Kharsawan Massacre of 1948

Facts for Prelims

Kharsawan Massacre of 1948

Context: On January 1, 1948, Kharsawan in present-day Jharkhand witnessed a massacre similar to the Jallianwala Bagh incident.

About:
• The Kharsawan massacre, also known as the Kharsawan firing, took place on January 1, 1948, in the Kharsawan region of Jharkhand, India. It is often compared to the Jallianwala Bagh massacre of 1919.
• On this day tribals from the Kharsawan and Saraikela princely states, who were in the majority, revolted against the merger of their states with Orissa. The protest was against the decision taken by the then Home Minister of India, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, to merge the princely states with Orissa.
• The meeting was held in defiance of prohibitory orders, and the administration resorted to firing. The Odisha Military Police confirmed
the death of 35 tribals, but a book by P.K. Dev mentions that more than 2000 tribals were killed.
• This event is remembered every year on January 1, and tributes are paid to the martyrs. Despite the formation of a tribunal to investigate the incident, no definitive documentation of the massacre is available. The Kharsawan massacre is considered a significant event in the history of the tribal rights movement in India.