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This story is from April 4, 2016

Stark divide on either side of Jangalmahal road

Lalmohan Tudu’s daughter sits outside their ramshackle house on the road towards Ramgarh, a blank stare on her face. She turns to look at the car as it stops nearby, and the face assumes a new look: a mixture of fear, apprehension... and hatred.
Stark divide on either side of Jangalmahal road
Members of tribal communities roast wild boar at Chhoto Pelia village. ‘Development’ has mostly happened in non-tribal areas .
Chhoto Pelia/Kantapahari (West Midnapore): Lalmohan Tudu’s daughter sits outside their ramshackle house on the road towards Ramgarh, a blank stare on her face. She turns to look at the car as it stops nearby, and the face assumes a new look: a mixture of fear, apprehension... and hatred.
“They do not speak to outsiders. They are yet to get over the trauma.
People spoke out against Lalmohan’s ‘murder’ in 2010 but no one to helped the family,” says a neighbour. Lalmohan, a leader of the People’s Committee Against Police Atrocities (PCPA), was killed by security forces in February 2010. While security personnel claimed he was killed in a gunbattle in a field near his house, civil rights groups alleged he was shot in cold blood.
Further towards Ramgarh, the road creates a stark divide. The non-tribal population inhabits one side of the road, while tribals live closer to the forest on the other side. While the areas dominated by non-tribals have witnessed development over the last few years since Kishanji’s death, the same can’t be said for the tribal settlements.
Villages like Kantapahari and Chhoto Pelia were hotbeds of Maoist activity. Before the Maoists, these villages were CPM strongholds. Now, no CPM flag is seen. Nearly all houses sport the TMC symbol.
The moment one enters Pratiharpara in Kantapahari, he is surrounded by a group that insists on showing how much development TMC has brought about.
“Our lives have changed in recent years. We used to live in perpetual fear. First, there were the harmads (CPM cadres), and then the Maoists took over. Now, we are living in peace. Look how the government has concretized the village road. Earlier, this used to be a kuccha lane that was always slushy. A lot of development has happened. People can’t ask for the moon, after all,” said Muktaram Pratihar.
He and other TMC supporters deny any police harassment, after which PCPA started its movement here in 2008.
It’s different for the tribal population.
“There has been no development for the Adivasis. Every year, our crops are destroyed by elephants. We did not receive any compensation for 2015. Till 2014, the compensation received for a plot was Rs 30 to Rs 50. Even a bottle of local arrack costs more,” said Kartick Murmu, a Chhoto Pelia resident.
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