 "NTPC")
It has been more than a fortnight, but Mohammed Ayub still gets startled when he hears a loud noise. Talking to strangers makes him anxious too. A resident of Dadikala in Hazaribagh, he doesn't want to go back to his village as he fears the police would return for him.
His voice starts to tremble in fear when asked why. "Woh log mere samne the. Hum log khet mein chup gaye. Dekh lete toh humko bhi maar dete. (They were right in front of me. We hid in the fields to protect ourselves. Had they seen us, they would have killed us too)," he says by phone from Ranchi, where he has been living with his cousins since the incident.
The men he is referring to are part of a police party who had come to Dadikala - a village 30 km from Hazaribagh in Jharkhand - in search of people accused of inciting violence on October 1 that resulted in police firing in which four people were killed. Villagers allege that the policemen beat them mercilessly when they failed to answer their questions. The police, however, refute the allegations.
According to police officials, the incident took place on October 1, when they were returning to Barkagaon Police Station from Chirudih after arresting Congress MLA Nirmala Devi. She had been leading a protest near the Pakri-Barwadih coal mining project over compensation to villagers for land being acquired by NTPC. Devi was arrested in the early hours of the day following an FIR (first information report) filed by NTPC, alleging that she and her supporters were preventing material and machinery from entering the project site.
The officials claim that as the police party approached Dadikala, a mob armed with country-made weapons attacked them and helped Devi escape. The police tried to dispel the crowd using tear gas and batons, but to no avail. The mob then allegedly tried to lynch two senior police officials who were leading the party. Seeing an imminent danger to their lives, the officials say, the police was forced to open fire on the mob. In the shooting, Pawan Kumar (16), Abhishek Rai (18), Ranjan Rai (18) and Mohammad Mehtab Alam (29) were killed and 20 others were injured.
The locals, however, claim that the four people killed were not part of the mob. "They were innocent bystanders," says Mohammed Rasid, who runs a small shop in Barkagaon. Sanjay Mehto, a resident of Karanpura, says: "Those who were killed belonged to poor families. Pawan was a meritorious student whose parents were daily labourers. Mehtab Alam was a tailor and the sole breadwinner of his family."
Protests and politicians
Police have lodged an FIR against Devi and her husband, Yogendra Sao, a former minister in the state. Along with them, 100 persons have also been booked for instigating violence.
Sao was arrested on October 4 from Hurhuri village in the Hazaribagh district, but his wife is still at large. According to the police, Sao was the brains behind this incident even though he was not present at the site. Sao has been leading the protests against the NTPC project for the last 10 years.
Analysts say whenever clashes have broken out between protesters and the police, the couple has always been at the centre of it. Sao, who allegedly founded and ran an extortion gang, has at least a dozen cases registered against him.
Former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soran appointed him as a minister in his cabinet and fired him when his links to the extortion gang became public. For many in the region, Sao is their only leader. "He was branded a criminal as part of a conspiracy. He is the only person fighting for us. Why don't you question NTPC and the company's agent and their goons?" asks Mansoor Alam, a villager.
The money issue
At the heart of the problem is the compensation for 8,000 acres that NTPC plans to acquire over the next five years for its Pakri-Barwadih project. This captive mine project will fuel the public sector power producer's three plants in the area.
Farmers have been protesting against the project since 2013. On many occasions, they have turned violent: there have been three incidents of police firing over the past three years. In 2008, the district administration set Rs 8 lakh per acre as compensation for the land. Later, NTPC agreed to pay Rs 20 lakh an acre after an agreement with the villagers. But for the land yet to be acquired, villagers have started to demand compensation under the Land Acquisition and Rehabilitation Act, 2013, under which four times the market value must be paid for the land acquired.
Most people who are set to lose their land are farmers with small holdings. Surendra Sao, whose land was acquired for the project, says: "NTPC gave us Rs 20 lakh for an acre. That's very low. According to the Act passed by the Central government, we should get at least Rs 35 lakh." Some are even demanding Rs 70 lakh an acre. Residents say this situation has come about because the district administration has stopped the sale of land in localities close to the mine to anyone except NTPC.
The district administration says the demand for higher compensation is not justified. "The compensation has been decided according to the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, as the land was earmarked in 2010. Therefore, the Land Acquisition Act of 2014 doesn't apply in this case. Moreover, even going by the standards set by the 2014 Act, the maximum compensation will be only Rs 13 to 14 lakh. We have set a higher compensation for the villagers. Plus, those displaced will be given permanent jobs," says Hazaribagh Deputy Commissioner Ravi Shankar Shukla.
Sanjay Kumar, who runs a confectionery shop in the Barkagaon market, becomes livid when talking about the standoff. "There is a solution to every problem. However, nobody trusts anybody. The authorities don't want to listen to people and people distrust the government. Therefore, political leaders are trying to score brownie points. Until the trust between the administration and the public returns, it will be difficult to maintain order here."
The firing has lent an opportunity to opposition parties in Jharkhand to come together against the government. The leaders from the Congress party, the Jharkhand Vikas Morcha, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and the Rastriya Janta Dal have called for a state-wide bandh on October 24.
However, their first show of unity turned out to be a damp squib when key leaders of the opposition gave a joint rally against the firing last week a miss, highlighting the lack of communication among the parties which claim to stand united against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. Leaders such as Congress President Sukhdeo Bhagat, Jharkhand Vikas Morcha Chief Babulal Marandi and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha Acting President Hemant Soren did not attend the rally.
A setback for industry
The incident has come at a time when Chief Minister Raghubar Das and his high-powered team were hard-selling the state to prospective domestic and foreign investors. Das has ordered a high-level investigation into the matter.
The protests have sparked a new debate over the government's land acquisition policy among investors, economists and government officials. Moreover, it has put a big question mark over the state's dream of achieving rapid industrialisation, say political analysts. "The state government needs to address the issue of land acquisition as soon as possible if it wants an industrial boom," said a senior bureaucrat.
Over the past year, the state has received Rs 1.5 lakh crore worth of investment proposals. The Adani Group has been the highest bidder so far, promising investments to the tune of Rs 50,000 crore, especially in the power sector. The company plans to invest Rs 15,000 crore to set up a 2x800 MW power plant in Godda and another Rs 35,000 crore in a coal-based methane fertiliser plant. However, these projects could be derailed if the government fails to acquire land for them.
For now, work on the Pakri Barwadih project has resumed amid heavy security. NTPC has said that it will continue to develop the mines despite protests.
"The law and order situation is a matter of concern. However, there should not be any doubt about the project in anyone's mind," BB Mohapatra, assistant general manager (human resource), NTPC, told Business Standard.
The villagers are in no mood to relent and are gearing up to resume protests soon. However, almost all of their leaders are either behind bars or on the run. Therefore, some concede that the protests would not be as vociferous as before. The tension in Barkagaon has subsided for the moment, but there is still unease in the air.
