Over 10,000 armed Adivasis held the Jalpaiguri district administration hostage all through Saturday. They outnumbered the force deployed to control them and relented only on their own terms.
For nine hours, Banerhat a small town about 70 km from Jalpaiguri along NH 31-C resembled Lalgarh in West Midnapore, where the writ of tribal leaders rule and police have been reduced to mere onlookers. Tribals from the entire belt converged at the police station and gheraoed it, demanding the release of two Adivasis arrested on Friday night. The gherao was lifted only around 5 pm, but the tribals have called a 24-hour Dooars bandh on Sunday. If the two are not released by Monday, the strike would be indefinite.
Once the blockade was lifted, relief was palpable on the faces of the 100-odd terror-stricken police and paramilitary personnel caught in the pressure-cooker situation. "It was the most frightening experience of my life. We could have been slaughtered any moment," a police officer later said.
Friday's police action followed a week-old complaint by seven persons from Telepara tea estate, accusing Alexander Minz and Sanjeev Oraon of arson on election day. According to the FIR, the duo, who also live in the tea estate, set fire to their homes after they defied the vote boycott call given by Akhil Bhartiya Adivasi Vikas Parshad (ABAVP). Minz and Oraon are allegedly ABAVP functionaries.
Though the duo has not been released yet, police sources said they would walk out free on Monday after police moves court, citing the FIR's withdrawal. All seven who had accused the duo retracted the accusation on Saturday.
Four of them were produced by tribals at the police station and made to publicly withdraw the FIR. Anthony Tirkey and Benedict Kujur are members of National Union of Plantation Workers affiliated to Congress-trade union wing Intuc. Kashi Oraon is a member of Chabagan Mazdoor Union affiliated to CPM trade union wing Citu and Raju Oraon is a member of Dooars Cha Bagan Workers Union, an RSP-affiliated trade union.
The political affiliation of the quartet is interesting, indicating a joint effort by all political parties to counter ABAVP that has emerged as a force in the belt. The vote-boycott call by the organization for the Lok Sabha elections elicited an overwhelming response from Adivasis. Those tribals who defied the diktat faced consequences. In Banerhat, violence was reported from tea estates like Palasbari and Telepara on the night of May 30. In Telepara, seven houses were set ablaze. No political party showed any resistance.
It was only the next day that parties urged the affected people in Telepara to lodge an FIR. Based on the complaint, police picked up Alexander and Sanjeev on Friday and produced them on Jalpaiguri town on Saturday morning.
When word of the arrests got around in the wee hours of Saturday, ABAVP leaders galvanised the community into action. Tribals began to assemble in front of Banerhat PS from 7.30 am. In the next 30 minutes, the number had swelled to 10,000. Carrying bows, arrows, spears, hatchets and crowbars, tribals had trekked down from Telepara, Gandrapara, Palasbari, Haldibari and several other gardens. They gheraoed the police station and demanded the duo's release.
"We deployed over 100 policemen, including Rapid Action Force, Indian Reserve Battalion and State Armed Police personnel, at Banerhat PS. But they were simply outnumbered by the turnout," an officer conceded later. The tribals blocked the train line from New Jalpaiguri to Alipurduar Junction at noon, forcing the diversion of a train from Ranchi to another parallel line. Blockades were set up on NH 31C at Moraghat, Telepara and other intersections. Raju Bara, chief advisor of ABAVP (Dooars-Terai Committee) accused the CPM of deliberately engineering the arrests to foil a meeting scheduled on Sunday.
For nine hours, Banerhat a small town about 70 km from Jalpaiguri along NH 31-C resembled Lalgarh in West Midnapore, where the writ of tribal leaders rule and police have been reduced to mere onlookers. Tribals from the entire belt converged at the police station and gheraoed it, demanding the release of two Adivasis arrested on Friday night. The gherao was lifted only around 5 pm, but the tribals have called a 24-hour Dooars bandh on Sunday. If the two are not released by Monday, the strike would be indefinite.
Once the blockade was lifted, relief was palpable on the faces of the 100-odd terror-stricken police and paramilitary personnel caught in the pressure-cooker situation. "It was the most frightening experience of my life. We could have been slaughtered any moment," a police officer later said.
Friday's police action followed a week-old complaint by seven persons from Telepara tea estate, accusing Alexander Minz and Sanjeev Oraon of arson on election day. According to the FIR, the duo, who also live in the tea estate, set fire to their homes after they defied the vote boycott call given by Akhil Bhartiya Adivasi Vikas Parshad (ABAVP). Minz and Oraon are allegedly ABAVP functionaries.
Though the duo has not been released yet, police sources said they would walk out free on Monday after police moves court, citing the FIR's withdrawal. All seven who had accused the duo retracted the accusation on Saturday.
Four of them were produced by tribals at the police station and made to publicly withdraw the FIR. Anthony Tirkey and Benedict Kujur are members of National Union of Plantation Workers affiliated to Congress-trade union wing Intuc. Kashi Oraon is a member of Chabagan Mazdoor Union affiliated to CPM trade union wing Citu and Raju Oraon is a member of Dooars Cha Bagan Workers Union, an RSP-affiliated trade union.
The political affiliation of the quartet is interesting, indicating a joint effort by all political parties to counter ABAVP that has emerged as a force in the belt. The vote-boycott call by the organization for the Lok Sabha elections elicited an overwhelming response from Adivasis. Those tribals who defied the diktat faced consequences. In Banerhat, violence was reported from tea estates like Palasbari and Telepara on the night of May 30. In Telepara, seven houses were set ablaze. No political party showed any resistance.
It was only the next day that parties urged the affected people in Telepara to lodge an FIR. Based on the complaint, police picked up Alexander and Sanjeev on Friday and produced them on Jalpaiguri town on Saturday morning.
When word of the arrests got around in the wee hours of Saturday, ABAVP leaders galvanised the community into action. Tribals began to assemble in front of Banerhat PS from 7.30 am. In the next 30 minutes, the number had swelled to 10,000. Carrying bows, arrows, spears, hatchets and crowbars, tribals had trekked down from Telepara, Gandrapara, Palasbari, Haldibari and several other gardens. They gheraoed the police station and demanded the duo's release.
"We deployed over 100 policemen, including Rapid Action Force, Indian Reserve Battalion and State Armed Police personnel, at Banerhat PS. But they were simply outnumbered by the turnout," an officer conceded later. The tribals blocked the train line from New Jalpaiguri to Alipurduar Junction at noon, forcing the diversion of a train from Ranchi to another parallel line. Blockades were set up on NH 31C at Moraghat, Telepara and other intersections. Raju Bara, chief advisor of ABAVP (Dooars-Terai Committee) accused the CPM of deliberately engineering the arrests to foil a meeting scheduled on Sunday.
Source: The Times Of India
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