Although various tribes have made significant contribution to the freedom struggle, the role played by the tribal communities has remained ignored in the country’s history, MLC and State Secretary of Vanavasi Kalyana Ashram Shantaram Siddi has said.
He was addressing students at a one-day conference on “Tribal Heroes- Contribution in the Freedom Struggle” organised by Gulbarga University in association with National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) and Akhil Bharatiya Vanvasi Kalyana Ashram on the university campus in Kalaburagi on Friday.
Mr. Siddi reiterated that tribal people showed their heroism by sacrificing their lives in the Independence movement and it is the responsibility of Indians, particularly the present generation, to make themselves aware of their struggles that are missing from the pages of history.
Recalling the contribution of great tribal leader Birsa Munda, Mr. Siddi narrated how Munda mobilised the tribal community against the British. And, subsequently, various sects of tribal communities kept their sustained and ferocious attacks on the British.
Munda died at the age of 25 but he had brought about seminal changes in the lives of tribal people across the nation. There are around 750 distinct tribes in India. The Bhil, the Kol and the Gond are three major Indian tribes that have been widely acknowledged in the epic Ramayana.
Mr. Siddi lauded the efforts of the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes for organising such conferences in various education institutions. He urged the universities to establish a Tribal Chair to conduct studies and carry out research on tribal communities and to improve the quality of the life of the tribes across the country.
NCST Advisor Raghav Mittal said that the commission may hold sittings for investigation in matters relating to safeguarding, protecting and development of Scheduled Tribes. He also gave details of the functions and powers of the commission.
Vice-Chancellor of Gulbarga University Dayanand Agsar was present.
The university also organised an exhibition in which 130 portraits of leaders belonging to different tribal communities went on display.
