V
isitors to Bhil villages in the tribal belt that forms a tri-junction between the states of Rajasthan, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh are at times surprised to hear the greeting of Jai Guru very frequently. The reference in this greeting is to Govind Guru, a great freedom fighter and social reformer who is still the most iconic figure for these tribal communities over 90 years after he breathed his last.
While a memorial to remember him has already been created at Mangarh on both Rajasthan and Gujarat sides, recently there have been demands to improve this further, linking it more to the rich but frequently neglected heritage of tribal communities as well as their many struggles for their rights and dignity.
This will be a fitting tribute to Guru Govind, also known as Govindgiri, who continues to live on in the songs, prayers, greetings and campaigns of tribal communities of this tri-junction area 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 the exploitation of the colonial British regime and the various princely kingdoms. He started roaming around contacting people in Banswara, Sunth, Dungarpur and Panchmahal regions wih large tribal populations and with whom he established a close rapport and understanding.
He began with a social reform program based on gender equality, for th abstinence from liquor consumption, keeping away from crime, avoiding all superstitions, giving more attention to sustainable livelihoods based on agriculture and land rights. 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 views were not liked by dominant sections while resourceful liquor sellers in particular were firmly against him.
Not before long, Guru Govind was increasingly overcoming the limits of social reform, connecting the problems of tribal communities in particular to exploitative systems emanating 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. He raised demands relating to the protection of land rights of tribal communities, ending the practice of bonded and forced labor and pitching for he right to organize and hold meetings and gatherings of supporters. In addition, Govind Guru was increasingly posing a challenge to British rule by raising the strong tradition of self-rule among tribal communities. 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 followers of Guru Govind also realized that more oppressive actions would 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.
Initially sentenced to life imprisonment Govind Guru was released in 1919 but his entry into those areas with his strong 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).
Along with Govind Guru his companion freedom fighters like Dhirji Punja and Punja Pargi are widely revered in the Bhil community.
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There is increasing evidence that resistance to colonial and feudal exploitation by Bhil tribal communities increased significantly during the decade 1912-22, leading to extreme forms of repression by the British forces supported by princely kingdoms, It is likely that apart from Mangarh, there were other massacres too, which have been largely forgotten and neglected by most historians.
In Mewar region the movement against excessive land revenue and other forms of exploitation was gaining strength in Bijoliya region and spreading to other areas. It is interesting that inquiries ordered by the Maharana( king) himself had confirmed the exploitative nature of excessive taxation.
The movement was consolidated further by the arrival of the brilliant freedom fighter Vijay Singh Pathik. His writings and documentation led to the spread of this movement’s message to a large number of people. One of these was an Udaipur based young man named Motilal Tejawat with strong instincts for opposing any injustice. He started working among Bhil tribals on issues relating to opposition to excessive taxation and forced labor. This came to be known as the Eki movement. Motilal’s sincerity as well as the urgency of issues fetched him a large number of followers, in the bhil community particularly, within a short time.
However with this success also came increasing repression and, like Guru Govind before him, Motilal Tejawat was soon moving with a number of followers from one place to another. In early March 1922 he reached Pal Chitaria village in Vjaynagar area (in present day Gujarat, close to border of Rajasthan where a large number of other followers were supposed to come to hear him. People estimated to be between 5000 to 10,000 (probably local people outnumbering those who had come with Tejawat by now) listened to him with reverence.
Unknown to them a heavily armed force had been sent by the colonial rulers to corner Tejawat and his followers here. In the massacre of 7 March 1922, around 1200 people are estimated to have perished. This has been estimated mainly on the basis of oral accounts as due to the extremely adverse publicity following Jalianwala Bagh massacre in Punjab (1919), the British were determined to avoid any reference to these killings in any official records. Eye witness accounts have however spoken of a large number of the dead being buried in a well or perishing in or near the river-bed. It appears that most of the dead were non-local persons who had come with Tejawat, not so familiar with local geography and escape routes. However his local followers took care to escort Tejawat to safety over a hill, and he could evade arrest for nearly 7 years.
Some accounts state that the repressive British machinery rolled on, and in May over 1000 people were again killed in Bhula and Balohiya villages, although lesser evidence is available regarding this encounter.
Meanwhile repression had been increasing also in the neighboring areas where the Bijoliya movement and its off-shoots had spread. These struggles and particularly those of tribal communities have not received the attention these should have received in the documentation of the freedom movement, and one hopes that this neglect would be made up in the near future with due attention accorded to these struggles and sacrifices.
Regadless of any oficcal or mainstream recorded historical evidence, these struggles are remembered by the bhil community who particularly cherish the many memories of Guru Govind as a great reformer and valiant freedom fighter. Social reform measures emphasized by Govnd Guru are still respected by snd in, many Bhil villages. However the best tribute the country can pay to him is to honor the rights of tribal communities and to respect their rights and dignity which he fought for so valiantly.
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*All photos based on Mangarh Memorial , depict paintings and sculpture on various aspects of the life of the great freedom fighter and reformer Govind Guru by P.L. Patel
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