On the occasion of the 150th birth anniversary of legendary tribal leader Birsa Munda on November 15, it is tragic that Prime Minister Narendra Modi followed the well-known script of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of weaponising history and unfairly hurling accusation against Congress leaders that the party did not give due recognition to Munda’s role in the fight against the British rule.
Modi falsely asserted that Munda was grossly disregarded and overlooked so that “… members of one party and one family got credit.” It was an oblique reference to the Congress and its top leaders such as Jawaharlal Nehru whose legacy of arduous struggle for freedom of our country and his role in nation building during post-independence period BJP vainly attempts to tarnish and erase.
It behoves the prime minister to focus attention on the enduring contribution of Munda while speaking on his birth anniversary. Instead he spelt out avoidable articulations that run counter to the historical records documenting the recognition and honour bestowed by the Congress party on Munda during the freedom struggle.
The detailed elaboration of this is available in the then President of India K.R. Narayanan’s utterances when he unveiled Munda’s statue in the precincts of the parliament on August 28, 1998.
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While hailing him as “a legendary figure in the history of our struggle for freedom,” and “an early advocate and exponent of tribal rights” he more importantly acclaimed Munda’s role in initiating “a unique phase of our freedom struggle which decisively influenced its course and subsequently made us deeply conscious of tribal issues vis-a-vis nation building”.
President Narayanan’s portrayal of Munda based on recorded historical documents signifies the crucial role he played in the anti-colonial struggle and nullifies the false narrative scripted by Modi.
Narayanan not only recalled how Munda mobilised tribals and peasants to fight against the British regime responsible for snatching away their land, plundering their forests and ruining their way of life and economy but also referred to his valiant fight against the Zamindari system which exploited them.
The battle cry of Bihar regiment invokes Munda
Union home minister Amit Shah’s claim while unveiling a statue of Munda in Delhi on November 15 that he launched a movement against religious conversion is inconsistent with the 1998 speech of President Narayanan in which he referred to Munda’s struggle “infused with the spirit of religious reform, social justice and cultural regeneration”.
It is well recognised that Munda occupies an exalted place as a cult figure in the tribal folklore and was revered by the people as ‘Dharti Abba’ or ‘Birsa Bhagwan’. It is instructive to note that Birsa Munda Ki Jai (Victory to Birsa Munda) is one of the battle cries of the Bihar regiment of the Indian army. President Narayanan, as the supreme commander of the armed forces mentioned, among others, all those details concerning the battle cries and these testify to the honoured place given to Munda in the annals of independent India, particularly by the Indian army.
Congress commemorated Munda’s legacy during freedom struggle
Prime Minister Modi, who made a veiled attack on Congress and its leadership for not recognising the role of Munda in the freedom struggle should be mindful of the way in which leaders of the Congress invoked the name of Munda during the freedom struggle much after his martyrdom.
It was specifically mentioned by President Narayanan in his aforementioned 1998 speech when he said, “The arduous fight of Birsa Munda against British rule and its ramifications found articulation in the larger context of our struggle for independence when Surendranath Banerjea took up the issue in the legislative council and many other leading newspapers of the period editorially supported its cause”.
It is worth mentioning that Banerjea was closely associated with the Indian National Congress right from its foundation and his role in underlining the sacrifices of Munda indicate the manner in which freedom fighters were deeply impacted by his struggle against colonial rule.
Munda’s legacy made a deep impact on the Indian National Congress and a detailed account of the recognition it accorded to his contributions and commemorated his anti-colonial struggle can be gleaned from the aforementioned speech of Narayanan.
“Acknowledging his (Birsa Munda’s) crucial role in awakening the masses of Chotanagpur against British rule,” he remarked, “the Indian National Congress and the Forward Block observed Birsa Day in 1940 with great enthusiasm” .
He proceeded to add with emphasis, “Paying tribute to Birsa Munda, the Indian National Congress named the main gate of its Ramgarh Session in 1940 as Birsa Gate and published stories of his eventful life which was circulated among the delegates.”
He went on to add, “The awakening triggered by Birsa Munda found its manifestation in the formation of Kisan Sabha by many tribal groups, which later joined the struggle for freedom.”
“Many followers of Birsa Munda who took pride in calling themselves ‘Birsaites'” remarked Narayanan, “joined the nationalist movement for independence and were greatly influenced by Mahatma Gandhi”.
He also observed, “Historians have asserted that the campaigns of Indian National Congress in Chotanagpur would not have been successful without Birsa Munda’s agitation.”
All such details catalogued from President Narayanan’s speech clearly prove the falsity of the claim of Prime Minister Modi and Union home minister Shah concerning Munda whom they portrayed by distorting history for pursuing their narrow partisan objectives.
Enduring relevance of Munda’s legacy
Towards the end of the speech Narayanan had mentioned how the British government, in spite of putting down the movement of Munda acknowledged the magnitude of its far reaching effect and this was evidenced from the secret report of the then Lt. governor who wrote, “the disturbance may have quieted down but Simla requires to be constantly reminded that it is sitting on a powder magazine.”
Indeed the far reaching impact of Munda’s legacy resonates in the struggle of tribals in several parts of the country to protect their rights, land and the forests they inhabit. Our constitution provides special safeguards for them to preserve their identity, their culture and above all their natural surroundings which are threatened by the so-called forces of modernisation. Munda’s heroic legacy in the words of Narayanan “draw our attention to the need for re-examining our concepts of development and progress” and not to distort history as has been done by Modi and Shah.
S.N. Sahu served as an Officer on Special Duty to former President of India K.R Narayanan.
This piece was first published on The India Cable – a premium newsletter from The Wire & Galileo Ideas – and has been updated and republished here. To subscribe to The India Cable, click here.
