Category: Jharkhand

Stones Thrown In Jharkhand During BJP’s Pro-Citizenship Amendment Act Rally.

Source – ndtv.com

Giridh, Jharkhand: Stones were hurled at a rally in support of Citizenship Amendment Act organised by the BJP in Jharkhand’s Giridh on Sunday, prompting police to fire teargas shells to control the situation, officials said.

The incident happened at the Padam Chowk area when BJP workers from six assembly constituencies of the district took out a procession in support of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

“Some anti-social elements pelted stones on a procession of the BJP. Few policemen and some of those participating in the rally suffered minor injuries, forcing police to use teargas to bring the situation under control,” Superintendent of Police Surendra Jha said.

Giridih’s Deputy Commissioner (DC) Rahul Kumar Sinha is at the spot and camping there along with Surendra Jha.

Taking part in the rally, former BJP state unit president Ravindra Rai told reporters that the CAA was not against any citizen of India.

“The CAA is for the minorities of Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who have taken refuge in the country after fleeing persecution. They should be given citizenship. But the opposition is spreading confusion over the issue. No Indian should be worried about the CAA,” he said.

Former Jharkhand CM Babulal Marandi may merge party with BJP.

Source – thehindu.com

Former Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das has been asked by senior BJP leaders to come to Delhi this week as talks for a merger of the Jhakhand Vikas Morcha (P), led by another former Chief Minister of the State, Babulal Marandi, with the party gain pace.

Senior BJP sources in Delhi and Ranchi have said that Mr. Marandi has been in talks with the party for the merger, and Mr. Das has been asked to give his input. Mr. Marandi had been in the BJP in the past and broke away after he felt he was being undermined.

“The loss in the Jharkhand polls is being assessed by the BJP and it was felt, especially by the on-ground RSS in the State, that Mr. Marandi, a former BJP leader, should be wooed and brought back into the party to restore some of its support base among tribal communities, which has been badly eroded under Mr. Das,” a senior BJP leader said.

Multiple reasons

The BJP feels that if Mr. Marandi had note fielded strong candidates in seven or eight constituencies in the Santhal-Kolhan belts and cut into the grand alliance votes, the party’s tally in the Assembly election could have been lower. Mr. Marandi had broken his Lok Sabha election alliance with the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and the Congress to go it alone in these polls.

“Mr. Marandi too is assessing his political future, with Hemant Soren having pulled off a big victory. He feels he needs a national party to go forward, as his tally came down from eight (in 2014) to three in 2019,” the BJP leader said.

The sabotage that happened within the BJP campaign, specifically in Mr. Das’s Jamshedpur (East) loss to rebel Saryu Rai, is another reason Mr. Marandi is being brought back.

“There are certain leaders who worked against the interests of the party in these polls, and combined with Raghubar Das’s unpopularity, the grand alliance managed a simple majority in the Assembly. We have to acknowledge that too,” a source said.

With the “inauspicious” khar maas ending with Makar Sankranti on January 14, a meeting of the party parliamentary board will be called soon after to take forward the merger, BJP leaders say.

65-year-old woman killed after being branded ‘witch’ in Jharkhand: Cops

Source – hindustantimes.com

A 65-year-old woman suspected of practising witchcraft was beaten to death by a man in Jharkhand’s Simedga district, days after a report by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) said the state recorded the highest number of such killings in India in 2018.

Police said 22-year-old Manoj Bilung allegedly killed Ashrita Bilung with sticks after branding her a witch on Friday, a day before his wedding at Sarkhutoli village under Pakartand police station, around 140km from capital Ranchi.

“Suspecting Ashrita of practising black magic, Manoj went to her house in the village on Friday midnight and beat her to death. This is what Manoj said during interrogation,” Pakartand police station in-charge Hiralal Mahto said.

Mahto said Manoj was arrested on Saturday and sent to jail on Sunday.

Despite a drop in witch-hunt murder cases in Jharkhand, annual figures released by NCRB last Wednesday show the tribal state witnessed the highest number of such killings in the country in 2018 at 18.

The country witnessed 63 such murders in 2018. Madhya Pradesh recorded 10 witch-hunt murders, Andhra Pradesh nine, Chhattisgarh eight and Odisha saw five such killings in 2018, as per NCRB.

