At his ready-made garment shop, Mohd. Faizi, once a firebrand leader of the JharÂkhand movement, recounts how 바카라BihÂari바카라 policemen had once demolished his small business amid a volley of choicest abuses. 바카라My fatÂher바카라s shop was there for decades and suddenly we got evicted. 바카라They바카라 never learnt our culture. 바카라They바카라 were here to rule. It is our state, not 바카라Their바카라 paternal property,바카라 says Faizi, a former central committee member of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), who is now in his mid-50s.
Rage against the 바카라outsider바카라 has been the 바카라in-thing바카라 in the native Jharkandi ethos. A government notÂiÂfication, issued on September 14, said that a 1932 land survey will now be used as the benÂchmark for the state domicile policy and only those whose ancÂestors find mention in the khata (land records) will be termed as 바카라locals바카라. It has come as a shot in the arm in the sub-nationalist identity politics of the state. The move of the Jharkhand government came around two years after Chief Minister HemÂant Soren바카라s historic decision to pass the Sarna code bill, asking the Centre to provide a separate religion column for Adivasis who do not self-identify as Hindus, in 2021 Census. For the Adivasis, Sarna is the religion of sacred groves that connects them to their eternal claims over jal, jangal aur jameen (water, forest and land). While the recognition of Sarna was SorÂen바카라s first step to promote the separÂate identity of Adivasis, declaring the 1932 khatiyan as the basis of domicile is being billed as a masÂterstroke to assert the sub-national identity.
Both decisions reflect the politics of identity and the debates on insider-outsider which have been matters of contestation in Jharkhand for centurÂies. Though what sort of exclusion will ensue is not clear from the notification바카라a throwback to the chaÂnÂging meaning of diku (outsiders in the local parlance)바카라it shows that the idea of outsider in JhaÂÂÂÂrkhand has remained immobile. It has its temporal and spatial characteristics that cannot be cagÂed into a Jharkhandi-non-JharkÂhÂandi, or for that matter Adivasi-non-Adivasi binÂary. ThroughÂout the Jharkhand moveÂment, it got redefined depÂending on whom they were figÂhÂting against. Over the centuries, the word 바카라diku바카라 has come to represÂent British officials, landlords and Christian missionaries. Later, migrant workers, even those from Bihar, a state which JharkÂhÂand was once part of, were branded with the same moniker.
Identifying dikus
Sarat Chandra Roy, known as the father of Indian anthropology in his 1912 seminal work, The MunÂdas and Their Country, stated that the Mundas were the earliest settlers in the Chota Nagpur regÂion, and Oraons followed them during 5th centÂury A.D. Thereafter, different communities setÂÂtled subsequently. Their kinship-based joint land ownership system, known as khuntkatti, thoÂugh mostly remained unperturbed throughout the medieval period, before the British introduced them to a new world of rents and taxes. The replaÂcÂement of tributes바카라they voluntarily used to offer to the ManÂÂki Raja or Pahari Raja바카라with the coercive and punitive taxation system led to the British colonisers being identifies as the first 바카라outsiders바카라. FolloÂwÂing the imposition of Permanent Settlement Act in 1793, the fight against zamindars and British taxation system shaped the politics of the region, with a string of revolts challÂengÂÂing their authority. For instance, Chuar, Dhalbhum, Tilka Manjhi, Pahadia, Tamar, Nayek Hangama and Kol insurrÂeÂctions were scripted against this backdrop. In the early days, both British and local non-tribal landlords became the dikus.
With the advent of Christian missionaries, the region witnessed reformist and revivalist trends. From Birsa Munda to Tana Baghat, the call was for reviving an authentic Adivasi culture. At this stage, Christian missionaries became dikus for their proÂsÂelytization mission, the British for their multiple forms of exploitation and other non-Adivasis for their domination of the economy and culture. The meaning of diku, however, oscillated between 바카라outsider바카라 and 바카라exploiter바카라, sometimes meaning both.
Who are the dikus?
In contrast to Birsa바카라s movement against the BritÂish, it was Christian Adivasis who gave the call for a broader Adivasi solidarity in early 20th century. The sudden change in attitude could be attributed to political transitions taking place then. The passing of the Chota Nagpur Tenancy Act, 1908, which secured the land rights of the Adivasis, coupled with educational reforms helped change the image of the British to be viewed as standing against the coercive zamindars of the region.
