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The Rediff Special/ Chindu Sreedharan

'Bhopal is exploiting us'

The Congress, for its part, doesn't seem too keen about the separation. Though it passed a resolution for a new state in the Vidhan Sabha and sent it to Delhi, the party, despite being in power at both the Centre and state for a long period, did nothing towards it.

"We've done our bit," a cocky Digvijay Singh repeated thrice in the course of a short interview, given soon after poll trends proved beyond doubt that his party would continue in power, "Now it's up to the Centre."

This reluctance of the Congress is easily understandable. Chhattisgarh is too rich a region, too abundant in minerals, diamonds and forest resources, that a bifurcation would strike cruelly at MP's economic heart. In fact, as per the claims of Raipur politicians, the region provides 70 per cent of the state's income.

Which, precisely, is why the Chhattisgarhis do want a bifurcation.

"Bhopal is exploiting us," they -- even Congress politicians -- cry in unison, "They are not interested in developing the region. They take money from us, but don't invest anything here."

Spread across 135,133 sq km, Chhattisgarh, famous as the 'rice bowl of MP', forms roughly a third of the state. (The total area of MP is 443,446 sq km). It gets its name from the 36 garhs (erstwhile states) it once comprised, and is broken up into 16 -- till recently only seven -- districts.

Chhattisgarh finds mention in the Puranas. In the Mahabharat era, the region was called Kaushal. Lord Ram's mother Kaushalya was a princess of the kingdom. Later, Ram's son Kush is believed to have ruled it.

Bigger than Tamil Nadu, bigger than Punjab, and many times bigger than Kerala, the region has enormous deposits of iron ore, bauxite and tin, besides Raipur, which is one of the hottest diamond spots in the world today.

As for forest cover, that too is plentiful here: 43.85 per cent of the state's forests -- 59,285 sq km -- is in Chhattisgarh.

The demand for a separate state first started in 1952, under Thakur Pyarelal Singh and Dr Khubchand Baghel. However two years later, Thakur died, and with him the agitation. For the next 13 years everything was quiet. Chhattisgarh contended with what Bhopal dished out till Dr Baghel revived the agitation. His strategy was to educate the villagers about the need for a separate state. Two years later, Dr Bhaghel too died and the issue returned to the deep-freeze.

In 1992, Chandulal Chandrakar, MP, took up the matter through his Sarvodalaya Manch. He made it so hot that Delhi and Bhopal had to sit up and take notice. Chandrakar died in 1994, his organisation withered away, and Chhattisgarh was swept under the carpet. Again.

The fourth revival came in 1998, with the BJP's promise during the Lok Sabha campaign. Once the Vajpayee government came into being, the Cabinet passed a resolution and sent it to Parliament.

And there, after being abused as election plank, it is now waiting for the winter session of Parliament .

As you draw close to Bastar, among the largest tribal belts in India there is a noticeable change in opinion about the formation of the state. Mainly among the educated folk.

They do not want a separate Chhattisgarh -- what they want, instead, is a separate Bastar. Autonomy to the area initially, which should culminate in statehood in a few decades.

"We were never part of Chhattisgarh," says Dr K K Jha, an educationist in Jagdalpur, the headquarters of Bastar, who retired as assistant commissioner of the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sanghatan, "For hundreds of years we survived as a separate entity, the princely state of Bastar. Our culture is not at all akin to that of Chhattisgarhis."

The district is -- or rather was, before its recent segregation into Dantewara, Kemkar and Bastar -- simply huge. Larger in area than Kerala, than Switzerland, than Belgium, its ethnicity is shaped by four cultures representing the North, South, East and West of India. From the North, there's the Hindi culture, from the West the Marathwada, Telugu from the South and Oriya from the East.

The district, which undivided has a population of 2.5 million, has 96 per cent tribals and backward classes. It is home to some of the most primitive tribes in the world, including the Gonds, Muriyas, Bhatras, Dhuruwa, Grohas, Munas and Halras.

