Even after 77 years of the Amco-Simco massacre, where 49 peasants sacrificed their lives fighting against the irrational levy imposed on them by the British administration, the tribal martyrs are yet to be recognised as freedom fighters.
This is lamented by Amco-Simco Saheed Smarki Committee (ASSC) Joint Secretary Prasanna Tripathy.
Tripathy said the State Government has declared the spot as a tourist destination and to establish a statue of Nirmal Munda at Vedavyas Square which is under construction at Durg, but it is yet to give recognition to the freedom fighters.
Notably, tribal people of the locality used to cultivate in the forest lands for years. As per Khuntkati tradition, the tribals have every right on the land where they develop cultivation, but the then Sundargarh rulers conspiring with the British Government had imposed tax on the tribals in 1931 and doubled in 1932.
Protesting against this, the tribals got united under the leadership of Nirmal Munda and demanded before the Gangpur Province Administrative head Regent Rani Saheba Janaki Ratnadevi to abolish the tax. But she turned it down and sought help from British rulers to suppress the revolution.
On April 25, 1939, when Munda was addressing a gathering at Amco-Simco ground, police forces led by SP Gourishanakr Sekhar Deo and leutenant Commandant of British Government ambushed the gathering and opened fire at them without giving any warning. As many as 49 tribals were killed on the spot.