Skip to main content

Social reformer, freedom fighter who lives on in songs, prayers, campaigns of Bhil tribals

By Bharat Dogra* 

Recently when I visited several villages of Bhil tribal communities in Banswara district of Rajasthan, the greeting most often heard in villages was Jai Guru. The reference here is to Guru Govind, also known as Govindgiri, a social reformer and freedom fighter of 19th and 20th centuries who continues to live on in the songs, prayers, greetings and campaigns of tribal communities of Rajasthan, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh even today.
Guru Govind was born in 1858 in a banjara (nomadic) family in Dungarpur region of Rajasthan. His early life was spent in difficult circumstances. He had to work as a farm laborer in exploitative conditions and some of his family members perished in a famine.
Guru Govind started linking such tragic conditions faced by many families living around him to socio-economic conditions of those times which were characterized predominantly by leading exploiter colonial British regime and the various exploiter princely kingdoms. He started roaming around contacting people in Banswara, Sunth, Dungarpur and Panchmahal regions having large tribal populations with whom he established a close rapport and understanding.
He started initially with a social reform programme based on gender equality, giving up liquor consumption, keeping away from crime, avoiding all superstitions, giving more attention to sustainable livelihoods based on agriculture and land rights. He was not afraid to take a more radical stand on some of these issues. 
To give an example, he criticized the higher castes more for injustice towards women in general and widows in particular, while at the same time praising tribal communities for having more equality based gender relations.
His more radical interpretations were not liked by dominant sections and liquor sellers in particular were firmly against him.
In addition Guru Govind was increasingly overcoming the limits of social reform and relating the problems of tribal communities in particular to exploitative systems with the colonial regime at the top. Thus his discourse among tribal communities was also getting radicalized and acquiring a wider dimension against exploitative systems.
This led to actions being taken against him and his followers and his arrest around 1912. However he had to be released soon following very widespread resentment in the tribal communities.
However, by this time the battle lines were drawn and the followers of Guru Govind also realized that more oppressive actions will follow sooner rather than later. This led them to take a more defensive position and mobilize some weapons as well, although this was no match for the firepower of the colonial army.
On 17 November, 1913 the colonial British regime mobilized cannons and machine guns to fire on Bhil tribal freedom fighters gathered at the hill of Mangarh, located in present day Banswara district of South Rajasthan. Over 1500 of those gathered died. Govind Guru was arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment.
Eye-witness accounts have revealed that firing tactics designed to maximize killings were used. Despite the enormity of the tragedy -- many more people were killed here than at Jalianwala Bagh in Punjab -- the Mangarh massacre did not get the due attention in history till very recently. 
It appears that long overdue efforts are likely to be made now to do justice to the valiant Bhil freedom fighters and their great leader Govind Guru. The memories of Govind Guru are also etched in Hyderabad and neighbouring areas where he was imprisoned.
Although initially sentenced to life imprisonment Govind Guru was released in 1919 but his entry in main areas of his following was prohibited. He continued to work as a reformer till his death on October 30, 1931 at the age of 73 at a place called Kamboi, near Limbdi ( Gujarat).
Despite the repression he faced and all efforts to curb his actions and message, his lasting impact on people, particularly tribal communities can still be seen in various villages in and around the tri-junction of Rajashan, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat. However at the national level, there is need for more recognition for his contributions and also of his various valiant companion freedom fighters like Dhirji Punja and Punja Pargi.
---
*Honorary convener, Campaign to Save Earth Now. His recent books include ‘When the Two Streams Met', ‘Azadi Ke Deewanon Ki Daastaan’ and ‘A Day in 2071’. Pix: PL Patel

Comments

TRENDING

Importance of Bangladesh for India amidst 'growing might' of China in South Asia

By Samara Ashrat*  The basic key factor behind the geopolitical importance of Bangladesh is its geographical location. The country shares land borders with Myanmar and India. Due to its geographical position, Bangladesh is a natural link between South Asia and Southeast Asia.  The country is also a vital geopolitical ally to India, in that it has the potential to facilitate greater integration between Northeast India and Mainland India. Not only that, due to its open access to the Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh has become significant to both China and the US.

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Our Representative Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

'BBC film shows only tip of iceberg': Sanjiv Bhatt's daughter speaks at top US press club

By Our Representative   The United States' premier journalists' organisation, the National Press Club (NPC), has come down heavily on Prime Minister Narendra Modi for recent "attacks on journalists in India." Speaking at the screening of an episode of the BBC documentary “India: The Modi Question,” banned in India, in the club premises, NPC President Eileen O’Reilly said, “Since Modi came to power we have watched with frustration and disappointment as his regime has suppressed the rights of its citizens to a free and independent news media."

Chinese pressure? Left stateless, Rohingya crisis result of Myanmar citizenship law

By Dr Shakuntala Bhabani*  A 22-member team of Myanmar immigration officials visited Rohingya refugee camps in Cox's Bazar to verify more than 400 Rohingya refugees as part of a pilot repatriation project. Does it hold out any hope for the forcibly displaced people to return to their ancestral homes in the Rakhine state of Myanmar? Only time will tell.

China ties up with India, Bangladesh to repatriate Rohingyas; Myanmar unwilling

By Harunur Rasid*  We now have a new hope, thanks to news reports that were published in the Bangladeshi dailies recently. Myanmar has suddenly taken initiatives to repatriate Rohingyas. As part of this initiative, diplomats from eight countries posted in Yangon were flown to Rakhine last week. Among them were diplomats from Bangladesh, India and China.

Over-stressed? As Naveen Patnaik turns frail, Odisha 'moves closer' to leadership crisis

By Sudhansu R Das  Not a single leader in Odisha is visible in the horizon who can replace Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. He has ruled Odisha for nearly two and half decades. His father, Biju Patnaik, had built Odisha; he was a daring pilot who saved the life of Indonesia’s Prime Minister Sjahrir and President Sukarno when the Dutch army blocked their exit.

Natural farming: Hamirpur leads the way to 'huge improvement' in nutrition, livelihood

By Bharat Dogra*  Santosh is a dedicated farmer who along with his wife Chunni Devi worked very hard in recent months to convert a small patch of unproductive land into a lush green, multi-layer vegetable garden. This has ensured year-round supply of organically grown vegetables to his family as well as fetched several thousand rupees in cash sales.

Hillary Clinton, Al Gore, Ban Ki-moon, others ask Bangladesh PM to 'protect' Yunus

Counterview Desk  A campaign has been launched to support Bangladesh-based economist, micro-finance guru and Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, seeking signatures from citizens across the globe in order to “protect” his work, life and safety.

Electricity sharing opens up new window for India’s eastern neighbourhood engagement

By Sufian Asif* Today, challenges like climate change, pandemics, energy reliance, economic crisis, and many more are concerning us. No nation can overcome these obstacles without the assistance and collaboration of other nations. Most importantly, many of these problems have international repercussions. South Asia is facing much more difficulty when compared to other regions. In South Asia, we have some regional organizations, but they are ineffective.