Murmu urges to conduct panchayat elections in Jharkhand

Jamshedur, Feb 18 (UNI) Jharkhand Disom Party(JDP) Chairman Salkhan Murmu today urged the Centre and the Jharkhand Government to conduct panchayat elections in the state without further delay.

Mr Murmu, who was on a token dharna demanding five-point charter of demands at Sakchi area, said that while the Union Panchayat Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar had admitted that non-holding of panchayat elections in a state was a kind of constitutional breakdown, the state government failed to conduct panchayat elections in the past four years.

''It is a shame to the Madhu Koda government, which has failed on all fronts and lost rights to continue in power,'' Mr Murmu, former BJP MP said.

Mr Murmu also demanded that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh should tender his apology to the adivasis in the country for injustice meted out to the community for the centuries.

He said that Mr Singh should take the example of Australian Premier Kevin Rude, who tendered his apologies to the aborigines of that country recently for his alleged misbehaviour with the community.

The JDP leader also reiterated his support to the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) founder Raj Thackery on the issue of locals. He said that the local people of any state shoud be given preference in jobs and education and other occupations.

He also demanded ouster of Biharis from the police department and urged to recruit maximum number of adivasis in the police forece.

Mr Murmu also opposed the statement of JD (U) leader George Fernandes, who advised Mr Thackery to "read the constitution" whilw adding that the articles 16(3), 371, 3 and 19(5) clearly mentioned that locals should be given their rights and be protected.

He also condemned the attack on the PUCL activists by the members of the Nagarik Suraksha Samity (NSU) at Dumaria, where the PUCL members went to take stock of the situation, arising out after killings of eight ultras by the NSS and the police team recently.

Mr Murmu said the JDP and the Joint Adivasi Committee would launch demonstrations on february 27 in Assam, West Bengal, Jharkhand and Orissa demanding to fulfill their five-point charter of demands.

UNI BDG LL AB 1945