Such a unique ethnic composition, the elite of Bastar feels, justifies statehood.

Probe a little and you find there is more behind this demand. Namely, fear of exploitation:

Dr Jha's group believes that Raipur would exploit Bastar (it has ample forest resources and deposits of tin, bauxite and iron ore) the same way Bhopal exploited Chhattisgarh.

"There is no strong leadership here. The tribal leaders do not even know the ideology of their own party," says Dr Jha, "A new government in Raipur would pounce on us and suck us dry."

He admits that a closer capital would bring benefits to the district -- but not enough to offset the crippling exploitation that's sure to follow.

Puthraj Bothra, chairman of the Bastar Chambers of Commerce, an organisation of local traders, is another like-minded person. For him, the politicians of Raipur 'like S C Shukla are enemies of Bastar'.

"Even if Chhattisgarh is formed, they will not let Bastar improve. They will snatch everything from us because they do not actually want the area to develop," he says, "The tribals here are their votebank. If they become more aware, the politicians will not be able to bend them to their political will."

If the Congress politicians really wanted betterment in Bastar, they could have achieved that long ago. "Instead, the people of Raipur has done their best to kill our prospects" Bothra alleges, "The (Sunderlal) Patwa government laid foundation stones for many projects. The BJP were more interested in developing this area than the Congress. But once the Congress came, they dropped all projects."

The Mukand Iron and Steel Plant, Dyechem Cement and Nicco Steel Plant, projects that have not progressed beyond inauguration, Bothra points out, are good examples.

"Neither Raipur nor Bhopal will help Bastar," adds Dr Jha, "An autonomous status under the Centre is what we need. Later, after we have developed enough to stand on our own feet and our political leadership has strengthened, we can fight for statehood."

He uses the examples of Nagaland, Mizoram and Tripura to prop up his argument. "These states are like tehsils of Bastar. But they were granted autonomy. We want the same treatment. Let us be centrally administrated for a decade.

"The people of Bastar will never be happy under the rule of Raipur," Dr Jha warns, "There will be strong discontent."

Bastar's dissatisfaction apart, what does it involve in building a state?

The way the BJP and Congress are going about it, you would think carving a new entity is the easiest thing in the world. Rhetorical speeches are supplemented by rhetoric action -- like Digvijay Singh's order to the Raipur public works department to submit blueprints of buildings that can be transformed into offices for the new government -- and nothing else.

Thus, you draw a blank when you question the state-builders, the Congress and the BJP, about their strategy for Chhattisgarh. Where will the money come from? How much is required? How long would it take the state to stand on its own feet?

Oh, well, that is all in the future -- that seems to be the general drift.

"The way the politicians want it, it is easy to make a state," says a civil servant, "Digvijay Singh made new districts overnight, didn't he? What did it cost him?"

Making a state function independently is what counts, he continues, not merely declaring it. That will cost money. At least Rs 20 billion.

"You don't have money to take care of the drought. So how will you build a state?" he asks, "I will tell you what'll happen. Chhattisgarh will be a premature baby, just like the new districts."

Says Raipur Superintendent of Police Sanjay Rana: "It will take at least five years before Chhattisgarh can stand on its own feet. There are so many things that need to be considered and fine-tuned. For instance, on what basis would you depute bureaucrats to the new state? How would you go about building a new capital?

"If you build a state on a shaky foundation, without proper planning, it will become troublesome later," Rana warns, "Take for instance the Naxal threat. Everyone feels that it would lessen if Raipur becomes the seat of power as politicians, being geographically closer to affected area, would feel the heat of extremist activities directly. If the new administration does not deal with the threat properly, it will flare up."

He adds, "See, more than money, what a new state needs is a man with a vision. A man who can see beyond the tip of his nose."

But that, precisely, is what's lacking in Raipur if you go by the political bickering in the MP Congress.

The Rediff Specials

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