Dynamics of separation

The smooth passage of the Jharkhand Bill in the Lok Sabha is a tribute to the deft political management by the Vajpayee government. It has...

The smooth passage of the Jharkhand Bill in the Lok Sabha is a tribute to the deft political management by the Vajpayee government. It has belied fears that the Bill would never be passed in the manner the government proposed. In the end, the protest was too feeble to obstruct its passage.

Even the boycott by the Biju Janata Dal, which was the high watermark of the debate, was just for name8217;s sake. It is now only a matter of time before the separate state becomes a reality. But the Jharkhand that will be formed will not be the same as the one visualised by Olympian Jaipal Singh when he first articulated the demand over half a century ago. If the distinctiveness of the large contiguous area spread over four states Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and West Bengal and its tribal culture provided the underpinning for the separate statehood demand, what is being attempted now is based on pure party politics.

The Jharkhand that will soon come into being will not be a patch on the original concept. The area has lost much of its forest cover and the tribals are no longer in a majority. What8217;s more, political power in the new state will remain firmly in the hands of what the tribal leaders used to derisively call the dikkus outsiders.

Yet, for many in the Jharkhand region, the new state marks a first step in the creation of a larger state. Home Minister L.K. Advani conceded the point when he asked the BJD, which had passed a resolution in the Orissa Assembly demanding return of two districts from Bihar, to negotiate with the leaders of Jharkhand when it is formed. If Orissa can ask for some territory, nothing prevents Jharkhand from asking for what the Jharkhandis have historically been arguing as part of its territory in Orissa. In any case, the creation of the new state is bound to open a Pandora8217;s box of demands and counter-demands from which the government cannot escape.

Unlike Uttaranchal where questions of viability of the new state are raised, nobody doubts Jharkhand8217;s claim. In fact, questions may be raised about the viability of Bihar once the new state is carved out of it mainly because Bihar has been dependent on the mineral-rich and industrially better developed region in the south for its sustenance.

It may be too harsh to say that Bihar will be left with only flood and famine but it has a kernel of truth. The parting of ways can indeed be to Bihar8217;s advantage if it is prepared to look inwards and exploit its immense wealth in the form of human capital and fertile land. How ironic it is that Laloo Yadav who had at one time threatened that the new state would be created only over his dead body is the one who stands to gain the most from Jharkhand.

Once the vivisection takes place and the BJP forms a government in Jharkhand by virtue of the majority it commands in the area, Laloo Yadav will be freed from the shackles of the Congress. In the truncated Bihar House, his Rashtriya Janata Dal will enjoy absolute majority. He can use it in two ways; lord it over the state as he used to do in the past or use the majority to introduce reforms measures that will restore the prestige Bihar once enjoyed as one of the best administered states in the country. It is for the husband-wife team to make the choice.