The struggle for water, forests and land (jal, jangal aur zameen) is centuries old. Even today, the Adivasis are fighting for their basic rights. Hul Diwas reminds us of such a struggle. About 150 years ago, the Adivasis of Jharkhand sounded the bugle of revolt against the British. Though the historians say that the sepoy uprising of 1857 was India’s first battle for independence from the British, the fact is that the Adivasis of Jharkhand had raised the banner of revolt against the foreign rulers, earlier, on 30 June 1855. The Hul revolt had begun from the Bhagandih village of the present Sahibganj district under the leadership of Sido and Kanhu. At the time, Sido had coined the slogan “Do or die, O’ British leave our soil”.
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