Members of the Kurmi community have been staging protests to press for Scheduled Tribe status and recognition of the Kurmali language in the Eighth Schedule. They have blocked railway tracks, due to which as many as 55 trains were cancelled, and others were either diverted or terminated for a short duration. They have now called off their protest at all but two stations after the Centre assured them of a meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah to discuss their demands.
Protest called off at all but two stations
According to Kurmi Vikas Morcha president Sheetal Ohdar, the blockade at Sini station in Seraikela-Kharswan district will also be lifted shortly. However, the agitation at Pradhan Khanta in Dhanbad district will continue until the Centre confirms a date for the meeting.
“We have decided to withdraw the agitation after the assurance from the office of the Union Home Minister of a meeting with Amit Shah. However, the date has not been allotted yet. In view of the development, we have decided to withdraw the agitation from all but two stations,” Ohdar said.
He added, “The agitation at Sini will be withdrawn soon, while it will continue at Pradhan Khanta until the date for the meeting is allotted by the Centre.”
100 trains affected
According to a report by PTI, over 100 trains were affected after they blocked railway tracks in West Bengal, Jharkhand and Odisha, including the Vande Bharat.
According to the railways, 21 trains – including the Ranchi-Varanasi Vande Bharat Express, the Tatanagar-Patna Vande Bharat Express, the Ahmedabad-Howrah Express, the Mumbai-Shalimar Express, the Jammu Tawi-Sambalpur Express, and Ernakulam-Tatanagar Express – were stalled at various stations, The Indian Express reported.
South Eastern Railways (SER) reported that 43 trains were cancelled on September 20, with another 12 cancelled for September 21. In addition, 20 trains were diverted, 24 short-terminated, and 8 detained.
This comes as the organisation which called the protest, Kurmi organisation Adivasi Kurmi Samaj, alleged that police detained some of its leaders.
Thousands of protesters squatted on tracks at various stations in Muri, Rai, Tatisilwai stations in Ranchi district, Barkakana in Ramgarh, Parasnath in Giridih, Charhi in Hazaribag, Pradhan Khanta hanta in Dhanbad, Galudih in East Singhbhum and Chandrpura in Bokaro district on Saturday under the banner of Adivasi Kurmi Samaj (AKS) to press their demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status for the community and inclusion of the Kurmali language in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution.