{"id":9582,"date":"2021-12-30T10:46:01","date_gmt":"2021-12-30T10:46:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailynewsindia.co.in\/index.php\/2021\/12\/30\/author-tuhin-sinha-demands-bharat-ratna-for-birsa-munda-in-jharkhand\/"},"modified":"2021-12-30T10:46:01","modified_gmt":"2021-12-30T10:46:01","slug":"author-tuhin-sinha-demands-bharat-ratna-for-birsa-munda-in-jharkhand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailynewsindia.co.in\/index.php\/2021\/12\/30\/author-tuhin-sinha-demands-bharat-ratna-for-birsa-munda-in-jharkhand\/","title":{"rendered":"Author Tuhin Sinha demands Bharat Ratna for Birsa Munda in Jharkhand"},"content":{"rendered":"
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December 30<\/strong>: Well-known author Tuhin A. Sinha has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting for the Bharat Ratna to be conferred upon tribal revolutionary icon Birsa Munda, besides the creation of India\u2019s biggest war memorial at Dombari Hills in Jharkhand, where Birsa\u2019s resolute warriors had put up an incredible fight against the British soldiers in January 1900. The war eventually led to mass casualties but also acquainted the British with the sheer might and conviction of Birsa Munda.<\/p>\n

Tuhin, who is all set to release his book\u00a0The Legend of Birsa Munda<\/em>, co-authored with Ankita Verma, has researched extensively on Birsa Munda\u2019s life. In his letter to the PM, Tuhin roots for the need to weave in a strong cultural narrative around Birsa Munda in Jharkhand\u2019s development plans, \u201cAs we get ready to commemorate the 150th<\/sup>\u00a0birth anniversary of Birsa Munda in 2024, there is a growing sentiment among the people of Jharkhand that a lot more needs to be done to ensure justice to the magnificent yet largely unexplored legacy of Birsa Munda. The state of Jharkhand, which came into existence on 15\u00a0November 2000, is yet to realize its true potential. The state with its rich reservoir of mineral resources, vast forest cover and concentrated industrialist belts deserves more. Weaving a strong cultural narrative into the state\u2019s developments plans could help in ushering this transformation.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the letter, Tuhin\u00a0has also appealed for the creation of a Birsa tourism corridor that would generate immense local employment opportunities, besides an extension of the term \u2018Scheduled Tribes\u2019 to mean\u00a0Vanvasi<\/em>, instead of\u00a0Adivasi<\/em>\u00a0in Hindi.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe thing about subaltern historical heroes is that during their lifetime, there was hardly any documentation of their life or their movements. We took cognizance of their greatness only in hindsight, long after they were gone. But when I look at the extraordinary life of Birsa Munda and his efforts in raising a private army to take on the Britishers, it is quite likely that Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose too may have drawn inspiration from him. Netaji raised a private army on a much grander, international scale in the early 1940s\u2026 something that Birsa too did, but on a much smaller scale four decades before Netaji,\u201d says the author.<\/p>\n

But what drew Tuhin to Birsa Munda\u2019s character in particular when there are multiple other subaltern icons in India\u2019s freedom struggle? In his letter, Tuhin writes, \u201cLike Kashi is the confluence of Hindu culture, let Birsa Munda form the confluence of all tribal cultures and tribal freedom movements across the country. Our subaltern freedom movements date back to the 1770s\u2014Tilka Majhi, a Santhal from the Bhagalpur region being one of the oldest and well-known names. From the nineteenth century, these subaltern movements were active right from the North East of India to the South and formed important precursors to the 1857 war for Independence. While it may not be possible to give each of these subaltern tribal warriors their due, honouring Birsa Munda with the nation\u2019s highest civilian award will be an honour to the entire community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tuhin\u2019s book\u00a0The Legend of Birsa Munda\u00a0<\/em>has been published by Amaryllis: An Imprint of Manjul Publishing House and will soon be available in multiple Indian languages. Among other initiatives, the author, in collaboration will Indic Academy, plans to travel to Birsa Munda\u2019s village Ulihatu, near Ranchi, and distribute 50 free copies to the descendants of Birsa Munda and the clan.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is tragic that the descendants of Birsa Munda are living a life of abject penury and have very little idea of the greatness of their ancestry. I want the demand for the Bharat Ratna for Birsa Munda to emanate from his village and ricochet across the country,\u201d says the author.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

December 30: Well-known author Tuhin A. Sinha has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting for the Bharat Ratna to be conferred upon tribal revolutionary icon Birsa Munda, besides the creation of India\u2019s biggest war memorial at Dombari Hills in Jharkhand, where Birsa\u2019s resolute warriors had put up an incredible fight against the…<\/p>\n

Read More “Author Tuhin Sinha demands Bharat Ratna for Birsa Munda in Jharkhand”<\/span> »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9583,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[636],"class_list":["post-9582","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-press-release","tag-pr"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailynewsindia.co.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9582","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailynewsindia.co.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailynewsindia.co.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailynewsindia.co.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailynewsindia.co.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9582"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailynewsindia.co.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9582\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailynewsindia.co.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9583"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailynewsindia.co.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9582"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailynewsindia.co.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9582"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailynewsindia.co.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9582"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}