Union Minister Anurag Thakur said the government has planned week-long celebrations from 15 November to 22 November to commemorate the glorious history of tribal people
Birsa Munda on a 1988 stamp of India. Image Courtesy: India Post
The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the declaration of 15 November, the birth anniversary of Birsa Munda, as ‘Janjatiya Gaurav Divas’.
Union Minister Anurag Thakur making the announcement, said, “Week-long celebrations have been planned from 15 November to 22 November to commemorate the glorious history of tribal people, culture and achievements.”
As the government preps for this, here’s a brief understanding of who Birsa Munda is and why the government wants to commemorate his birth.
Birsa Munda
Birsa Munda, born on 15 November, 1875, was an Indian freedom fighter, religious leader and folk hero from the Munda Tribe of the Chhota Nagpur Plateau area.
As he grew, he became more aware of the British atrocties and participated in anti-missionary and anti-establishment activities between 188 -1890 in Chaibasa, and started a movement called ‘Ulgulan’, or ‘The Great Tumult.
He fought for the rights of the tribal people and one of his biggest fights agains the British was when he gathered tribal people and marched for the remission of tax collected by the zamindars from the tribes in October 1894.
He also coined the slogan,’Abua raj seter jana, maharani raj tundu jana’ which means ‘End the kingdom of the queen, create our kingdom’.
Other than his fight for freedom and rights of the tribals, Birsa also founded a new religion called Birsait.
The founding of the new religion was in response to the large-scale conversion by the missionaries.
Birsait taught people to believe in one God. Birsait soon became the popular religion among the Mundas and Oraons. Nicknamed ‘Dharti Abba’ or Father of the Earth, Munda encouraged his followers to get back to their tribal roots and follow their traditions.
In March 1900, while fighting the British alongside his guerilla army, Munda was arrested in Jamkopai forest in Chakradharpur. A few months later, on 9 June, he passed away while in custody.
In 2000, on his birth anniversary, the state of Jharkhand was carved out of Bihar.
Janjatiya Gaurav Divas
The decision to mark 15 November as Janjatiya Gaurav Divas is also an attempt to honour brave tribal freedom fighters and make the youth aware of their sacrifices.
As per the government’s decision, the day will be celebrated every year and would recognise the efforts of tribals in preservation of cultural heritage.
Several activities have been planned jointly with state governments and the theme behind each activity is to show case the achievements of tribals in Indian Freedom struggle, various welfare measures taken by Government of India in education, health, livelihood, infrastructure and skill development.
The events will also display the unique tribal cultural heritage, their contributions in freedom struggle, practices, rights, traditions, cuisines, health, education and livelihood.
With inputs from agencies