JAIPUR: The demand to form a separate ‘Bheel Pradesh’ or Tribal state is gaining momentum. Thousands of tribals from Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, and Maharashtra held a mega rally on Thursday at Mangarh Dham in Banswara to raise this demand. The tribals want a new state to be created by merging 49 districts of 4 states of the country and will soon send a delegation to meet the President and the PM to press for this demand.
Tribals from Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, and Maharashtra reached Mangarh Dham for this massive tribal rally in Rajasthan’s Banswara district. Many MPs and MLAs of the tribal community also participated in this mega rally called by 35 organizations of the tribal community, the largest organization of the Bhil community. They are demanding the establishment of a ‘Bheel’ or tribal State by merging 12 districts of Rajasthan, 14 of Gujarat, 13 of Madhya Pradesh and 6 of Maharashtra.
Addressing the massive public meeting organised by tribal leaders at Mangarh Dham, a revered place for tribals, newly elected MP Rajkumar Roat said that the demand for Bhil state has been pending for a long time and the Bharatiya Adivasi Party (BAP) is raising the issue with full force. The BAP leader Rajkumar Roat asserted “the demand for Bheel state is not new. BAP is strongly raising this demand for a long time. After the mega rally, a delegation will meet the President and the Prime Minister with the proposal to establish Bheel state.”
He added that “the sacrifice of over 1,500 tribals in Mangarh in 1913 was not just for the Bhakti movement but for the demand of Bhil province.” Umesh Meena, BAP MLA from Aspur, and Dhariyawad MLA Thawarchand Bhil participated in rally donning T-shirts with slogans of ‘Bhil state’.