Birsa Munda denied for glorifying Nehru, descendants: PM Modi | India News – Times of India

PATNA/NEW DELHI: Modi government‘s attempt to canonize Birsa Munda, who bravely stood up to British power, as a national icon has gained momentum, with Prime Minister Modi regretting the failure to recognize the heroic struggle that the legendary tribal warrior waged against the colonial ruled.
‘The way we celebrate it Janjatiya Gaurav divasit is important to understand why this event is necessary. It is an honest attempt to right a great injustice in history. The contribution of the tribal community did not get the recognition in history that it deserved after Independence,” the Prime Minister said while addressing a function at Jamui in Bihar, close to the border of Santhal Pargana region of Jharkhand to which Birsa Munda belonged.
The Modi government has decided to celebrate the 150th birth anniversary of the tribal hero as Janjatiya Gaurav Divas and Prime Minister marked the day by inaugurating and laying foundation of projects worth Rs 6,000 crore.
On the day, Home Minister Amit Shah also unveiled a statue of Birsa Munda at the Sarai Kale Khan ISBT intersection in Delhi, which is named after the leader of ‘Ulgulan’, the great ruckus that challenged the British.
Modi blamed the neglect of Munda and other tribal leaders who were part of the anti-colonial struggle on the attempt to glorify the first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and his descendants to the exclusion of others. “The attempt was that members of one party and one family were given credit,” Modi said, without naming names.
“The tribal community is the one that has led a centuries-long struggle to protect the culture and freedom of Bharat. However, after independence, attempts were made to erase this contribution from tribal history, driven by selfish politics of giving credit for Bharat’s freedom to one party alone. But if only one family secured independence, why did the ‘Ulgulan’ movement led by Birsa Munda happen? he asked.
The speech reflected the BJP’s concern to integrate tribes into a larger nationalist stream to counter attempts to portray them as a separate entity whose interests conflicted with the majority community.
In Delhi, Shah spoke along the same lines after unveiling the Birsa Munda statue. “At a very young age, he raised his voice against religious conversion,” Shah said of Birsa Munda who died at the age of 25. “When all of India and two-thirds of the world were ruled by the British, Birsa Munda showed the courage to take decisive action against religious conversion and later this determination and courage transformed him into a leader of this country,” the Home Minister added Things are coming up.
Shah added that Munda was the first to stand up for the primacy of tribal claims to resources – jal, jungle, jameen (water, forests, land) – in their traditional lands.