The Kharsawan massacre is the Jallianwala Bagh massacre that took place in independent India. On January 1, 1948, four and a half months after independence, Odisha Military Police opened fire on lakhs of tribals in Kharsawan Haat near Jamshedpur. When the firing stopped, the bodies of the agitators were scattered all over the Haat ground. At the time of the integration of the princely states after independence, the tribals of Kharsawan were against the merger with Odisha and were demanding a separate Jharkhand state. When they protested, the police opened fire on the tribals, in which 35 people were killed, but local people believe that this figure is higher because the police had fired on more than 50 thousand tribals.
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That day of 1 January the first day of the year on which people celebrate to welcome the New Year. But in the Kolhan division of Jharkhand, hundreds of tribal houses are like this, leave alone celebrating; even the stove is not lit on that day. These people do not eat anything throughout the day because this is a day of mourning for them. This barbarity with the tribals is considered a "black day" in the history of Jharkhand. In this article, we will try to present to you the written version of that terrible Kharsawan Golikand.
When did Kharsawan GoliKand happen?
Kharsawan Golikand happened on January 1, 1948, in Seraikela, Kharsawan, Jharkhand. In this incident, the police opened indiscriminate bullets on a crowd of more than 50 thousand tribals, due to which thousands of people lost their lives. Socialist leader Ram Manohar Lohia called the massacre "the Jallianwala Bagh massacre of independent India." There seems to be an error in the figures of the number of people killed in this incident because the Bihar government gives the number of tribals killed as 100 and the Odisha government gives 40. But tribal people say that the number of people who died in this incident was in the thousands.
Why Kharsawan GoliKand/Massacre Happened?: History
There is a separate chapter in the book "Jharkhand Aandolan Ke Dastavej: Soshan, Sangharsh Aur Shahadat" by senior journalist and executive editor of Prabhat Khabar, Anuj Kumar Sinha, about how the Kharsawan firing incident took place. In this book, he has exposed that incident with facts.
The main reason for this golikand that took place in Kharsawan on January 1, 1948, was the merger of Kharsawan into the state of Odisha. At that time, the work of unifying political principalities was going on in full swing. But the tribal people of Kharsawan and some other areas were against it. According to Anuj Sinha, the agreement to merge Seraikela along with Kharsawan into Odisha had already been reached.
According to an article published on BBC News Hindi, this agreement was to come into force on the day of the massacre, January 1, 1948. But at that time, Jaipal Singh Munda, the leader of the tribal protest and the former captain of the hockey team, opposed it. And also appealed to the people to join them, due to which a crowd of thousands of agitators gathered that day. The demand of these people was that Kharsawan should not be merged with Odisha and Bihar, but a separate Jharkhand should be created.
The Statesman (3 January, 1948): 35 Adibasis killed in Kharsawan
Two days after the Kharsavan massacre, on January 3, 1948, an article was published in the English newspaper The Statesman titled "35 Adibasis Killed in Kharsavan." This newspaper article is also described in Chapter 2 of Anuj Kumar Sinha's book "Jharkhand Aandolan Ke Dastavej: Soshan, Sangharsh Aur Shahadat." The newspaper had written in its report that the police opened indiscriminate fire on the tribals who were protesting against the merger of Kharsawan with Orissa.
Image Source: Prabhat Khabar
This picture is of a telegram sent after the Kharsawan Goli Kand to Mahatma Gandhi and political leaders like Sardar Patel, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, Congress President Mahamaya Prasad, and Sri Srikrishna Sinha. In which political leaders were requested to take action against this massacre. But at the time this massacre took place, the work of unifying the princely states was going on in full swing. In which many leaders, including Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Patel, were busy with the work of integration. Some princely states easily agreed to the merger, but those who refused to merge led to riots everywhere. And meanwhile, no political party or leader paid attention to the Kharsawan firing incident, due to which this massacre was gradually forgotten.
Kharsawan Saheed Sthal (Seraikela-Kharsawan District, Jharkhand):
Kharsawan Shaheed Sthal is a historical site located in the Seraikela-Kharsawan district of Jharkhand. This site was built in memory of the Kharsawan Massacre that took place on January 1, 1948. In this firing incident, the police opened fire on the tribals who were protesting against the British government, and many tribals were killed. Kharsawan Shaheed Sthal has a memorial, a library, and a museum. The names of martyred tribals are written on the memorial. The library has a collection of books and other material related to the Jharkhand movement. Items related to the Jharkhand movement have been displayed in the museum.
The Kharsawan martyr site is a symbol of the struggle and sacrifice of the tribals of Jharkhand. This site is celebrated as Martyr's Day every year on January 1. On this day, a large number of people come here to pay tribute to the martyred tribals.
