A few members of the tribal community on Sunday installed a stone plaque at a plot of land near the Birsa Munda Airport in Ranchi stating that the land belongs to the Gram Sabha and the law of the Panchayati Raj should be enforced there as per the Provisions of the Panchayats (Extension of the Scheduled Areas Act), 1996.
The land, sources said, was handed over to spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s organisation, The Art of Living by the former Raghubar Das-led Government in Jharkhand. While some media reports stated that the members of the Gram Sabha performed Pathalgai near the Ranchi airport, police clarified that they were only demanding rights of the Gram Sabha over the land under the provisions of the law.
“What they did today was not Pathalgadi. They were demanding the right of Gram Sabha over the land under PESA,” said Ranchi Superintendent of Police, Saurav, who goes by one name.
Pathalgadi, sources said, was a similar practice, but it was slightly different from what the Gram Sabha did on Sunday near the largest airport in Jharkhand. In Pathalgadi, a tribal custom of installing stone plaques at the bordering areas of villages, the activists declare that the land is beyond the executive powers of the state government and that the rules framed by tribal bodies must prevail there.
The Pathalgadi movement resurfaced this month in Jharkhand with tribal groups in support of the movement attempting to perform Pathalgadi near the Jharkhand High Court and also handing over a memorandum to Governor Droupadi Murmu seeking her nod for performing Pathalgadi near the Vidhan Sabha as well. The Pathalgadi supporters demanded that 13 Jharkhand districts fell in Scheduled Areas and should be therefore beyond the executive powers of the government.
As per the 2011 Census, tribals form at least 26.2 per cent of the state’s population of 3.29 crore. While the 32 tribe groups in Jharkhand were spread across the State, their strength was particularly high in the 13 districts which the Pathalgadi supporters want to be free from government’s executive powers. The 13 districts are Ranchi, East Singhbhum, Lohardaga, West Singhbhum, Gumla, Latehar, Saraikela Kharsawan, Sahebganj, Dumka, Pakur, Jamtara, Khunti and Simdega.
On Sunday, the Gram Sabha members alleged that the former government handed over their land to the Art of Living and their objections were unheeded. They added that they wanted to install the stone plaque on the land during the BJP rule, but were denied entry in the area.
