When Nehru opposed division of Bihar - The Times of India

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Opposition to the division of Bihar and creation of a separate
Jharkhand state, comprising mineral-rich Chotanagpur and Santhal
Parganas of south Bihar, is not new for maintaining the
historical, economical, cultural and linguistic heritage of the
state since the days of Mauryan empire when Bihar was the capital
of Bharatvarsh (unified India).

But with the advent of the Mughal empire and the subsequent evil
designs of the British Raj because of personal bickerings among
the then liberal rulers of Bihar had gradually become the central
points of declining the state of affairs in Bihar.

Significantly, the recent move of the Vajpayee government to
divide Bihar and create Vananchal state seems to he the
culmination of the long-drawn battle for greater Jharkhand state
by amalgamating the tribal areas of Bihar, West Bengal, Orissa
and Madhya Pradesh during the post independence period and also
the surreptitious game of the British Raj for encouraging the
theory of secession and separation of the Chotanagpur and Santhal
Parganas through missionaries and mercenaries to divide India.

In 1952, at the biding of pilgrim fathers, a handful of misguided
Adivasi middle class mercenaries demanded an independent and
sovereign Kolhan state outside the Indian union. Such a demand
was made again in 1981 when a proclamation of independent
sovereign state of Kolhan was made by a clerk of Chaibasa
collectorate, who was later joined by a handful of flamboyant
adventurers.

Subsequently, the RSS and Christian missionaries continued to be
at loggerheads in the entire tribal areas to counter each other,
which has resulted in serious law and order problem in the areas.

Taking into account the successive adventurism in the areas,
successive Union governments and the Bihar governments had moved
cautiously with regards to the demands of the separate Jharkhand
state. In between, massive funds' flow had taken place for the
all-round development of the tribal region, The Bihar government
had also from time to time taken measures to partial autonomy in
the form of development authorities, tribal sub-plan and also
Jharkhand areas autonomous council (JAACC) for facilitating the
participation of tribals in the government.

Notably, after independence, Jawaharlal Nehru had smelt the rat
for separating Chotanagpur and Santhal Praganas from Bihar. To
thwart the hulla bulla in the Constituent Assembly over dividing
Bihar into two parts, Mr Nehru had declared do not wish the
unity of India to he disrupted by this separatist tendency being
given priority over other pressing problems. I would, therefore,
emphasise the need of unity of India at the present time. If we
are not careful this fissiparous and separatist tendency would do
us harm. We shall not, therefore, do anything now which strikes
at the unity of India

Not only that, one of the pillars of the constituent assembly, Dr
Sacchidanand Sinha, told the constituent assembly, "Bihar, was an
integral part of India for now nearly four centuries, since the
days of Akbar, to say nothing of it having been under the direct
rule of Chandragupta and Ashoka, who administered their vast
empire from their capital at Patna."

In the wake of the hue and cry for separate Jharkhand state in
1990s, a note of the Bihar's home (police) department has dwelt
at length the nefarious design of the then British Raj. The note
comments, "The Christian missionaries in their attempt to
proliferate exercised a powerful influence in Chotanagour
division and districts of Santhal Parganas over quill-driven
folk, especially the Scheduled Tribes. Their programme went in
tandem with the design of the British Crown that looked in awe
the burgeoning nationalism in India, especially in Bihar. The
note adds "The British Raj made deliberate efforts to seal and
cart off Chotanagpur and Santhal Parganas belt from the national
mainstream to encourage them for secession from the Indian
territory."

For substantiating the, designs of the Raj, the note points out,
"the first demand for separation of Chotanagpur and Santhal
Parganas from Bihar was made by no one else but the Christian
missionaries before the Simon Commission."

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