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Ground Report | New Delhi: People in Jharkhand protesting; In Jharkhand, protests erupted over the inclusion of Bhojpuri and Magahi as 'regional languages' in district-level competitive examinations for the government. Jobs. Several protesters, including women, are seen marching with placards, shouting slogans against the government, from the east-central districts of Giridih and Ranchi as well as Bokaro and Dhanbad.
The whole of Jharkhand is embroiled in a language dispute these days. Demonstrations are being held at many places in the state. Somewhere effigies are being burnt and somewhere a human chain is being formed. Somewhere people are taking to the streets and somewhere the assembly is being gheraoed.
The process of rhetoric is fast and in the heart of this controversy, political clans are cooking their own slang. The most surprising thing is that the leaders of the three largest parties of the state, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, Bharatiya Janata Party and Congress are divided in the dispute regarding the list of regional languages. There are two clefts within these three parties.
A huge gathering of people had been spotted as the protests gained momentum since the end of the last week of January. A large number of people has been protesting in the Silli area of Ranchi district and in Bagodar in Giridih district.
The notification issued on December 24 by the Jharkhand Personnel, Administrative Reforms, and Rajbhasha Department about the inclusion of Magahi, Bhojpuri and Angika among others as regional languages in the district level selection process through exams conducted by the Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission (JSSC), triggered madness among a section of people mainly in Bokaro and Dhanbad who saw this inclusion as violating the rights of Adivasis and Moolvasis. It is said that there is a relatively small number of Magahi and Bhojpuri speaking people in these districts, however, no precise data is available.
A group called the Bhojpuri, Magahi, Maithili Angika Manch, which is backed by RJD Loktantrik, a Jharkhand splinter of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), has criticised the alleged polarising nature of the protests. Manch president Kailash Yadav has claimed that more than 1 crore people in Jharkhand speak Bhojpuri, Magahi, and Angika, and recalled the “immense contribution” of Bhojpuri and Magahi speakers to the state. “We request the education minister to treat Biharis with respect, and to not polarise the public,” he said.
Jharkhand Bhasha Sangharsh Samiti, an organization of Moolvasi and Adivasis that claims to be non-political, has organized more than 50 protest rallies in recent days. A spokesman for Samiti Tirth Nath Akash said the protests were intended to put pressure on the government. on the inclusion of these languages in two districts of Bokaro and Dhanbad.
“It is our government and it is important to force them to listen, language is a very important issue. The population that speaks these languages in these two districts is very less, so what sense does it make to include these languages? It will only make jobs scarcer for Jharkhand is. We are not opposing the inclusion of these languages in Latehar, Garhwa or Palamu because a substantial population speak these languages in these areas”, he further added.
Each party is formed into at least two factions, each divided into two groups on the question of language, and each clan has a different opinion. The class which is burning the most in the fire of this controversy is the youth, who have been looking for government jobs in the state for years. Many job exams have been caught in the bondage of language controversy.
The whole controversy is on whether it is right or wrong to include Bhojpuri, Magahi, Maithili, Angika and Urdu in the list of regional languages for the third and fourth-grade jobs in the state? The state government has declared its policy on this.
Urdu has been given the status of a regional language in all the 24 districts of the state. Regarding this, the government issued a notification on 23 December 2021 and since then the politics of opposition and support intensified on the list of regional languages. In the list of regional languages, organizations and political clans objecting to Bhojpuri, Magahi, Maithili and Angika, they are called foreign languages.
Jharkhand Education Minister Jagarnath Mahato posted on Twitter: “Jharkhand ki sarkar Jharkhandion ne banaaya hai aur yahaan unki baat suni jayegi. (Jharkhandis have made this government, and it is their voice that will be heard)."
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