Proposed Modi yatra from Jharkhand an 'insult' of Adivasi hero Birsa Munda: JMM

Counterview Desk
The civil rights network, Jharkhand Janadhikar Mahasabha (JMM), which claims to have 30 grassroots groups under its wings, has decided to launch Save Democracy campaign to oppose Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Vikasit Bharat Sankalp Yatra to be launched on November 15 from the village of legendary 19th century tribal independence leader Birsa Munda from Ulihatu (Khunti district).
Stating that, through this campaign, it will remind Modi of “nine anti-people actions" taken by his government in the last nine years, which have had a "direct adverse impact" on the people of Jharkhand, JMM said, Modi's yatra, meant as BJP’s campaign for 2024 Lok Sabha polls, is an is an "insult" to the memory of Birsa Munda and Adivasis in backdrop of Central government erasing Adivasi rights on “water, forests, minerals and land.”

Text:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is going to launch the ‘Vikasit Bharat Sankalp Yatra’ from village of Birsa Munda, Ulihatu (Khunti) on 15 November 2023. Although this campaign is showcased to highlight the achievements of the central government, but in reality this is a part of the BJP’s campaign for the 2024 parliamentary elections. To give a BJP color to the programme, government officials were designated as ‘Rath Prabhari,’ which was changed to nodal officers after public pressure. This entourage is nothing but a waste of public money to burnish Modi's image and is a hindrance in government work. The Modi government keeps making world records in publicity.
This journey is being deliberately started by the Prime Minister from Jharkhand, that too from the birthplace of Birsa Munda, who is the national hero of Adivasis. The display of respect for this great hero is part of the BJP’s ongoing efforts to attract Adivasis in their fold. Through this campaign, Modi wants to become Prime Minister for the third time by winning as many parliamentary seats as possible in Jharkhand.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP do not have the moral right to launch this yatra from Ulihatu. They do not recognize the independent identity of Adivasis, who they address as ‘Vanvasi’ (forest dwellers) and try to erase their religion and culture by declaring them as part of the Sanatan Dharma. By creating conflict between Sarna and Christian Adivasis, the BJP has been consistently trying to weaken Adivasi solidarity and establish the dominance of the Brahmanical caste system. The Modi government allowed state-supported pogrom of Adivasis in Manipur and BJP leaders are trying their best to spread community and religion-based hatred by using Manipur as an example in Jharkhand. Even after all this, Modi is trying to seek the votes of Adivasis in the name of ‘Janjati Gaurav Diwas’.
The Adivasis in Jharkhand are fighting for their rights over water, forests, minerals and land, and the Modi government is erasing these rights. The Modi government did not even accept the Land Acquisition Act of 2013, which has some progressive provisions. Despite widespread public opposition, it repeatedly brought an arbitrary Land Acquisition Ordinance that could not be passed due to Adivasis’ opposition. By amending the forest conservation law, the Modi government has decided to hand over the forests to the corporates by snatching away the rights of the Gram Sabha over the forest land and resources acquired under the Forest Rights Act.

Through the Swamitwa Card scheme, which was piloted in Khunti itself, a conspiracy has been hatched to snatch the public land of the village from the control of the Adivasis and to weaken the Chotanagpur Tenancy Act and Santhal Parganas Tenancy (CNT-SPT) law and Khuntkatti system. Godda MP Nishikant Dubey, a favorite of Narendra Modi and Gautam Adani, even expressed a resolve to abolish the Fifth Schedule and CNT-SPT Act. In 2017-18, the BJP's double engine government had repressed thousands of Adivasis who carried out Patthalgadi, by declaring them seditious and putting many in jail. The BJP's double engine government had also repressed those who opposed the amendments to the CNT-SPT Acts. According to popular opinion in Khunti, the BJP could win the Khunti Lok Sabha elections in 2019 by a narrow margin only after manipulating the counting process.
In the last nine years, instead of making Jharkhand and India a developed area, Modi has pushed India – and especially Jharkhand – towards destruction. The rights of the poor, the deprived, the workers and the farmers have been weakened. There has been a massive cut in the budget of welfare schemes like MGNREGA, social security pension, the anganwadi programme etc. The development that has taken place has been only in the wealth of a few capitalists, particularly Ambani and Adani. There has been a massive increase in the wealth of the BJP also. On the other hand, there has been no increase in the real wages of rural laborers during these nine years. The Modi government has further torn apart the socio-religious fabric of the country.
The 'Loktantra Bachao 2024' campaign wants to remind Prime Minister Modi, before the inauguration of the ‘Vikasit Bharat Sankalp Yatra’, of nine anti-people actions taken by his government in the last nine years, which have had a direct adverse impact on the people of Jharkhand (list attached). If the Prime Minister has any shame, he should not make public appearances in Jharkhand.