An analysis of NCRB’s data since 2001 shows 560 women were lynched in Jharkhand after being branded witches between 2001 and 2018. The state saw the highest or 54 witch-hunting murders in 2013, 52 in 2008 and 50 in 2007.

Jharkhand has seen a decline in such killings since 2014 when 47 women were lynched, which dropped to 32 in 2015, 27 in 2016, 19 in 2017 and 18 in 2018.

Four people in their 60s, including two women, were killed in July last year after around a dozen angry villagers dragged them out of their houses and attacked them with sticks and sharp weapons while accusing them of practising witchcraft at Siskari village in Gumla district.

Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha are the worst affected states of the social evil. Hundreds of women have been persecuted, tortured and killed after being branded as witches in the past few decades in these four states.

Corruption charges baseless, ready for any probe: Ex Jharkhand CM Raghubar Das.

Source – avenuemail.in

Ranchi, Jan 10: Former Chief Minister Raghubar Das Friday challenged Hemant Soren government to get allegations of corruption against him probed by any agency. He termed the allegations as baseless.

Replying to allegations of corruption worth Rs 100 crore leveled against him by Jan Sabha’s Pankaj Kumar Yadav, Das said, “Momentum Jharkhand Global Investors’ Summit brought Jharkhand prominently on the world map. Investors all over the world came to know about Jharkhand’s suitability as an investment destination. They came to know about the ease of doing business in the state, availability of resources and basic infrastructure.”

Das spoke while attending a programme organized in the state Capital to pay tributes to Justice LPN Shahdeo. He said there was no scam in Momentum Jharkhand.

“Momentum Jharkhand was organized with full transparency. Many companies invested in Jharkhand after the Global Summit. Many youths of the state got employment after the event. Anyone can complain. Now it’s their (JMM’s) government. They can get the allegations investigated. I have nothing to worry about,” said the former CM.

Yadav, the Jan Sabha functionary, lodged a complaint against Das with the Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) yesterday. He also accused former Jharkhand Chief Secretary Raj Bala Verma, former Principal Secretary to CM Sunil Kumar Barnwal and several other state bureaucrats of involvement in the scam and demanded a thorough probe.

Superstition, sectarianism killed more people in Jharkhand than Naxalism.

Source –

Superstition and sectarianism killed more people in Jharkhand than Left Wing Extremism (LWE) in 2018, says the latest report on Crime in India by National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), highlighting the deep-rooted superstition and caste distinction in the tribal State.

The report, released on Wednesday, said that the motive behind at least 18 murders in Jharkhand was witch-hunting in the year 2018, while honour killing was the reason behind nine murders in the same year. Interestingly, “Extremism/ Naxalism/ Insurgency” was reason for only two murders in the State in year 2018, the report added.

While figures with the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) claim that at least 19 of 24 districts in Jharkhand are Left Wing Extremism-affected, the NCRB data may convince one to believe that superstition was far more dangerous and widespread here, say social activists. According to the NCRB report, the motive behind 62 murders across India in 2018 was witchcraft and 18 of them were reported in Jharkhand – the highest in the country.

“Witch-hunting is a social malady. We require joint efforts from different stakeholders to spread awareness against such age-old superstitious practices,” said Jharkhand Director General of Police (DGP) KN Choubey. He, however, refused to comment on the NCRB figures of murders executed by LWE groups, claiming that he was yet to personally go through the report. “The NCRB is a trustworthy and reputed agency,” he added.  

This is, however, not the first instance when Jharkhand has topped in terms of murders related to witchcraft in India. Superstitious practices in the interiors have remained a major concern for the Government here for several years. The tribal dominated state witnessed at least 590 cases of witch-hunting from 2001 to 2018, says combined figures of the State police and the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). Besides, several incidents of occultists trying to resurrect dead people and women getting married off to snakes and dogs have been reported from far off villages in Jharkhand in the past – a proof of the deep-embedded superstition in the rural society here.

