BJP protests Niel Tirkey appointment as convenor

BJP protests Niel Tirkey appointment as convenor

Vijay Deo Jha Ranchi Saturday, April 5, 2008

The newly formed five-member committee to ascertain who actually constitute the tribal groups in the State in the wake of the decision of the Supreme Court is running under bad weather. The formation of the committee is being questioned both on the constitutional as well as the political ground. While on the one hand, some of the MLAs feel that the State Government have no locus standi to form any such committee, only Parliament and the President have the right to form committee to ascertain who actually belong to the tribal group. On the other hand, the BJP has raised opposition on the appointment of Niel Tirkey as the convenor of the committee owing to his known protest to form any such committee that could damage the interest of the tribals converted to Christianity (TCC). Hence, the tussle between the Sarna tribes and the tribals converted to Christianity has started taking a political colour. There are nearly 10 BJP MLAs belonging to Sarna tribes. They have accused the Government, including Jharkhand Assembly speaker Alamgir Alam, for BJP fears that the said committee would be biased in the favour of him, since it was headed by Tirkey who was opposed to formation of any such committee that could harm the interest of TCC group in the State. BJP MLA Karia Munda said instead appointing Tirkey, the Government should have appointed a non-tribal to head the committee. A fair deal cannot be expected in a case if a person of known mindset heads the committee and this issue would not die out unless the corrections were made in the decision.The present committee constitutes each of two MLAs from Sarna tribe and converted Christian - Tirkey and Susila Hansda (JMM) belong to converted groups and Chandresh Oraon (BJP), and Ramesh Singh Munda (JDU) represent Sarna tribes. Ramchandra Chandrabansi of the RJD is the only lone non-tribal member of the group. While justifying his decision to appoint Tirkey to head the committee, Alam said that he maintained proper balance in forming the committee and he acted in an impartial manner in deciding the name. What else I could do if the MLAs do not allow the house to run smoothly, he said. However, he accepted that appointing a neutral person as the convenor of the committee could be a good idea. But I would ensure that the committee works with fair mind, he said. The committee would submit a report whether TCC indeed left their tradition, mode of worship and other rituals and do they fall within the purview of the decision of the SC that debar any tribal from availing the privileges meant for tribals.