The Murshidabad University, a new addition to the list of universities set up by the Mamata Banerjee government in Bengal, today paid tribute to Birsa Munda (1875 – 1900 AD), a freedom fighter of India.

The Vice-Chancellor of the university, Dr. Sujata Bagchi Banerjee today made a formal declaration of its first-ever offline academic sessions starting from tomorrow here while the scholars remembered Birsa Munda, the iconic leader of tribal communities across India, on the occasion of his birthday.

While recalling Birsa’s role in organizing tribal uprising against the British government, reference was made to the Nawabs of Murshidabad who allegedly helped the British to defeat and punish the tribal rebels during the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857.

The mutiny that broke out in 1857 is said to be the first war of India’s Independence. Significantly, it was at the military barracks of the Bengal army at Behrampore cantonment where the Indian soldiers were the first to rise in rebellion against the British commanders in February, 1857.

According to Bengal District Gazetteers (Murshidabad) authored by L.S.S. O’Malley, ‘as a punishment, the mutineers were marched down to Barrackpore and there disbanded on 31 March’. Afterwards, the mutiny broke out majorly at Barrackpore (Bengal) where Mangal Pandey became the first martyr triggering the Mutiny all over India. The Nawabs of Murshidabad had helped the British by providing armoured elephants intending to defeat the tribal uprising during the great mutiny, said a scholar, Dr Shaktinath Jhan.

Formerly a professor of Bengali literature, Dr. Jha, while speaking, referred to Murshidabad District Gazetteers published in 2003. According to history, many Hindu kings of princely states also sided with the British during the revolt of 1857. Significantly, intending to revive the Mughal empire, the rebels of Sepoy Mutiny had declared the last Mughal emperor, Bahadur Shah –II as Sultan, the supreme ruler of India.

The Trinamool Congress MP ( Jangipur), Khalilur Rahaman, the TMC MLAs like Kanai Chandra Mondal (Nabagram) and Mohammed Ali (Lalgola) attended the university event while the Behrampore MP, Adhir Chowdhury of the Congress, Behrampore MLA Subrata Moitra of BJP and Murshidabad MLA, Gourishankar Ghosh of BJP were conspicuous by their absence.