Jharkhand also tops in terms of honour killings. The State witnessed nine incidents of honour killings in 2018 – the highest in India. Police said that most of the honour killing incidents are triggered by sectarianism and caste distinctions. Inter-caste love affairs and marriages were still one of the most common reasons for honour killings in Jharkhand, they added. “Such flawed idea of honour and caste distinction has to be dealt with extensive social awareness campaigns. The police can investigate murder cases and nab the accused, but the change has to begin in the society,” said Choubey. 

While the NCRB report puts the figure of human sacrifice to zero in Jharkhand in 2018, some incidents of alleged human sacrifice too have been reported here in the past decade.

In a suspected case of human sacrifice, the police had to exhume half-buried, naked and decapitated bodies of two children from a village in Latehar, about 100 Kilometers northwest of capital Ranchi, in July last year.

In May 2017, the police arrested a 26-year-old Ranchi man on charges of attempting to sacrifice his mother to appease a goddess. And in 2015, a 60-year-old man was reportedly sacrificed in Gumla for better rainfall.

Congress MLA remark on Tabrez lynching stirs row in Jharkhand.

Source – indianexpress.com

Jharkhand Assembly’s maiden session Wednesday was rocked by Congress MLA Irfan Ansari’s allegation that the accused in the murder of Tabrez Ansari, the 24-year-old attacked by a lynch mob in June last year, were BJP workers.

Although Speaker Rabindra Nath Mahato said the lines would be expunged and demanded an apology, Ansari refused to apologise.

Ansari later said he wasn’t naming the entire saffron party for the murder, but a few persons affiliated to it.

Tabrez Ansari was tied to a pole and beaten with rods in Saraikela-Kharsawan area for alleged theft. He was also forced to chant “Jai Shri Ram” and “Jai Hanuman”. He died in jail four days later. Police had earlier dropped the murder charge in the case, but later added it while filing a supplementary chargesheet.

On Wednesday, trouble began when a Jharkhand Mukti Morcha legislator was addressing the session looking at the BJP MLAs, which the saffron party objected to. BJP Ranchi MLA C P Singh interrupted him. On Irfan Ansari’s turn to address the assembly, he said the present government will investigate the previous government’s work. This was again interrupted by C P Singh. In response, Irfan Ansari made the allegation.

Despite Speaker Rabindra Nath Mahato expunging the “objectionable part” from the proceedings and adjourning the assembly for 15 minutes, all the BJP MLAs trooped into the well of the House, raised slogans and demanded an apology from Congress members.

A few months ago, C P Singh had compelled Irfan Ansari to say Jai Shri Ram outside the assembly building.

Later, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, while replying to the motion of thanks, said his government will pursue development that people will feel. He further said his government would end the model of “filling up coffers of politicians and officers”, taking a veiled dig at the previous government.

Uproar in Jharkhand House as MLA drags RSS into lynching case.

Source – outlookindia.com

Ranchi: The Jharkhand Assembly on Wednesday witnessed uproarious scenes when a Congress legislator Irfan Ansari dragged the RSS into the lynching of Tabrez Ansari last year.

Irfan Ansari, speaking on the motion of thanks to the Governor”s address, said “BJP and RSS are responsible for the killing of Tabrez Ansari”. The Congress legislator”s remark invited a sharp reaction from the BJP MLAs.

Tabrez Ansari was thrashed by a mob in the Seraikela-Kharsawa district of Jharkhand on June 17, 2019 resulting in his death a few days later.

The BJP legislators started demanding that the ”unsavoury” remark made about the BJP and the RSS should be expunged and said that the Congress legislator should express regrets about making such a comment. The legislators came to the well of the House demanding an apology and expunging of the remark.

“What is the proof of the Irfan Ansari allegation,” said BJP legislator C.P. Singh.

Assembly speaker Rabindranath Mahto pacified the BJP legislators and asked them to return to their seats. The Speaker later expunged the Congress legislator”s remark.

The BJP legislators however stuck to the demand for an apology by Irfan Ansari and again came to the well of the House. ”Dismiss Irfan Ansari from House” and ”Irfan Ansari must tender apology” were some of the slogans raised by the BJP legislators.

The Assembly Speaker”s move to pacify the BJP legislators however failed. He left the apology issue to the conscience of the Congress legislator, who categorically said that he would not apologise.

The BJP legislators then raised more slogans forcing the Speaker to adjourn the House.

