PATNA, 27 July — Life was tense but calm in the eastern state of Jharkhand yesterday, as a strike called by the opponents of a controversial domicile policy that they have rejected as discriminatory did not report any violence.
As police extended its curfew to many areas of this city to prevent a repetition of Wednesday’s bloody street clashes, Chief Minister Babulal Marandi upped the ante against the policy’s opponents rejecting their demand for its review.
The entire city was deserted as police issued shoot-at-sight orders. There was a wave of fear and panic in Ranchi, a city of one million.
Yesterday’s was the fourth strike in a week in Jharkhand, a state that the contentious policy has sharply polarized. The supporters and the opponents of the policy have called two strikes each since July 18.
Seven persons were killed and dozens injured as the two sides fought pitched battles on Ranchi’s streets Wednesday. Sporadic violence continued on Thursday, in which an official was injured.
Curfew has now been extended to Argora and Sukhdeo Nagar police station areas. Restrictions in Hatia, Doranda and Jaggnathpur continue.
In Ranchi, government and private offices, educational institutions, banks and commercial establishments remained shut for the third successive day. Cities like Jamshedpur and Dhanbad also witnessed a total strike. After a three-hour emergency meeting of his Cabinet, Marandi warned that anyone indulging in violence would be dealt with sternly. But he said the policy would not be reviewed. "An all-party meet will be called later to discuss the issue."
The state government has deputed three top police officers to assist Senior Superintendent of Police Neeraj Sinha. A dozen companies of paramilitary forces too have been brought to Ranchi.
"The total strike has underlined the fact that the state’s people are with us," said student leader U.S. Ojha who is opposing the policy. Defense Minister George Fernandes’ Samata Party demanded the central government’s intervention in the dispute.
The controversial domicile policy makes only those Jharkhand residents whose forefathers’ names figure in land records of 1932 eligible for government jobs and admission to state-run educational institutions.
Meanwhile, Bihar Assembly Speaker Sadanand Singh has recognized the newly floated Janata Dal-Jayaprakash, a breakaway faction of the Janata Dal-United (JD-U), as a separate political group.
The JD-JP was floated on Tuesday by four of JD-U’s 12 legislators after they resigned from the party opposing its four-year-old alliance with Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s Hindu extremist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The speaker has ordered separate seating arrangements for JD-JP members. These legislators have pledged support to Chief Minister Rabri Devi’s coalition.
