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Juti Jena's lonely struggle against the system

M I Khan in Bhubaneswar

For seven years now the pavement outside the Orissa State Assembly in Bhubaneswar has been home to 32-year-old Juti Jena. She left her house in Ganjam district in January 1993 to sit on a dharna in the state capital after she and hundreds of other home guards were retrenched by the then Janata Dal government led by Biju Patnaik. She never went back.

All her colleagues, who had gathered under the banner of Orissa Home Guard Union in 1993, have long given up the struggle. Some have taken up menial jobs in the city, others have gone back to their villages. The union, headquartered in Cuttak, too has not been touch with Juti Jena for years now.

Her small hut on the Mahatma Gandhi Road made of plastic picked out of waste bins has become an integral part of the landscape. The sight of her hut has probably become so familiar that ministers, members of legislative assembly and officials who drive past every day do not notice the craggy structure.

But, Juti Jena is here for the long haul. And yes, she will not adopt any violent means to make her point.

"I'd prefer to die here rather than compromise on my beliefs. I am not a Gandhian, but I do believe that peaceful protest is the only way of achieving justice," she says in her frail voice.

With little to eat and no protection from the elements, her health is failing. Though she says she is 32, she looks much older. "Mu pakhe to luga nahin? khaiba ko nahin, mu yeh plastic kemti change kareeba. '' (I have no clothes to wear in winter, nor anything to eat. How can I change this old plastic covering my hut?), she says she in Oriya, the only language she knows.

But that won't deter her. "I am here to fight till the end,'' she says.

Her shanty is very close to a large expanse of open space which is known as the Boat Club of Bhubaneswar because it frequently plays host to dharnas and political rallies.

"I have seen and heard several national leaders including former prime ministers V P Singh, Chandrasekhar and I K Gujaral. They all spoke of social justice, eradication of poverty and uplift of Dalits. But none of them had any time for me,'' says Juti Jena.

She has made representations to several politicians - from Biju Patnaik to J B Patnaik and from Chandrashekar to Deve Gawda. She even met Vajpayee after he became the prime minister. She remembers ''a woman with a large bindi on her forehead'' promising all help. Sushma Swaraj probably has long since forgotten all about the meeting.

Pointing to her three-feet-by-six-feet hutment, she proudly says that she left behind a house and a family to prove that Gandhian philosophy of non-violence is still relevant.

It's not that appreciation for her struggle is missing completely. ''A few journalists and some social activists have helped me in whatever way they could. It's perhaps the thoughtfulness of such people that has kept me going," she says.

"I have been without food for days together. Sometimes somebody takes pity and offers food or money. But there have been days when I had absolutely nothing to eat," she said.

On several occasions Juti Jena thought of travelling to Delhi and Bombay to seek help, but lack of funds prevented her from leaving the city. "I have heard several women organisations in Delhi and Bombay help people in distress. I would like to take their help in my fight for justice if possible," she said.

Fellow human beings may have let her down, but Juti Jena believes that the God is with her. And she has a good reason to think so: during the super cyclone that hit Bhubaneswar in October last year, all trees along the MG Road were uprooted, only one still stands tall. And that is the one under which Juti Jena's hut sits rather smug in the knowledge that may be, just may be, she is not alone in this struggle.

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