by MAHTAB ALAM
People demonstrating on 26 Nov 2012 at Jantar Mantar, Delhi, in support of Dayamani Barla and Dr. Sunilam. PHOTO/Mukul Dube/Sangharsh Sanwad
The journalist turned anti-displacement, tribal, woman activist from Jharkhand Dayamani Barla, better known as the Iron lady of Jharkhand amongst people’s movements and activists, or simply as Dayamani Di was granted bail by a local court in Ranchi on Thursday afternoon. She was sent to Jail on Tuesday in fourteen days judicial custody, after she surrendered before the court in a matter of 25 April 2006. Six years ago, she was charged under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including Section 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapons), for participating in a protest demonstration, which blocked the road, demanding job cards for rural laborers under the celebrated National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA). She had availed bail at that time from the concerned police station and the matter was almost closed one.
But recently, when the State government and its Police were not feeling comfortable with Dayamani’s anti-Displacement activities at Ranchi’s Nagadi village, they chose to re-open the case. They started sending notices at her rented house and harassing her friends, comrades and relatives. One day, the police reached her house to confiscate her belongings. She somehow managed to escape this situation and decided to surrender before a Court, instead of getting arrested by Police. Notably, she was not alone against whom the case was registered in 2006, the case was registered against 10 named persons other than Dayamani and one thousand unnamed persons, but the police chose to act only against her, for obvious reasons. Interestingly, the rural populaces are still facing difficulties in getting job cards, a legal right of every adult citizenry. “While the government is sending me Jail for no crime, but the demands made in the said protest are yet to be fulfilled,” Damayani made this point before leaving for jail while talking to reporters.
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