The Hindu Business Line : Battle of Munda

DAYS ago, when there was more action in the Assembly hall and courtrooms, the last site of any relevance was http://jharkhand.nic.in. It proclaims the State as `Rising Sun of Indian Horizon Land of Hope & Prosperity.' There was a page then for Shibu as the CM; and one learnt that his `special interests' are `welfare of the poor,' and that his `favourite pastime and recreation' are `archery and travelling, sports and indoor games.' But now Shibu is busy with his conscience.

So, today, it's Munda's photo that greets you on the page. Included in his `political background' are lines that proclaim the CM as Chairman of All Jharkhand Yoga Association, Jharkhand Deaf and Dumb Association and so on. His `ideals in the field of politics' are `faith in democracy and respect for public will'; and `eating habits' are summarised as `No special preference, can do with whatever is available.'

There's a `discussion forum' option that begins with a lofty Vedic thought: "Let noble thoughts come to us from every side." An announcement promises that the Government of Jharkhand is committed to make the State a prosperous and developed one, and so "suggestions of all the concerned stakeholders are solicited to achieve this goal."

The `News & Press Releases' page has but one entry blinking `new' but that's about a 2003 seminar on networking. And the `Citizens' Services' module is `under construction' thought it aspires to provide "information on various programmes and schemes & services by the Jharkhand government along with relevant forms." Before all that can happen, it is first necessary that a stable government is in place.

Citizens are not top on priority when, with time ticking fast, Munda is busy with some serious arithmetic involving too few ministries to fill and too many legislators to please. Isn't politics an economic problem, after all, of competing demands chasing scarce resources, with a dash of unabashed blackmail that comes with its own hefty price tag? Munda will, therefore, have enough revolts to quell. And the weak majority that he uneasily enjoys is just the right recipe for shifting power equations.

For the rest of us who have of late put Jharkhand in the list of channels to watch for action and entertainment, and so Google too remembers our searches, there's the helpful page http://rrtd.nic.in/Jharkhand.html titled queerly `Love' that explains the meaning of the State's name as `forest country.' It also chronicles the `bloody revolts' of adivasis to protect their land right from 1771.

Birsa Munda revolt of 1895 is listed as the longest and the greatest, and also the last of the bloody revolts in the State.

More recent Munda revolt has, however, been in the form of petitions before the apex court. Constitutional historians are sure to record Munda's battle for power with a special mention, for the debate it initiated on judiciary versus legislature as a result of gubernatorial twist to democracy.

There is a different Munda in history - plains near Osuna, southern Spain, where two armies met more than 2000 years ago. Battle of Munda that took place on March 17, 45 BC was the last battle of Julius Caesar's civil war against the Pompeian army of conservative republicans, as www.wikisearch.net informs. Caesar won, and among the roughly 30,000 who died, most belonged to the vanquished side. After quelling the opposition, Caesar marched to Rome and became the dictator. Less than a year later, Caesar was murdered on March 15.

SayCheek@TheHindu.co.in

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Tightening the screws

Battle of Munda

A modern touch