Kurmis to launch indefinite ‘rail roko' stir in three states
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Jamshedpur: The Adivasi Kurmi Samaj (AKS) announced indefinite 'rail roko' agitation across Jharkhand, West Bengal, and Odisha from September 20 in support of their demands, including Scheduled Tribe (ST) status for the Kurmi community.
"We have called the rail roko, and several like-minded outfits, which are on the same page regarding the issues of the Adivasi Kurmi community, will join us in making the agitation a total success," said AKS president Shanshak Shekhar Mahato. The outfit held its meeting at Kurmi Bhavan in Rugdi under Chandil block of Seraikela-Kharsawan district on Sunday, during which members from the three states attended.
AKS secretary Gunadham Mutruwar said, "Apart from the demand for Adivasi status for the Kurmi community, the outfit demands recognition of Kurmi as Adivasi in the religion column in the 2026 national population census, inclusion of Kurmali language in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution, amendment of the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act (PESA) 1996 to include the conventional panchayat system of the Kurmis.
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"The Wilkinson Rule of 1937, popularly known as the Manki-Munda rule, is an adaptation of the self-rule system of the Kurmis, which was prevalent for centuries til the colonial rule," he claimed. In 2022 and 2023, the rail roko agitation of the Kurmis caused huge inconvenience to rail commuters, and the railways suffered massive revenue losses as, on both occasions, the agitation lasted five days.
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