RANCHI: Amid resistance from villagers, the ‘JPSC JSSC Nyay Manch’, led by student leader Devendra Nath Mahto, launched the ‘Bharti Vyavastha Sudhar Yatra’ on Monday from Lukaitand, near Nemra.
Villagers said they would not allow Mahto to enter Nemra under any circumstances, asserting that Chief Minister Hemant Soren is regarded as their ‘Manjhi-Hadam’, or traditional village head. They said they would not tolerate any opposition to the Chief Minister originating from his ancestral village.
Several villagers, many carrying traditional weapons, blocked roads leading to the village, apprehending that Mahto and his supporters might burn an effigy of Soren.
“We came to know that Devendra Nath Mahto was coming to Nemra, so we blocked the road. We will not allow an effigy-burning programme in the village,” said villager Ramdhun Soren.
The villagers, however, maintained that their objection was limited to the proposed effigy-burning programme and not to Mahto’s wider campaign. They said everyone had the right to protest democratically, but they would oppose any attempt to hold a protest or rally against Soren in Nemra.
Mahto, meanwhile, began his yatra from Lukaiya Tand, where a life-size statue of veteran leader Shibu Soren has been installed to mark his first death anniversary. After paying tribute to Soren, Mahto also planted a sal sapling.
Accompanied by a large number of students, Mahto paid his respects at the statue before setting off on the campaign.
“This is not merely a journey. It is a journey for the reconstruction of Jharkhand,” Mahto said. He added that the yatra was being launched from the land of ‘Dishom Guru’ Shibu Soren to honour Jharkhand’s martyrs, including Nirmal Mahato, Sheikh Bhikhari, Binod Mahato, Chand and Bhairav, and Phulo-Jhano.
The yatra will cover Ramgarh, Hazaribagh, Chatra, Koderma and Giridih before moving through the Santhal Pargana districts of Deoghar, Dumka, Godda and Sahibganj. It will subsequently pass through the remaining districts, with a grand public meeting proposed in Ranchi to mark its conclusion. Mahto himself drove the minibus from the launch venue.
Student leader Puja Mahato, who joined the campaign, said students had initially supported the agitation at Jaipal Singh Munda Stadium but were disappointed by subsequent developments.
“We have come to seek blessings from Late Shibu Soren and begin the journey so that the future of students is not played with,” she said.
The yatra aims to cover the entire state and highlight what its organisers describe as the state government’s failure to address the concerns of Jharkhand’s students.
Mahto said that if the state government failed to put forward its case effectively and firmly before the High Court on September 15, students would lay siege to the Chief Minister’s residence and stage a ‘chakka jam’ (road blockade) across the state, potentially followed by an economic blockade.
