JANJATIYA GAURAV DIVAS
CONTEXT
- The Union Cabinet has approved 15th November as Janjatiya Gaurav Divas to commemorate the brave tribal freedom fighters as part of the year-long celebrations of 75 years of India’s Independence.
MORE ABOUT NEWS
- The Government has declared 15th November as Janjatiya Gaurav Divas dedicated to the memory of brave tribal freedom fighters so that coming generations can know about their sacrifices for the country.
- The date is the birth anniversary of Birsa Munda who is revered as Bhagwan by tribal communities across the country.
BIRSA MUNDA
- Birsa Munda is remembered for his activism in the late 19th century against British India.
- Birsa belonged to the Munda community in the Chotanagpur plateau region and received his education in Salga under the guidance of his teacher Jaipal Nag.
- Earlier, tribal communities faced a lot of exploitation and oppression by zamindars, jagirdars, moneylenders, etc.
- The tribal also wanted to fight the British. Hence, Birsa joined the Sardar movement for the land and rights of the tribals in 1894.
- Many attacks were carried out by the followers of Birsa Munda on the British in many places that led the British rulers to declare a reward of Rs 500 on Birsa Munda.
Mundas vs British soldiers
- Between 1897-1900, there were wars between Mundas and British soldiers. In August 1897, Birsa and 400 of his soldiers armed with arrowheads attacked the Khunti police station.
- In 1898, the Mundas clashed with the British forces on the banks of the Tanga river, in which the British army was defeated at first and later many tribal leaders of that area were arrested.
- Revolt led by Birsa Munda called as ‘Ulgulan’(The Great Tumult)
OTHER TRIBAL FREEDOM FIGHTERS
Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh
- Veer Narayan Singh (1795–1857) was a landlord from Sonakhan, Chhattisgarh. He spearheaded the 1857 war of Indian independence in Chhattisgarh. He was hanged at Jaistambh Chowk of Raipur, Chhattisgarh.
- He is also known and considered as “The 1st Chhattisgarhi freedom fighter”.
- The British arrested him in 1856 for looting a trader’s grain stocks and distributing it amongst the poor in a severe famine year.
- In 1857 with the help of the soldiers of the British Army at Raipur, Veer Narayan Singh escaped from prison
- He was executed on 10 December 1857 at Jaistambh Chowk of Raipur.
- He became the first martyr from Chhattisgarh in the War of Independence.
Shri Alluri Seetha Ram Raju
- Alluri Sitarama Raju (1898 – 1924) was an Indian revolutionary involved in the Indian independence movement.
- After the passing of the 1882 Madras Forest Act, its restrictions on the free movement of tribal people in the forest prevented them from engaging in their traditional podu agricultural system, which involved shifting cultivation.
- Alluri led the Rampa Rebellion of 1922, during which a band of tribal people and other sympathisers fought in the border areas of the East Godavari and Visakhapatnam regions of Madras Presidency, in present-day Andhra Pradesh, against the British Raj, which had passed the law.
- He was referred to as “ManyamVeerudu” (transl. ’Hero of the Jungle’) by the local villagers.
Sidhu and KanhuMurmu
- On 30th June 1855, two years before the Great Revolt of 1857, two Santhal brothers Sidhu and KanhuMurmu organised 10,000 Santhals and proclaimed a rebellion against the British.
- The tribals took an oath to drive away from the British from their homeland. The Murmu brothers’ sisters Phulo and Jhano also played an active part in the rebellion.