On 15 November, Shaheed Birsa Munda’s birth anniversary was celebrated by CPI(ML) at several places across the Country. At Palghar in Boisar district in Maharashtra 250 people, men and women participated in a mass meeting remembering the legacy of Birsa’s revolutionary tradition and applying it to current context when even the basic and millenniums old livelihood, cultural and human rights of indigenous and tribal people is being attacked for benefitting the powerful, the rich and the corrupt sections of the Indian society. The meeting revolved around the issue of “Jal-Jungle-Jamin ke Loot Ke Khilaf”, and “Adivasi Sanskriti Ko Phir Se Sthapit Karne Ke Liye” (against the loot of water, forests, land; and to reestablish the tribal culture).
At tribal populated Kusdi in West Panki district, the anniversary was celebrated. Several people attended a meeting. Inside the Hazaribagh Central Jail also the anniversary was celebrated. Here the CPI(ML) comrades started holding this anniversary event since last year after renovating a dilapidated and ignored Statue of Birsa. In Dhanbad, CPI(ML) and AIPF held a demonstration with candle lights to pay tributes to the people killed in terrorist attacks in Paris and elsewhere recently, on the occasion of the birth anniversary of Shaheed Birsa Munda. At Deoli in Govindpur also a meeting commemorating the anniversary was held attended by Comrades Subal Das and Subhendu Sen.
Everywhere the meetings began with garlanding the Statue or a portrait of Birsa Munda. Birsa Munda (1875-1900) is one of the most important leaders of anti-colonial Independence movement who led massive resistance of the indigenous people against British colonial policies that was not only alienating the tribals from their land and millenniums old livelihood sources, but were also bringing in settlers that would start exploiting the tribal population by transforming the tribal agrarian system into feudal estates. Eventually, in many places the tribal owners of land became agrarian labourers, being exploited in various ways. This process also caused a weakening of tribal culture. It was in this context that the young Birsa united various sections of the tribal population to resist the offensive of British colonialism.
