A hundred-odd tribal villages have declared independence by putting up stone slabs to mark areas where the government writ won’t run
CLOSE TO THE LONG, winding Khunti-Jamshedpur road, huge stone slabs have come up in villages to function as unofficial frontier check posts notifying that these tribal areas no longer consider themselves under the Government of India. The stone slabs—similar to pathalgadi or monoliths erected in the memory of forefathers—are being used to demarcate tribal settlements as autonomous villages under the gram sabha, defy the government, and bar outsiders from entering the area. While the state government, led by Chief Minister Raghubar Das, has said that pathalgadi is being used as secessionist tool by anti-national groups to mislead naive residents, the local tribals seem all ready to believe in the powers of their liberated little kingdoms.
One such monolith at the entrance of Udburu, south of the Khunti district headquarters on the Tamar-Khunti-Kolebira road, declares it a sovereign village. Inscribed on the slab is a warning about a ban on outsiders entering or doing any business inside the village. It also says that Parliament or the Government of India have no authority to govern Udburu or any other tribal village in Jharkhand; the rule of gram sabha (local village council) is above everything else. Paradoxically, they swear by the Constitution, yet oppose constitutional institutions.
Udburu is the native place of Adivasi Mahasabha leader Joseph Purti, who goes by the aliases ‘Professor’ and Yusuf. After the police arrested Vijay Kujur, 42, the alleged mastermind of the secessionist movement, in Delhi on March 18, Purti, a 38-year old former college teacher, emerged as the main leader of the pathalgadi ‘movement’. Purti’s name figures on the wanted list of the police.
This story is from the April 23, 2018 edition of India Today.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the April 23, 2018 edition of India Today.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
AAMCHI ENGLISH
You'd think its history of language politics would have nixed such a possibility.
SULTANS OF AASMAN
It's harvest season for India's charter flight operators, as eager candidates hop on to rented choppers and small aircraft with sky-high ambitions.
Music to OUR EARS
After signing a record deal with Warner Music Group, Nora Fatehi sets her sights on being a global pop star
Rebel with a CAUSE
A retrospective of revolutionary artist Gobardhan Ash showcases four decades of his practice at the Kolkata Centre for Creativity
HYBRID FORMS
Mythic Femininities at DAG Delhi brings together a well-chosen crosssection of the late GOGI SAROJ PAL'S large body of work
OUT OF THE SHADOWS
JAI MEHTA makes his directorial debut with Disney+ Hotstar's web series Lootere
MAN OF MANY PARTS
Pratik Gandhi's transition from theatre and Gujarati cinema to mainstream Bollywood is an inspirational tale
THE DUNKI REPUBLIC
Rivers flowing down from the Himalayan massifs are known to have fickle habits-they curl about, meander and, if they stray far enough, get captured by bigger river systems.
A SENSE OF DEPRIVATION
As the Uddhav Sena gets a lion's share in the MVA seat-sharing deal, discontent brews within Congress ranks over the leadership conceding three key seats
Kshatriyas Declare War on Rupala
The minister's appeasement of Dalits has upset the warrior class, who want his candidature withdrawn or they will stir trouble for the BJP in all 26 seats