GS Paper 1:
Topics Covered: Modern Indian history.
Context:
On Monday, March 7, the Gujarat government marked 100 years of the Pal-Dadhvav killings, calling it a massacre “bigger than the Jallianwala Bagh”.
What is Pal – Dadhvav massacre?
Took place on March 7, 1922, in the Pal-Chitariya and Dadhvaav villages of Sabarkantha district, then part of Idar state (present-day Gujarat).
Villagers from Pal, Dadhvav, and Chitariya had gathered on the banks of river Heir as part of the ‘Eki movement’, led by one Motilal Tejawat.
- The movement was to protest against the land revenue tax (lagaan) imposed on the peasants by the British and feudal lords.
British Paramilitary force was on hunt for Tehawat. It heard of this gathering and reached the spot.
- Nearly 200 bhils under the leadership of Tehawat lifted their bows and arrows. But, the Britishers opened fire on them. Nearly 1,000 tribals (Bhils) fell to bullets.
- Tejwat, however, escaped and later “returned to the spot to christen it ‘Veerbhumi’.”
Legacy:
A Gujarat government release on the centenary of the massacre described the incident as “more brutal than the Jalliawala Bagh massacre of 1919”.
Insta Curious:
Gujarat has a near 14 per cent tribal population that resides along its northern-eastern stretch, called the ‘poorvi patti’, bordering the districts of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Maharashtra.
- Bhils are the dominant tribe in this stretch, which covers the districts of Aravalli, Sabarkantha, Banaskantha, Panchmahal, Chhota Udepur, Mahisagar, Narmada, Dahod, Tapi, Navsari and Dang.
Sources: Indian Express.