Comments

The golden crop: How turmeric is transforming women's lives in tribal India

By Vikas Meshram* When the lush green fields of turmeric sway in the tribal belt of southern Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Gujarat, it is not merely a spice crop — it is the golden glow of self-reliance. In villages where even basic spices once had to be bought from the market, the very soil today is yielding a prosperity that has transformed the lives of thousands of families. At the heart of this transformation is the initiative of Vaagdhara, which has linked turmeric with livelihoods, nutrition, and village self-governance — gram swaraj.

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 Rajiv Shah 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".

Authoritarian destruction of the public sphere in Ecuador: Trumpism in action?

By Pilar Troya Fernández The situation in Ecuador under Daniel Noboa's government is one of authoritarianism advancing on several fronts simultaneously to consolidate neoliberalism and total submission to the US international agenda. These are not isolated measures, but rather a coordinated strategy that combines job insecurity, the dismantling of the welfare state, unrestricted access to mining, the continuation of oil exploitation without environmental considerations, the centralization of power through the financial suffocation of local governments, and the systematic criminalization of all forms of opposition and popular organization.

Echoes of Vietnam and Chile: The devastating cost of the I-A Axis in Iran

By Ram Puniyani The recent joint military actions by Israel and the United States against Iran have been devastating. Like all wars, this conflict is brutal to its core, leaving a trail of human suffering in its wake. The stated pretext for this aggression—the brutality of the Ayatollah Khamenei regime and its nuclear ambitions—clashes sharply with the reality of the diplomatic landscape. Iran had expressed a willingness to remain at the negotiating table, signaling a readiness to concede points emerging from dialogue.

False claim? What Venezuela is witnessing is not surrender but a tactical retreat

By Manolo De Los Santos The early morning hours of January 3, 2026, marked an inflection point in Venezuela and Latin America’s centuries-long struggle for self-determination and independence. Operation Absolute Resolve, ordered by the Trump administration, constituted the most brutal and direct military assault on a sovereign state in the region in recent memory. In a shocking operation that left hundreds dead, President Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores were illegally kidnapped from Venezuelan soil and transported to the United States, where they now face fabricated charges in a New York federal detention facility. In the two months since this act of war, a torrent of speculation has emerged from so-called experts and pundits across the political spectrum. This has followed three main lines: One . The operation’s success indicated treason at the highest levels of the Bolivarian Revolution. Two . Acting President Delcy Rodríguez and the remaining leadership have abandone...

The selective memory of a violent city: Uttam Nagar and the invisible victims of Delhi

By Sunil Kumar* Hundreds of murders take place in Delhi every year, yet only a few incidents become topics of nationwide discussion. The question is: why does this happen? Today, the incident in Uttam Nagar has become the centre of national debate. A 26-year-old man, Tarun Kumar, was killed following a dispute that reportedly began after a balloon hit a small child. In several colonies of Delhi, slogans such as “Jai Shri Ram” and “Vande Mataram” are being raised while demanding the death penalty for Tarun’s killers. As a result, nearly 50,000 residents of Hastsal JJ Colony are now living in what resembles a state of confinement.

The price of silence: Why Modi won’t follow Shastri, appeal for sacrifice

By Arundhati Dhuru, Sandeep Pandey* In 1965, as India grappled with war and a crippling food crisis, Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri faced a United States that used wheat shipments under the PL-480 agreement as a lever to dictate Indian foreign policy. Shastri’s response remains legendary: he appealed to the nation to skip one meal a day. Millions of middle-class households complied, choosing temporary hunger over the sacrifice of national dignity. Today, India faces a modern equivalent in the energy sector, yet the leadership’s response stands in stark contrast to that era of self-reliance.

Love letters in a lifelong war: Babusha Kohli’s resistance in verse

By Ravi Ranjan* “War does not determine who is right—only who is left.” Bertrand Russell’s words echo hauntingly in our times, and few contemporary Hindi poets embody this truth as profoundly as Babusha Kohli. Emerging from Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, Kohli has carved a unique space in literature by weaving together tenderness, protest, and philosophy across poetry, prose, and cinema. Her work is not merely artistic expression—it is resistance, refuge, and a call for peace.

Search This Blog