The vandalising of Birsa Munda’s statue at the tribal hero’s mausoleum in Ranchi has sparked a sociopolitical war in Jharkhand, with tribal rights bodies calling a daylong Ranchi bandh on Saturday as a mark of protest and the opposition extending its moral support to it. Amidst the high voltage drama, Chief Minister Raghubar Das on Friday ordered a probe on the matter.
On Thursday night locals found that the left arm of the statue was broken and thrown at a few meter’s distance from the structure in Kokar. The broken arm of the statue also had the bow and arrow, a symbol of tribal valour and revolution.
While Opposition parties and tribal rights activists are seeing red in the incident and fuming over possible involvement of fringe elements in the disgraceful act, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has called the protests politically motivated.
On Friday, leaders from ruling and opposition parties flocked to the mausoleum along with their supporters amidst a protest staged by tribal rights activists. State Urban Development Minister CP Singh was welcomed to the spot with slogans of ‘CP Singh Haye Haye’ and locals questioning the government’s lack of security arrangements at the mausoleum. Singh, however, came down heavily on the opposition accusing them of politicizing the matter.
“Bhagwan Birsa Munda is nobody’s copyright. The Opposition is only trying to make a political issue out of the incident. Yes, the statue has been damaged and we will ensure a thorough investigation in the matter. The security too will be beefed up,” Singh said.
Birsa Munda was a freedom fighter referred to as Bhagwan (God) by the tribal community here. He was a spearhead behind the Millenarian movement that arose in the Bihar and Jharkhand belt in the early 19th century under the British colonisation. He encouraged the tribal community to protect their land from the British and take the army on through guerrilla warfare.
On Friday, Leader of Opposition and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha’s (JMM) Executive President Hemant Soren also visited the spot and blamed the Government’s lackadaisical approach towards security of the statue for the incident.“It was the Government’s responsibility to look after the statue. It was their responsibility to keep the place safe and secure. They should be answerable to the people,” Soren said.
Ranchi Deputy Mayor Sanjiv Vijaywargiya, however, assured on Friday that the statue will be repaired within the next 24 hours. “The statue is made of fiber. It is quite possible that somebody may have exerted pressure on the arm while trying to garland the statue on June 9, which led to the breaking of the arm. Around six years ago, the same statue was damaged during Hemant Soren’s regime too,” Vijaywargiya said.
He added that the Ranchi administration will erect a metal statue of Birsa Munda at the same place, which will be unveiled by Chief Minister Raghubar Das on November 15 this year.
Congress leader Aditya Vikarm Jaiswal, whose family donated the land for the mausoleum, accused the Government of neglecting the maintenance work of the statue and blamed the incident on the lack of security arrangements at the mausoleum. “Urban Development Minister CP Singh and the BJP-ruled Government are responsible for the incident. They observed Birsa Munda’s death anniversary on June 9, but none of them thought of strengthening the statue or keeping the mausoleum clean,” said Jaiswal.
Former Union Minister and Congress leader Subodh Kant Sahay took a jibe at the Government, claiming that the BJP only knows how to seek votes in the name of martyrs but not pay respect to them.
