Jharkhand Movement Activist Reflects on Struggles and Unfulfilled Dreams for a Just State

Sixty-one-year-old Jharkhand movement activist Chandranath Bhai Patel, a resident of Hazaribag, recalled the early days when he witnessed the formation of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM).

Patel said that the word “Mukti” in the party’s name symbolised liberation from exploitation, corruption, poverty and social evils — a dream envisioned by one of the founders of the movement, Binod Bihari Mahato. Patel, an advocate by profession, has a disfigured finger which is a permanent mark of police lathicharge during the movement. Patel said that he was fortunate to become an accused in an FIR with Binod Bihari Mahto during Nahar bharo andolan. “We had also launched a ‘hukka pani band’ of policemen in Bishnugarh in the 90s,” he added. Despite fighting for a separate state, Patel said the dream of a just and equitable Jharkhand remains unfulfilled. “In Jharkhand, the govt has left us with only Rs 3,500 per month and forgotten our sacrifices,” he added.