Jharkhand villagers remove 'pathalgadi'

Ranchi : Nearly a year after they put up 'pathalgadi' as a mark of protest, villagers of Chituram in Khuti district of Jharkhand on Thursday removed the monolith and maintained they had been misled.

The villagers pledged, in the presence of area officials, to work in tandem with the administration for the development of the area.

'Pathalgadi' is an age-old tradition of the tribals, wherein they erect monoliths in the name of their ancestors on village borders.

The tribals in Khuti had started using 'pathalgadi' as a form of protest against the government of India by setting up parallel administration.

Before removing the 'pathalgadi' stone under the supervision of village head Ashok Munda, the villagers performed traditional rituals and organised a feast in which all participated.

On July 12, a gram sabha was held wherein villagers decided on the removal of the stone and informed the district authorities.

Munda said that nobody forced them to remove 'pathalgadi', put up on June 11, 2017. He said that they were mislead by outsiders.