Birsa Munda statue to correct Amit Shah in Bankura

 The Union home minister had erroneously garlanded an anonymous tribal hunter's statue in the 19th-century hero’s name two years ago

A worker near the statue of Birsa Munda in Bankura.: Rupesh Khan

Snehamoy Chakraborty   |   TT  |  Calcutta   |  14.11.22 : A statue of tribal hero and freedom fighter Birsa Munda will be inaugurated in Bankura on Tuesday in the virtual presence of chief minister Mamata Banerjee, just 200 metres from the statue of an anonymous tribal hunter which Union home minister Amit Shah had erroneously garlanded two years ago in the 19th-century hero’s name. 

The 16-foot tall statue made of fibre glass has already been installed near Poabagan More by NH60A and it will be formally inaugurated on Tuesday, on the birth anniversary of the tribal hero. 

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee would be present virtually at the inaugural. She will physically inaugurate a separate statue of Birsa Munda in Jhargram’s Belpahari also.

“The statue in Bankura will be inaugurated by the minister of state of the food and supplies department, Jyotsna Mandi, and Bankura zilla parishad chief Mrityunjay Murmu on Tuesday afternoon. The chief minister will be connected virtually to witness the inauguration from Jhargram,” said a senior district official. 

Mamata is set to visit Jhargram on Tuesday to celebrate the birth anniversary of Birsa Munda and inaugurate his statue at Belpahari. 

Trinamul sources said the inauguration of Munda’s statue in Bankura was significant as it would remind tribal people how the BJP had “disrespected” their hero.

“Tribal people can’t forget the faux pas by Amit Shah who projected an anonymous tribal hunter as our hero Birsa Munda. Our chief minister had asked us to set up a statue of the real Birsa Munda beside the statue of the hunter. The time for that has come,” said Mrityunjay Murmu, the chief of the Bankura zilla parishad.