When the House reassembled, the BJP legislators again demanded an apology from the Congress and came to the well of the House. The issue got further aggravated when CP Singh said, “What if I say Irfan Ansari was a terrorist who attacked Mumbai, he was a sleeper cell of the ISI and agent of Pakistan, then what”?

Singh”s remark triggered heated exchanges between the treasury and opposition benches as MLAs stood on their seats and yelled at each other.

The Speaker tried to pacify those BJP legislators who were in the well of the House.

Amid the BJP legislators” protest in the well, the Speaker allowed Chief Minister Hemant Soren to speak on the motion of thanks.

AJSU president Sudesh Mahto objected to this and said his party should be allowed to speak on the motion of thanks. The Speaker ignored his plea.

The Chief Minister gave his speech and the motion of thanks was passed by a voice vote amid protests by the BJP legislators in the well.

Jharkhand: 3,000 Anti-CAA Protesters Booked, Govt Promises to Remove Sedition Charges.

Source – thewire.in

New Delhi: Dhanbad Police of Jharkhand has registered a case against more than 3,000 people on Tuesday under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including the law against sedition (124 A) for their involvement in a protest against the the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Act and National Register of Citizens.

According to a copy of the FIR seen by The Wire, the protesters have been charged under sections 143, 145, 149 (sections related to unlawful assembly), 186, 188 (obstructing a public servant), 290, 291 (creating public nuisance), 336 (endangering life or personal safety of others), 153- A and 153-A (attempts to promote disharmony or feelings of enmity, hatred or ill-will between different reli­gious groups) and 124 A (sedition).

The FIR was registered on the basis a of complaint filed by the circle officer Prashant Kumar Laiq on Tuesday against thousands of protesters who allegedly blocked a road and raised inflammatory slogans. Based on the complaint, the local police registered an FIR against seven named and three thousand unnamed protesters for allegedly blocking traffic, creating chaos and shouting anti- government slogans, along with hurting religious sentiments and organising a protest without permission.

City superintendent of police R. Ramkumar confirmed that an FIR has indeed been filed against the protesters. Speaking to a news portal, Ramkumar said, “On the instructions of the district administration, a case has been registered under different sections, including treason.”

The news portal further reported that the police is investigating the case and making full efforts to identify the unknown by watching the video. However, no arrests have been made so far.

Notably, no violence and obstruction was reported during the protest. In fact, there is no mention of the same in the complaint.

While there is a mention of inflammatory slogans, it does not go into what those slogans were. Similarly, there is nothing written in the complaint as to what attracts a serious charge like sedition. There is only a mention that the protesters raised anti-government slogans.

Commenting on the case, high court lawyer and a resident of the city,  Shadab Ansari said there is no merit in the case. “The sections used in the FIR are not applicable,” Ansari told The Wire, adding he is planing to move an appropriate court to quash the FIR.

He also said that there was no need for permission to organise protests as it is the constitutional right of every citizen. “Moreover,” said Ansari, “as far as I know there was no imposition of 144 in the city. So, there is hardly any merit in the police case.”

According to a news report on The Telegraph, on Tuesday, more than 4,000, people, mostly from Wasseypur area of the city took out a march from Ara Mor amid heavy police deployment.

They raised slogans like “Na Hindu jalega, na Mussalman jalega, tum aag lagaoge to insaan jalega (Neither Hindus nor Muslims will burn, if you light a fire humanity will burn).”

As per the newspaper, the protesters held placards, banners and posters with slogans such as “Jahan paida hue hain wahin dafan bhi honge (Where I was born I will die there)”, “Divide karke chalate hain rajya kya? Logon ko pitne se thamti hai awaz kya? (Can one divide and govern? Can one beat people to gag voices?), “India needs better economy, better healthcare, not religious hatred”, and “Reject CAA”.

They also shouted slogans such as “Hum leke rahenge azadi, CAA se azadi, NRC se azadi, NPR se azadi” and “Ekta ka raj chalega, Hindu-Muslim saath chalega.”

