“Union Home Minister and his party have repeatedly been insulting our God Birsa Munda and they must apologise immediately,” cried the members of tribal organisations.

They had flooded the streets in Bankura town today bringing charges of ‘consistent attempts’ by the BJP to convert a hunter’s statue forcibly to the idol of Birsa Munda – a tribal folk hero and a 19 th century freedom fighter. This have ‘hurt’ the self-esteem of thousands of Junglemahal residents in the districts like Bankura, Purulia, Jhargram and Midnapore (West). Today, the organisations rallied on the roads in the district town barely a couple of hours ahead of the arrival of chief minister Mamata Banerjee at Mukutmonipur – a tribal heartland in Khatra Sub Division of Bankura. She will be staying back there and is scheduled to transfer government benefits to the marooned residents there tomorrow.

Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikash Parishad-a tribal cultural outfit led the agitation today where different tribal organisations like Adivasi Ekta Manch, Bharat Jakat Majhi Parghana Mahal, Bhumija Kalyan Samiti, Munda Kalyan Samiti and All Adivasi Santhal Student Association assembled under the single umbrella of of the Parishad that finally got outlined to a jumbo rally circling around the town roads.

Sunil Mandi – the president of the Parishad addressed the gathering and said: “Home minister Amit Shah has insulted Bhagwan Birsa Munda. He had garlanded a hunter’s statue where the portrait of Bhagwan was placed in the footrest of the statue. It was an insult to the whole tribal communities and he should apologise for his offence.”

Shah, on 5 November had garlanded the hunter’s statue at Pohabagan here that the district BJP had identified as the idol of Birsa Munda.

The Parghana Mahal had washed the statue the next day in the name of ‘purification.’ On 15 November, on the 146 th birth anniversary of Birsa, the BJP tribal Morcha further showered petals on the same wrong statue and Subhas Sarkar-the MP, Bankura claimed: “It was the original statue of Birsa.”

Further, in the midst of the continued controversy, the BJP state president Dilip Ghosh on 17 November, strongly reaffirmed in Kolkata: “Since the Union Home minister had garlanded that state, we all must accept that it represents none other than Birsa Munda,” The tribal functionaries in the district to mark protest to this started sending 50,000 protest letters to Amit Shah.

Marshal Tudu – the district secretary of Parishad said: “If the BJP doesn’t stepdown from deliberate maligning Bhagwan, they would face the music in the days ahead.”