New Delhi/Patna. Normal life was affected in tribal areas of Bihar and Jharkhand as well as various states due to the one-day nationwide strike called by some Dalit and tribal groups against the Supreme Court’s decision regarding sub-classification of Scheduled Castes.
Police resorted to lathicharge and water cannon fire in several districts of Bihar, including Patna, Darbhanga and Begusarai, to disperse protesters blocking rail and road traffic, while public transport services were partially affected in Jharkhand and Odisha. The impact was mixed in other parts of the country. Several parties in the opposition ‘India’ alliance as well as other non-BJP organizations had also extended their support to the bandh.
The Congress’ Chhattisgarh unit said the government should sympathetically consider the “legitimate demands” of the protesters. However, BJP’s prominent tribal leader Faggan Singh Kulaste accused the opposition of politicising the Supreme Court’s decision on the issue. 21 organisations across the country had called for a ‘Bharat Bandh’ against the apex court’s order. They say it will harm the basic principles of reservation.
Protesters disrupted rail and road traffic in several districts of Bihar and police used batons and water cannons to disperse them. Train services were disrupted in Darbhanga and Buxar, while road traffic was disrupted in Patna, Hajipur, Darbhanga, Jehanabad and Begusarai districts.
The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and other allies of the ‘India’ alliance extended their support to the bandh. Independent MP Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav led protests in Patna and other areas and criticised the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government’s stand on SC/ST quota and alleged that it wanted to weaken reservation. In Patna, police dispersed a crowd blocking traffic at Dak Bungalow crossing. Five people were detained after clashes between protesters and security personnel in Jehanabad district.
Protesters in other districts, including Madhepura, Muzaffarpur, Saran, Begusarai, Hajipur and Purnia, attempted to block traffic and burn tyres, but were dispersed by security forces. East Central Railway Chief Public Relations Officer Saraswati Chandra confirmed that train services were disrupted in Ara, Chausa (Buxar), Darbhanga, Begusarai and Rajgir, but the situation was brought under control immediately.
In Jharkhand, government buses were off the roads and schools remained closed. The call for a bandh here had the support of the ruling coalition of the state. Left parties also extended their support to the strike. An official said that due to the strike, Chief Minister Hemant Soren cancelled his Palamu tour on Wednesday. He said that security was beefed up at important places to prevent any untoward incident.
Due to the strike, practical exams of Bachelor of Education (B.Ed) students of Ranchi University were postponed.
Attendance in offices was thin as many long-distance government buses did not ply. Protesters burnt tyres and put up blockades at several places in Ranchi. Bandh supporters urged shopkeepers in the Jharkhand capital to keep their shops shut. Roads were blocked in Palamu, Godda, Dumka, Gadhwa and other districts.
Prem Sahi Munda, president of Adivasi Jan Parishad, said, “We are not opposing the decision of the apex court. We have come out on the streets to protect our rights granted by the Constitution.” Rail and road communications were partially affected in Odisha, but government offices, banks, business establishments and educational institutions operated normally. Protesters stopped trains in Bhubaneswar and Sambalpur for some time, while passenger buses also did not run on some routes.
Chhattisgarh. The strike had a mixed impact everywhere except in the tribal dominated areas. Transport services remained normal to a large extent in the rest of the state. Many shops and business establishments remained closed in parts of Bastar and Surguja divisions, Mohla-Manpur-Ambagarh. Chowki and Dhamtari districts. Bastar division comprises seven districts and Surguja division comprises six districts.
A massive motorcycle rally was taken out in support of the bandh by members of the Sarva Adivasi Samaj (SAS) at the Dantewada district headquarters. SAS, an umbrella organisation of tribal organisations, has a good presence in tribal areas. The opposition Congress extended its ‘moral’ support to the bandh and called for addressing the concerns of members of the ST and SC communities.
State Congress communication cell chief Sushil Anand Shukla said, “People of Scheduled Tribe and Scheduled Caste community and their organizations have called for ‘Bharat Bandh’ for their legitimate demands, which should be considered sympathetically, as it is their constitutional right. Congress morally supports their movement.” Kulaste, BJP member from Mandla (ST reserved) Lok Sabha seat of Madhya Pradesh, said, “The judges have given their opinion. I personally met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on this issue along with 60-70 MPs. The Prime Minister told us that the creamy layer provision will not be implemented among SC and ST.”
Kulaste said, “Despite such clarity and decision by the government, people have called for a ‘Bharat Bandh’… they are doing politics. Congress did politics in the name of SC and ST and (Bahujan Samaj Party chief) Mayawati is also doing the same.” The nationwide strike also had some impact in tribal areas of Gujarat, including Chhota Udaipur, Narmada, Surendranagar, Sabarkantha and Aravalli districts. Markets remained closed in cities and semi-urban areas of these districts.
In Vadhwan taluka of Surendranagar district, protesters stopped a goods train for some time and raised slogans. In Bhiloda and Shamlaji of Aravalli district, protesters blocked roads. Officials said that several people were detained in Patan and Aravalli districts for trying to enforce the bandh forcibly. Umarpada town of Surat district wore a deserted look in the afternoon as shops remained closed.
The strike call had little impact on normal life in Uttar Pradesh as shops remained open and work went on normally in large parts of the state amid tight security. Opposition Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Samajwadi Party (SP) have extended their support to the bandh. BSP workers demonstrated near Hazratganj in Lucknow, affecting traffic for some time.
Bhim Army protested in those areas of western Uttar Pradesh where its members have a significant presence. Azad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram) president and Nagina Lok Sabha member Chandrashekhar Azad said in a post released on the social media platform ‘X’, “Today’s mass movement is a clear message to the central and state governments that now the Bahujan Samaj will not allow the conspiracy of divide and rule to succeed.”
Other northern states, including Rajasthan, Punjab and Haryana, remained largely unaffected by the bandh except for a few places. Markets remained closed in some places and public transport services were partially affected. Rajasthan Director General of Police (DGP) UR Sahu said, “No untoward incident took place across the state except one or two sporadic incidents. The bandh was conducted peacefully due to adequate arrangements made by the police and administration.” In Jaipur, the SC/ST Joint Sangharsh Samiti took out a rally against the Supreme Court verdict of August 1. Suresh Saini, general secretary of Jaipur Vyapar Mahasangh, said, “Markets remained closed during the rally and opened after 3 pm. The bandh was peaceful.” Shops and other commercial establishments opened normally in Punjab and Haryana as police in both states made elaborate security arrangements to maintain law and order.
Some educational institutions in Phagwara were closed by their managements as a precautionary measure. Protest marches were taken out in Phagwara, Jalandhar and Hoshiarpur districts. Schools opened normally in Ludhiana. The shutdown had no effect in Assam, where schools, offices and business establishments remained open normally across the state and there was almost full attendance. The Supreme Court in its August 1 order said that states are constitutionally empowered to make sub-classifications within the Scheduled Castes, which form a socially heterogeneous class, to provide reservation for the upliftment of castes that are socially and educationally more backward.