In 1915, Chotonagpur Unnati Samaj was founded to communicate the apsirations of the Adivasis, mosÂtly Christian, to the British, which wanted 바카라the aboriginals of the Chota Nagpur may be left to the administration of European officers바카라. After that, the broader call for unity among Adivasis to safegÂuard their culture and land led to the formation of Adivasi Mahasabha in 1937. Significantly, prior to Independence, the main political outsider, if not diku, for the Mahasabha was the Indian National Congress. The Muslim League had formidable intÂeÂrest in this region, with Mohammed Ali Jinnah wanÂting to carve it out of India to create an AdivÂasÂiÂÂsthan, a corridor between West and East Pakistan. Though it is not clear if MahaÂsabha leaÂder Jaipal Singh Munda supported the idea, there is hardly any evidence to the contrary.
Though referred to anybody residing in the regÂion, the cultural connotation of 바카라Jharkhandi바카라 could not expand beyond specific communities. The demÂarcation of 바카라Biharis바카라 as outsiders and economic exploiters started gaining strength.
Outsiders have a new name
Since 1894, when the railway connection was estÂaÂblished with Jharia coalfield, there have been a pleÂthora of mining works across the region. The fouÂÂndation of Tata Steel plant in Jamshedpur, Damodar Valley Corporation, fertilizer plant in Sindri and heavy engineering factory in Ranchi, attÂracted thousands of workers from different regiÂons, pushing the Adivasis to margins further.
Post-Independence, discrimination in employment has also been a long-standing sore point with the Adivasis. Skilled labourers of other regions were preferred to the native Jharkhandis, who were largely connected to their land and cultivation. After the nationalisation drive in 1971, for insÂtance, around 50,000 Jharkhandis working in mines were replaced mostly by the people from Bhojpur region. Around 30,000 telegrams were sent from Dhanbad alone to Arrah, Balia and Chhapra telling that their jobs were secured.
It is not to say that there was never any cooperation between farmers and workers. But such instÂances were few and far between. In 1973 and 1974, Jharkhand Diwas was celebrated on FebÂruary 4. The celebrations witnessed farmer바카라worker coalition, demanding a separate state of Jharkhand. Bhojpuri workers echoed the call of Jharkhandi farmers,바카라Jharkhand is Ours, Go Back Dikus바카라. Such alliances were, however, short-lived. For JharkhaÂnÂdis, dikus became those outside workers who have been taking away their share of bread. From the office bearers to the workers in the industry, one could hardly spot native Jharkhandis. During the 1980s, the major residential areas for the workers in Bokaro Steel City were named like Arrah More, Chhapra More and Balia More, making the demarcation clear. So, the fight was now focused against the 바카라Biharis바카라 who were taking away their livelihoods and resources, and anyone from the northern part of Bihar was now considered a diku.
With the statehood movement reaching its decisÂive phase during the 1990s, the concept further chaÂnged. As one of the former JMM Core ComÂmiÂtÂtee members says, 바카라During this period, anyone who used to oppose the demand for Jharkhand was branded a diku.바카라 Throughout the movement, the concept of the outsiders vis-a-vis Jharkhandis was thus never stagnant, as with changing political, social and cultural contexts it shifted its position. What remained mostly constant was the allegation against the exploitation of resources. If the questÂion of outsider, as we observe, is connected solely to exploitation, how will this demarcation of 바카라JhaÂrkhandis바카라 work? Is it just a tokenism by the Soren government to gain some grounds in a politically charged environment?
Earlier in 2002 when the then Chief Minister BabÂulal Marandi notified the domicile policy, it did not survive the judicial scrutiny. Knowing it fully well, Soren has pushed the ball to the BJP바카라s court. If the Centre gives its nod, the Jharkhand government will ask it to place it under Ninth Schedule to bypass the possibility of judicial intervention.
But the future of millions of Jharkhandis does not lie only in redefinition. Rather it needs empathetic moves to not 바카라exclude바카라 but to restore the idea of what Zubair Ahmed, an andolankari, called 바카라GulÂdasta바카라바카라a bunch of flowers. Near Dornada kabrisÂtan, sitting on the fences, unable to avoid the words of the bystanders who lost their loved ones, Zubair says, 바카라The movement was for Jharkhand, not for any specific community.바카라
To exclude a few at the cost of others temporally may be a way to provide more jobs, but someday at some point of time a new diku has to be found. Walls of exclusivity will fall without another brick in the wall.
(This appeared in the print edition as "Throwback to the Past")
