Mahishasur martyrdom day at JNU "misuse" of freedom of speech? HRD minister Smriti Irani triggers hornet's nest

BJP MP Udit Raj at JNU Mahishasur meet

Union human resources minister Smriti Irani may have triggered hornet’s nest by declaring in Parliament on February 24 that celebrating Mahishasura martyrdom day in the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) way back on October 4, 2014 was misuse of the “freedom of speech”. From early indications, reactions to the statement are likely to be sharp, especially among Dalits, Adivasis and Other Backward Classes (OBCs).
Wanting to know “who wants to have this discussion”, she called the event a reflection of “depraved mentality”, even as reading out from a JNU pamphlet, which called “Mahishasura a brave self-respecting leader”.
Already, senior academic Pramod Ranjan, involved in editing a book, “Mahishasur Movement: Debrahmanising a Myth”, Ranjan is being widely quoted for his detailed report citing historian DD Kosambi, that Mahishasur’s “realm” exists in Mahoba in Bundelkhand, where he had gone on October 2 last year to find that “Mahishasur’s memories still survive in the folk traditions here.”
Ranjan says in the report that Mahishasur is also “known as Maikasur, Kaaras Dev, Gwal Baba, etc. in this area”, adding, “Almost every village in Mahoba has a place for him. There are no idols of Mahishasur, only raised platforms made of clay. Unlike in the Brahmanical tradition, Mahishasur does not live in temples. He lives on clay platforms under the open sky.”
Ranjan points out, “Traditions related to Mahishasur are alive in almost all parts of the country. For the past few years, Bahujans are attempting to revive their myths and traditions. This year, writers and intellectuals came together in Mysore to begin a campaign for restoring Mahishasur’s lost honour.”

Ranjan says there is a “Mahishasur temple at Chauka Sora village, about 70 km from Mahoba in Bundelkhand”, which is under Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) protection.” It is quite a different thing that, he adds, ASI has “not yet determined the period of its construction.”

Mahishasur temple, Kulpahad, Lucknow district, UP

Ranjan provides several legends prevailing about Mahishasur in the region – at Keerat Sagar, near Mahoba, where there is a “sthan” of Mahishasur, the legend has it that Mahishasur cures sick animals. “When an animal starts giving milk, it is first offered to Mahishasur”, he says, adding, “The pastoral and agricultural castes of Mahoba regard Mahishasur as their ancestor.”
Ranjan also found “sthan “of Mahishasur at Mohari village, as Gokhaar Pahad, at Ramnagar in Charkhari, even as pointing out that, following a handful of JNU students celebrating on October 25, 2011 “the movement would spread like wildfire.”
He says, “In just four years, these events have not only created a nationwide stir but have provided a common basis for unity between Tribals, OBCs and Dalits”, adding, in 2015, it was “celebrated at more than 300 locations in the country”, especially in West Bengal, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. crossing the “country’s borders and reached Nepal.”
“The size of the events, which went unnoticed by the mainstream media, ranged from 10-15 enthusiastic youths holding placards to huge public meetings attended by 1,000-20,000 people. These events clearly show that through them, the Dalit identities of India are writing their new cultural history”, he adds.
Ranjan notes, “Those who celebrate Mahishasur Day say it was a battle between the Aryans and the non-Aryans, and as non-Aryans, Mahishasur is their ancestor and hero.” He calls Mahishasur the “mythical hero and god of the tribals”, considered “a martyr by members of the deprived Bahujan communities like Yadav, Kushwaha, Kumhar, Kurmi, Nishad, Manjhi, Rajak and Ravidas.”