Why Odisha’s Pathargadi Movement is CM Patnaik’s Next Big Worry

The violent ‘Pathargadi’ movement finds its roots and modus operandi in neighbour Jharkhand.

The Pathargadi movement claimed its first victim in Odisha last Tuesday. Dambarudhar Seth of Telighana village in Sundargarh district was bludgeoned to death by a pro-Pathargadi mob for opposing the movement that spilled over from neighbouring Jharkhand about six months ago.

A group of men from the village, including Dambarudhar, was trying to uproot the stone dug into the ground at the entrance of the village to announce its sovereignty when it was pounced upon by those who had erected it.

The Collector convened a meeting of four MLAs of the district, besides representatives of both pro and anti movement local leaders on Wednesday in a bid to restore peace, but nothing came out of it.

While this was the first casualty of the fledgling movement, skirmishes have been taking place every now and then with mostly government officials at the receiving end.

About two months ago, the officer in charge (OIC) of Kuanrmunda police station, along with three other policemen, were held hostage for nearly eight hours by villagers when they had gone to execute a warrant in Baneilata village.

The OIC was paraded naked before the SP rushed in rushed in with additional forces and rescued the police team.

A few days later, the local tehsildar and the revenue inspector (RI) had to beat a hasty retreat from the outskirts of Badkuchlu village in Rajgangpur where they had gone to take stock of basic amenities as per the orders of the ST, SC Commission.

‘Pathargadi’ Modus Operandi Traces its Roots in Neighbour Jharkhand

‘Pathalgadi’ may have become ‘Pathargadi’ while entering the Odisha border in tune with the local language. But the modus operandi is exactly the same as in neighboring Jharkhand where the movement started about a year and half ago. Villagers erect a large stone at the entry point of the village on which are carved Article 244 of the Constitution that gives tribals complete right over their resources and Sec 19 (5) of the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution that they say bars the entry of outsiders.

Such incidents have been happening with frightening regularity, primarily in Rajgangpur and Kutra blocks of Sundargarh district, sending shivers down the spines of government officials and police.

Officials now see wisdom in obeying the diktats of the gram sabha banning entry of ‘outsiders’ into tribal villages rather than showing bravado and risking their lives.

Even the police are too scared to go into these villages, forget acting against them.

The noteworthy thing about the movement is that it is spreading without the formal banner of an organization or a structured local leadership.

The men who formulate the strategy to take the movement forward are all on the Jharkhand side.

The day Dambarudhar Seth was lynched, local leaders of the movement were reportedly having a closed door meeting with the Jharkhand leadership in Ranchi.

Mercifully for the Odisha government, the movement has so far been limited to Sundargarh.

But with George Trikey, MLA from Birmitrapur and a prominent leader of the Pathargadi movement, threatening to take the movement to 13 tribal dominated districts of the state, the Naveen Patnaik government can ignore the threat only at its own peril.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, veteran tribal leader and Rajgangpur MLA Mangala Kisan, says the leaders of the movement are trying to fool the innocent tribals.

We all support PESA and the gram sabha provided for it in the Constitution. But these people want to write a whole new Constitution. And that obviously can never be accepted.

Mangala Kisan, Rajgangpur MLA & Veteran Tribal Leader

Tribal Unity & Other Factors That Fuelled the Movement

There are two basic reasons why the movement has taken roots in Sundargarh and not in other tribal districts of the state.

First, the fact that it is hemmed in by Simdega and West Singhbhum districts of Jharkhand (where the movement originated) on one side and Jashpur district in Chhattisgarh (which has also seen the movement take roots) on the other makes Sundargarh particularly vulnerable to cross-border influences.

Second, over 50 percent of the population of the district is tribal with a sizeable number of them Christians (about 17 percent).

Probably because of the unique composition of its population, the movement that aims at uniting tribals against the alleged apathy and oppression of the state has ended up dividing the tribal society down the middle.

In nearly every village, there are groups of people ranged against each other on the question of support to the movement.

Why Dangers of a Religious Flare-Up Can’t be Ignored

What makes it a potential tinderbox is the religious composition.

While there are exceptions, Hindu tribals have generally opposed the movement while a section of Christians has backed it.

With Hindus and Christians living side by side in many villages, the dangers of a flare-up can hardly be overstated.

Apart from the village community as a whole, the movement also threatens to divide Christian society into warring pro and anti movement factions.

Though there are no reports as yet of the Sangh Parivar entering the fray in an organized manner, the situation is tailor-made for it to fish in troubled waters.

Significantly, Sundargarh is the only Lok Sabha constituency in Odisha represented by the BJP (Union Tribal Affairs minister Jual Oram).

Ahead of Polls, the Killing Sets Alarm Bells Ringing For BJD

The killing of Dambarudhar on Tuesday has set the alarm bells ringing for the state government. The dangers of allowing things to fester and spread to other areas are obvious.

Though the government is yet to come out with a formal reaction, Home departments mandarins are believed to be holding parleys on how to nip the movement in the bud.

Mayurbhanj, also bordering Jharkhand, is another potential trouble spot to worry about for the government.

Coming as it does at a time when elections are less than a year away, the Pathargadi movement could prove to be a big headache for the BJD.

What makes things even more difficult for the ruling party is the prospect of the BJP and its affiliates exploiting the situation for electoral dividends.

How it deals with the challenge will determine not just its electoral fortunes in 2019, but also decide if tribal Odisha is to be caught in whirlpool of violence triggered by tribal assertion.

(Writer is a senior Bhubaneswar-based journalist and has reported for the BBC for the last twenty years. This is an opinion piece and the views expressed above are the author’s own.The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for the same.)