.
The protesters withdrew their agitation at 2.10pm after Deoghar deputy commissioner Arava Rajkamal accepted their petition and assured them that it would be communicated to the state government.
Senior railway officer of Asansol division R.N. Mahapatra said Madankatta was the worst hit as it was one of the busiest routes of the Sitarampur-Jhajha section of the division. While the Dhanbad-Patna Intercity Express (both up and down), BDMU Asansol MEMU, Asansol-Jasidih MEMU were cancelled, the Howrah Mokama Passenger and Patna-bound Patliputra Express had to be halted at Vidyasagar.
State president of the morcha Damodar Singh Melar pointed out that the community was treated as a Scheduled Tribes right from British era.
"As per census conducted in 1913 and 1938 we were treated as ST. But in surveys held in 1950 and 1952, our ST status was revoked without reason. In 1990, the government accorded OBC status to us. But we are tribals of Dravidian origin not OBC," said Mohan Rai Melar, secretary of the morcha that was set up in 2006.
From 2010, the morcha carried out several agitations, including economic blockades of the Santhal Pargana region, to press for their demand. One of their protesters, Taramani Devi, died in police firing in 2013.
Damodar said they withdrew their agitation to give the government another chance. "We had announced an indefinite agitation from today as successive governments have been fooling us for many years. But we decided to call off the stir in the hope that the government would act now," he said.
The OBC status, eh said, held no meaning for them. "Consider Dumka district where the state government has abolished reservations for OBCs in elections," Damodar said, claiming that in 2013 the then Union minister of state for panchayati raj and tribal affairs V. Kishore Chandra Suryanarayana Deo had assured them recognition as an ST, but nothing happened after that.
Vishwanath Ishar, who took part in today's protest, explained that Melar stood for caste with distinct Dravidian roots. "Ghatwal/Ghatwar, Bhuiyan, Paharia and Khetauri should be treated as sub-caste of Melar," said the post-graduate student of S.P. College of Dumka.
