Land right activists claim that recent amendments make it easier for land sharks to grab tribal land.Last year in May, when the Jharkhand government announced to remove handcuffs from all the statues and pictures of Birsa Munda, the indigenous people of the state lauded the newly-appointed first non-tribal chief minister Raghubar Das for his out-of-the-box gesture. A few months later in November, when the state assembly amended the core of land tenancy law, the euphoria of a pro-tribal government took a beating. Protests and police firings replaced pro-government sentiments to the extent that a group of tribals also hurled shoes at Das a few weeks after the amendments. Birsa Munda, Tilka Manjhi and many other tribal leaders had fought and laid down their lives for these very tribal land rights. Their rebellion forced the British colonial government to formulate tenancy laws to protect tribal lands and rights.

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