Kolkata, September 18 (IANS) A division bench of the Calcutta High Court directed the Indian Railway officials to take appropriate action along with the Indian Railway officials on Thursday, so that the Rail Blockade Movement by the Kurmi community on September 20 does not affect the normal life in the state on that day.
Last month, the tribal Kurmi Samaj, the largest union of the Kurmi community, gave a call for a rail blockade simultaneously in tribal dominated pockets in three states of West Bengal, Jharkhand and Odisha, demanding the status of Scheduled Tribes (ST) for the community.
A petition was filed against the proposed railway blockade in the Division Bench of the Calcutta High Court of Justice Sujoy Paul and Justice Smita Das Dey against the Rail blockade call, claiming that the movement would result in huge financial loss for both the state government and the railway.
The matter came for hearing on Thursday. During the hearing, the Division Bench noticed that a similar railway barrier was occurred in 2022 and 2023 with similar demands by the people of the Kurmi community, resulting in heavy losses.
The Division Bench also observed that in September 2023, a previous division bench of the Calcutta High Court gave specific directions about controlling the movements of rail interruptions. On Thursday, the Division Bench of Justice Paul and Justice Das Dey noticed that the Calcutta High Court’s directions in September 2023 should be chased by railway officials and state government this time to control the proposed railway blockade on 20 September.
Political and social gathering in Jharkhand has intensified on the demand for ST status for the Kurmi community.
While Kurmi organizations are preparing for a series of agitation in Jharkhand, Odisha and Bengal, other tribal groups are strongly opposing the move, increasing the possibility of a possible conflict.
People of Kurmi community in West Bengal were alleging from the beginning that an administrative conspiracy was going on in the state, where the administration was trying to incite people from the Santal community against Kurmis, and it was destabilizing the latter movement.
However, the state government was denying allegations from the beginning.
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Sch/DPB