Oppn’s statewide bandh ‘peaceful’

Ranchi: The opposition parties in the state, who were protesting against the Centre’s land acquisition bill, blocked highways and railway tracks and forced shops to keep the shutters down on Monday. Police said the bandh was peaceful in all the districts.Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik) chief Babulal Marandi, backed by 15 big and small opposition parties, led the march in Ranchi.
“The government wants to snatch the land that our forefathers have protected for generations and give it to th corporates. We will never allow anyone to usurp the land people of Jharkhand hold close to their hearts,” Marandi told protestors gathered at Albert Ekka Chowk on Monday.Marandi vowed to continue the agitation till the Centre rolled back the “anti-people, anti-farmer” legislation.JVM-P general secretary Pradeep Yadav said the bandh was “a message to Prime Minister Narendra Modi” that people would not sit quiet if he moved ahead with the bill.Protesters blocked roads in Tupudana, Hatia, Dhurwa, Argora, Doranda, Booty More, Khelgaon, Namkum, Bero, Lapung, Pithoria and Bundu in Ranchi.
In Bokaro, police detained 72 protesters violating Section 144 the district administration had imposed prior to the bandh. Over 200 protesters were detained in Jamshedpur when they tried to damage public property. Authorities said the bandh was peaceful in Jamshedpur and Adityapur. Shops, marketplaces, cinema halls across the state remained closed in the first half of the day, but did business in the evening. A group of protestors stopped Sealdah Rajdhani Express at Dhanbad railway station at 8 am. JVM-P’s Dhanbad district president of JVM (P) Gyan Ranjan Sinha said the bandh was successful. Coal supply to thermal power plants and other states was disrupted as national highways remained blocked.
“Life came to a standstill in rural areas. The local markets were all closed,” axe-wielding tribal leader and coordinator of Adivasi Moolvasi Astitva Raksha Manch, Dayamani Barla, who led a march comprising mostly of tribals, said. Former minister Bandhu Tirkey’s Jharkhand Janadhikar Manch and a few other tribal organizations supported the bandh.CPI state secretary Bhuvneshwar Mehta said Narendra Modi government is working as corporate stooge.Highways passing through Hazaribag were blocked and protesters squatting on railway tracks hampered movement of trains. Protesters also blocked highways in Gumla, though train services remained normal. The bandh did not affect life in Garhwa where many shops remained open. However, long route buses from Garhwa to Bihar, UP and Chhattisgarh did not ply giving passengers a tough time.Jharkhand police spokesperson S N Pradhan said the bandh passed off without any untoward incident.The bandh though hit normal life in Jamshedpur where police clashed with protestors at some places. The protestors could not damage properties as a large number of security personnel were deployed throughout the city.