A notion state

No surprise: Naxalites are sensing Jharkhand8217;s de facto administrative vacuum

The murder of JMM MP from Jamshedpur Sunil Mahto by suspected Naxalites on Sunday trains the spotlight on the spreading menace of extremism. There is mounting evidence that Jharkhand, along with the other new state of Chhattisgarh, is becoming a new Naxal stronghold, pushing back the status of Andhra and Bihar. But the killing of the MP also brings into focus the state in Jharkhand or, more correctly, its absence. It needs a state that is both strong and legitimate to crack down on ideologies of political extremism, to disarm them, and establish the supremacy of its own writ. Given the ad hoc nature of its ruling arrangement, it may be safe to conclude that Jharkhand does not possess such a state.

In September 2006, six years after the new state was born in November 2000, a political crisis that began with an enterprising group of Independent MLAs and ministers resigning from a BJP-led government they had helped install 18 months ago, culminated in a

government led by one of them. In the Madhu Koda government,

Independents became ministers, and political parties like the Congress and RJD extended outside support. With the national party willing to play second fiddle to dislodge the government of a political opponent, the political initiative passed into the hands of the maverick political entrepreneurs who travel light, unburdened by either agenda or manifesto. How appropriate is it, and how realistic, to ask such a government and state to take responsibility for the wanton violence that visits it now? What credible and effective measures can we expect from it to tackle the Naxalite threat?

The continuing scandal of the Madhu Koda government is especially poignant because it is set in Jharkhand. The new state had so much going for it at birth. It was rich in minerals, dotted with some of the country8217;s busiest industrial centres and had vast forest resources. A short-sighted and cynical political class has let it down. The murder of Mahto is another reminder that it is the national gaze that has moved on, Jharkhand8217;s problems have not gone away.