The continuing struggle for India's Jharkhand: democracy, decentralisation and the politics of names and numbers

The formation of the new states of Jharkhand, Uttaranchal and Chhattisgarh is testimony to the strength of India's democracy. Power has been decentred and regionalist movements have been accommodated. It is not clear, however, that these formal accomplishments will provide for the empowerment of the adivasi (tribal) populations of Jharkhand. New Delhi and Patna were active over many decades in producing Jharkhand as a detribalising territory, and the new government is insensitive to the demands that poorer households are pressing for improved land rights. It is no coincidence that the successful decentring of the nation that was engineered in 2000 has been accompanied by a rising tide of Naxalism in Jharkhand, and by a turn to non-parliamentary popular movements.