Birsa Munda of Jharkhand was an illustrious tribal freedom fighter of India during India’s colonial period.
Birsa was born on 15 November 1875 in Ulihatu village near Ranchi of Chotanagpur, India, and died on 9 June 1900 as a prisoner. Within 25 years of his short life, he grew into a gigantic tribal leader who fought against British colonialism and against the exploitation of tribal communities.
Birsa’s charismatic leadership won him an army of followers who stood with him and fought with him.
He campaigned for people’s right to land and resources when the colonial government was grabbing tribal land, cutting away costly timber from forests, and appropriating the right to people’s resources.
Birsa was arrested and imprisoned in Ranchi jail where he was said to have died of vomiting blood. His followers believed that he was poisoned.
Today, many tribal issues are similar. Internal colonialism whereby tribal land is grabbed for private industrial business. Tribal land, rich with minerals, is getting decimated with quarries, mines, and commercial enterprises in which local tribals have little share. Displacement from land is very common. In many instances, tribals become internal refugees. The much advertised tribal development programmes are at snail’s pace, even though the land is rich with resources.
