set up autonomous councils in particular villages. With regard to the recognition of tribal languages, the West Bengal government had already introduced Olchiki in the primary schools located in the tribal areas. He, however, expressed scepticism whether it could be used for purposes of higher education. The rally of January 31 was a testing time for both the CPI(M) as well as the fledgling JCC. While for the former it is a question of maintaining its hegemony among the tribal-peasantry, for the latter it is a question of nurturing dissent into a political alternative. With the might of the state government arraigned against the JCC it is a patently unequal contest. But then when has the quest for power been among equals?
