India is famous for its diversity in the entire world. It can be divided on many grounds like province, caste, language, customs, etc., but still we see that no one has been able to challenge its integrity. Amidst all this diversity, we are bound in the thread of unity by the blood of our martyrs. This reminds us that Bharat Mata is the mother of all of us and our ancestors have sacrificed their lives to protect her and whenever the country faces a crisis, we will be ready to protect her.
When approximately 750 tribes of India remember the glorious history of their generations, a golden name emerges – “Birsa Munda” whom the forest dwellers tribal bow to with great love and reverence as “Dharti Aaba – Bhagwan Birsa Munda”. The oil painting of Birsa Munda in the Parliament House and his statue in the Parliament premises remind the people that despite little education, limited resources and lack of modern facilities, the tribal society has contributed no less to free the country from the clutches of the British. When Tilak’s mantra “Swarajya is our birthright” had not even resonated in the country, at that time neither the names of Gandhi and Subhash had come on the political scene, then in the backward tribal area of Chotanagpur in Jharkhand, Birsa Munda surprised everyone by challenging the British rule and sounding the clarion call for independence.
The land of Chotanagpur gave birth to this son on November 15, 1875. He was named Birsa because he was born on Thursday in Ulihatu village of Khunti district of Jharkhand. His father Sugana Munda and mother Karmi Hatu were very poor but hardworking. His mother gave birth to the son while working in the field and due to lack of clothes, she brought him home wrapped in a leaf. He had two brothers and two sisters. Birsa’s father wanted to educate him and make him a ‘Bada Saheb’.
Birsa’s father sent him to his maternal uncle’s house where he grazed sheep and goats and learnt his basics in alphabets and mathematics from teacher Jaipal Nag. It was here that he came in contact with Christian Missionaries and due to poverty and a desire to get an education, his family converted to Christian faith. Birsa was baptised at the age of eleven and was named Birsa David. He received his primary education in Burju’s School and for further studies, he joined the Lutheran Mission School in Chaibasa. Since the Chaibasa School was run by Missionaries, emphasis was laid on Bible education there. Beef was given in the hostel. The Munda family where Birsa spent his childhood had the custom of Cow worship and eating beef was beyond his imagination. Birsa refused to eat beef and asked his classmates to also avoid it. When this news reached the school management, Birsa was reprimanded and was also threatened with expulsion from the school.
The Munda tribe has a tradition of keeping a tuft of hair. One day, when a classmate cut off his tuft from behind, his heart was filled with wailing and tears started flowing from his eyes. He could not tolerate the Munda people being described as demonic in school and being ridiculed for their eternal traditions. Birsa said to Pastor Nottrott, “Saheb – Saheb ek Topi” meaning that the British Pastors and the British Rulers are the same. Birsa resolved that he would not stay in Chaibasa even for a moment. Later, he came to Bandgaon and there he met Anand Pandey, a follower of Vaishnav Sect. From whom he learnt about Ramayana, Mahabharata, Hitopadesh etc. and later on he stopped eating meat, he started wearing sacred thread Janeu, started tying a yellow turban on his head and started worshipping Tulsi. He took a firm resolve to end the backwardness and ignorance of his society. He organized a freedom struggle to free the tribal society from foreign Missionaries, Zamindars, British Rulers and exploiters. He organised several meetings to unite the tribal and forest dwellers and gave the clarion call for the Ulgulan revolution.
The tribal youth woke up due to this call of Birsa. Chalkad became the centre of revolutionary movement. At the first phase of protest, a non-cooperation movement was started, Birsa came to be known as Dharti Aaba. The British government was stunned by Birsa’s movement. The British government immediately ordered to arrest Birsa. The Police sent a squad to Chalkad for arrest but the strong protest of the villagers scared the Police armed with guns too, but he was arrested by deceit and brought to Hazaribagh Jail on 25 August 1895. Birsa’s arrest strengthened the desire of his followers to fight the British. When Birsa was released on 30 November 1897, the entire tribal region woke up. They were all demanding a movement with bows and arrows. The work of training, organization, policies and collection of weapons started for a fierce battle with the British. The Sardar’s fight against the exploitation and injustice of the tribal society began. Under the leadership of tribal warrior Birsa, many Police Stations, Churches, Government offices etc. were set on fire. To free themselves from the landlords, they talked about not paying taxes and taking back the rights to the forest. All this infuriated the British Government and many Birsaites were arrested, due to which the movement became more violent.
On 9 January 1900, when Birsa was holding a meeting on the Dombari hill, all the Munda, Oraon, Santhal, Kharia, Ho, Majhi tribals had gathered. Thousands of tribals had gathered singing Birsa’s songs, with putting Chandan Tilak on their foreheads and holding white and red flags in their hands. Then the British got intelligence information that Birsa was holding a meeting. Commissioner H.C. Streattfield reached the Dombari hill and started firing bullets indiscriminately. The battle began from both sides. Arrows, bows, axes, spears and stones could not stand in front of cannons and guns. The entire Dombari hill became red with blood. Birsa went to a safe forest on being requested to keep the movement alive. But he was arrested with the help of informers. On 9 June 1900, this great tribal freedom fighter breathed last mysteriously in Ranchi Jail. It was said that he had Cholera but the belief is that he was poisoned. Birsa is not among us today but the lamp lit by him is still burning. Even today the tribal community remembers him as Dharti Aaba. In the present Indian situation, the tribal community has become a victim of negligence, poverty, exploitation, foreign conspiracies, helplessness etc. There is a need to embrace the tribal society, only then the path of their all-round development will be paved and India will once again become glorious and guide the world and this will be the true tribute to Bhagwan Birsa Munda.
