I recently completed an ambitious trilogy of books on our greatest tribal warriors — The Legend Of Birsa Munda, The Great Tribal Warriors Of Bharat and Sido Kanhu. In all honesty, while my co-authors and I ensured these stories were told in the most authentic manner, I have no inhibitions in asserting that these books complement my political narrative.
I have grown up in Jharkhand which during my growing up years was a part of Bihar. Jharkhand was formed on 15 November 2000. Sadly, even after 23 years, the state has been struggling for a clear cultural and political identity. Instead, what makes the headlines more often than not, are the unsavoury and shameful cases of corruption and episodes of lawlessness, where the state government is a mute spectator.
The malaise is deep and the correction needs to be deeper. Jharkhand needs a strong legacy and identity at the national level. That identity needs to amalgamate the contributions of Birsa Munda, Sido Kanhu and Jamsetji Tata — the biggest contributors to the region’s narrative. This combination also represents the cohesive nature of Jharkhand society — the symbiotic relationship and existence between the Adivasi Samaj and the urban population.
Anyway, since the focus right now is our 76th Independence Day, let me align my thoughts to the occasion. I will be travelling this year to Ulihatu village in Khunti district, 60 km from Ranchi, to celebrate the Independence Day with the direct descendants and family members of Birsa Munda. Ever since I started working on my book four years ago, the research on the life of Birsa Munda would transport me to that era. I would vicariously live the life and times of the legend. When I was in Ranchi last year, I tried to visit his village. However, I was dissuaded by friends and even cab drivers were not enthusiastic to travel to that side. I was told that it’s still a small, non-happening village with very little opportunities.
Over the months and years, I feel only more convinced than before that the quest for Jharkhand’s asmita should begin from Birsa Munda’s village. The distance between Ulihatu and the steel city of Jamshedpur is a mere 100 km. However, in terms of development and opportunities Ulihatu is still behind Jamshedpur by 100 years. The reason why Ulihatu should be the starting point is also because a laggard start best showcases the humongous trajectory achieved by Birsa Munda during his lifetime.
Last year I travelled to Deori Temple in Tamar on the Jamshedpur-Highway highway. I visited a government primary school close by which mostly had kids from the Munda tribe. While every kid was aware of Birsa Munda, not many knew of the relevance of his revolution for the country. Birsa Munda primarily fought against predatory proselytisation, a weapon employed by the British to culturally subjugate the Adivasi population. Sadly, the scourge is still prevalent in the region and is even supported by certain political groups.
Until such time, these kids don’t grow up taking over pride in the achievements of their ancestry and their contribution to Bharat, their true potential in shaping the community’s and country’s future discourse will remain untapped. As a humble effort in this direction on 15th August this year, I will be in Ulihatu village distributing a copy of the Hindi edition of my book on Birsa Munda to each resident family in the village.
One of the country’s biggest tribal leaders post-Independence, Kariya Munda will be travelling to Ulihatu to join me on this momentous occasion. Kariya Munda knows the residents of this village personally and the first few copies will be personally handed over by him. Mrityunjay Sharma, a promising young leader and Election Management Chief, Jharkhand BJP, will be organising this noble initiative.
Around two years back, I wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, requesting him to strengthen Birsa Munda’s legacy and make his revolution a confluence of all Adivasi uprisings, struggles and revolts from 1765 (Raghunath Mahato) till our Independence. The first plea was conferring Bharat Ratna upon Birsa Munda. The second was the creation of a Birsa Tourism Corridor covering and encapsulating all areas associated with Birsa Munda’s life and revolution. The third was the creation of Bharat’s biggest war memorial for all our Adivasi freedom fighters at Dombari Buru, the hills near Ranchi where Birsa Munda’s revolution culminated before his men were overpowered by the British through an act of chicanery on 9 January 1900.
The quest for Jharkhand’s asmita and for the state to play a pivotal role and be a key contributor in Bharat’s resurgence in the lead up to 2047, should start from Ulihatu.
The writer is an author and BJP spokesperson. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18’s views.
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