The fateful day was April 19, 1985. 15 persons were sprayed with bullets by a combined force of the police and the business-moneylender lobby. The scene of the atrocity was Banjhi market, 20 kilometres from the district HQ of Sahibganj in Jharkhand.
The victims were 14 tribals and a scheduled caste man. They included Antony Murmu, an ex-member of the Indian Parliament.
The issue was a burning one. The prolonged exploitation of the tribal population by non-tribal moneylenders and traders coupled with land grabbing mafia.
The blood of the martyrs has given birth to a movement among the Adivasis of the area to free themselves from the clutches of money lenders.
Through a slow and steady process of awareness building, initiated by NGOs like Sona Santal Samaj Samiti, the once victimized people have regained their land and given a fitting burial to the notorious money lending system. Cultivation of their own land and protection of the forest cover are also priorities.
The Enquiry by Commission constituted by the then Bihar government was a washout. The culprits were given clean chit.