Soren: Support signs

Siliguri, Aug. 3: Shibu Soren has found a “timely” friend in the Kamtapur People’s Party (KPP) founder-president Atul Roy.

Describing the charges levelled against Soren as false, Roy refused to believe that he had been jumping bail and absenting himself from court in a case that dates back to 1975.

Atul Roy expressed complete solidarity with the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) chief, whose bail application was rejected yesterday by the Jamtara district court in Jharkhand. Soren surrendered yesterday after evading the police for almost two weeks.

Roy has also threatened to paralyse north Bengal if Soren is not released immediately or if he is “ill-treated” after being remanded in judicial custody till August 13.

Atul, who is now in Delhi, spoke to Soren over telephone today and pledged his party’s “support” for him.

Roy said he may also seek special permission from the court to meet Soren, who is lodged in a makeshift jail in Jamtara.

During his “political heydays”, Soren had campaigned for the cause of Rajbanshis in Siliguri. He was also instrumental in lending support to the KPP’s demand for a separate state for the Kamtapuris in north Bengal and parts of lower Assam.

The JMM chief had earlier surrendered before the court in connection with the mob violence in which 10 people were killed in 1975 at Chirudih village.

The JMM and the KPP had come together on “common” ethnic and tribal issues. Both political parties spearheaded demands for separate statehood for the “marginalised sections” of society.

While the state of Jharkhand became a reality, the state government managed to stem the Kamtapuri movement with Operation Kamtapur in November 2000.

Roy told The Telegraph: “We cannot allow the Arjun Munda government to tarnish the image of Shibu Soren. As a mark of solidarity with him, the KPP will undertake a series of agitation programmes across north Bengal this month.

“We want to drive home the point that state governments cannot get away with ignoring ethnic aspirations and framing tribal icons.”

“Guruji, as Soren is popularly known, is a cult figure who made pioneering contributions towards the formation of Jharkhand. Similarly, the KPP took up cudgels on behalf of the ethnic Rajbanshis of north Bengal. The purpose of our political movement was to carve out a separate state for the Rajbanshi minorities of this region.,” Roy added.