Tribal groups in Jharkhand's Ranchi have called for a one-day 'Bandh' on Saturday to protest against the alleged burning of the tribal religious Sarna flag on March 25 while tribal bodies under the banner of 'Kendriya Sarna Samiti' and other outfits are demanding the arrest of those responsible, reported news agency ANI.
The bandh organisers said that services of ambulance, milk, and pharmacies will be kept out of the bandh purview.
ANI took to Twitter to post footage from the site showcasing the protest.
In the one-minute video, people could be seen carrying the Sarna flags and holding banners with captions written on them such as "Sarna Jhanda", "Ranchi Bandh", etc. Tyres were burnt on the streets while women were seen in white and red saree which resembled the Sarna flag.
Tribal bodies under the banner of Kendriya Sarna Samiti on Friday evening took out a torchlight procession in Ranchi. Section 144 CrPC was imposed in the 200-metre radius limit of Chief Minister Hemant Soren's house and the secretariat.
"A Sarna flag was burnt at Lower Karam Toli area in Ranchi on March 25, a day after the Sarhul festival, by some miscreants. But the administration took no action in this regard," news agency PTI quotes KSS president Phoolchand Tirkey as saying.
Tirkey further alleged that this is not the first instance where a tribal religious flag was disrespected/destroyed, a flag in Nagri and Thakurgaon regions was thrown away. As per the KSS chief, even then there were no actions against the miscreants despite the fact that they lodged their protest against this. Now, after being agitated by getting no apt response, they started the bandh. He said, “Since the administration is taking no action, we are forced to call Ranchi bandh on Saturday.