Meanwhile, reacting to the case, the Jharkhand Janadhikar Mahasabha, a group formed defend people’s rights and save democracy in Jharkhand, tweeted that the new “Hemant Soren administration needs to be clearly instructed to stop using sedition charge.” The group also noted that the governor Draupadi Murmu, addressing the newly elected Vidhan Sabha on January 7, said that the government was committed to protecting secularism and freedom of expression. On the same day, the administration slapped anti-CAA protesters with sedition charges.

Demanding that people’s right to freedom of expression be respected, the Mahasabha further said, “Hope your (Hemant Soren’s) government, unlike the previous dispensation, will respect people’s freedom of expression and the right to dissent.”

On Wednesday evening, as per Indian Express reporter Abhishek Angad, Jharkhand additional Chief Secretary (Home) Sukhdev Singh has said that the sedition charges will be removed. And Director General of Police (DGP) KN Choubey said, there was no element of sedition. Moreover, SSP Dhanbad has said that City SP has been directed to send a correction letter to the court removing IPC 124A.

It can be recalled that during the Pathalgadi movement (which started in 2017), more than 170 people were charged under sedition in a total of 19 cases by the previous BJP government. The new government, which came to the power in December and is headed by Hemant Soren of JMM in its first cabinet meeting dropped all cases (including sedition) registered against people during the Pathalgadi movement in 2017-2018.

Jharkhand school sets example on cleanliness.

Source – outlookindia.com

Jharkhand, Jan 7 (IANS) A school in Jharkhand”s Palamu district has been chosen by the Niti Aayog for undertaking best practices in clean water sanitation and inclusive infrastructure.

The Dulsulma Middle School in the Palamu district has set an example of cleanliness and overall development before the country, even as many schools in the state are deprived of basic facilities.

Niti Aayog on Twitter shared the pictures of this school and appreciated their efforts made for cleanliness, health and overall development in the school.

In the tweet, the Aayog said: “Clean as well as healthy…..The method adopted by this school is very good and like a mass movement for the advanced future of the district.”

The Aayog has appreciated the way the school has made efforts to reach out to all sections of the students. The Hindi – English alphabet is colourfully depicted on the walls of the classroom so that the little children learn it the fun way. The school has special arrangements for the disabled students too, keeping in view of their seating and toilet needs.

The school also has maintained clean tap-water, library and regular electricity, besides focus on maintaining green cover on the premises.

The credit for this rejuvenation of the school goes to Anita Bhengra, the headmistress of the school.

Bhengra, who has served for nearly 15 years in the school, has vowed to develop this school on the lines of a private school. She has made health and cleanliness the priority.

Though, over the years, the number of teachers in the school has declined, but this has not affected her spirit. “Colleagues like Anil Kumar Gupta retired, Arpan Kumar Gupta was sent to another school and then the Principle Mrityunjay Pathak was transferred. But, a team of students was prepared and they have kept the work on,” said Bhengra.

She said that English was introduced in the school, and activities involving the students like group songs, solo songs, painting, etc. were added. “With the help of the senior students, we started teaching smaller students as only two employed teachers and one assistant teacher were left in the school.”

The school gained prominence when a senior teacher, Arpan Kumar Gupta, who has now retired, uploaded the pictures of some innovations and experiments being done in the school on social media.

The efforts for clean and good education has been appreciated by the Palamu district administration also.

Deputy Commissioner of Palamu, Shantanu Kumar Agarhari told IANS: “District administration would honour Anita Bhengra by giving her a citation. Hope other schools too would learn from this school and do the same.”

Rabindra Nath Mahato elected as Jharkhand Assembly Speaker.

Source –

RANCHI: Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) MLA Rabindra Nath Mahato was on Tuesday unanimously elected as the Speaker of the Jharkhand Assembly.

Chief Minister Hemant Soren proposed Mahato’s name for the post which was seconded by JMM MLA Champai Soren during the second of the three-day session of the Assembly.

Born on January 12, 1960, Mahato was first elected in 2005 from Nala seat but lost the subsequent elections before winning it again in the 2014 and 2019 polls.

All the newly-elected MLAs in the 81-member House were administered oath by pro-term Speaker Stephen Marandi on Monday.

The JMM-Congress-RJD alliance won 47 seats while the BJP could bag only 25 seats in the Assembly elections which were held in five phases from November 30 to December 20 last year.

The results were declared on December 23 last year.