India@75: Story of Komaram Bheem, the tribal who gave the 'Jal, Jungle, Zameen' slogan

Jal, Jungle, Zameen. The famed slogan was raised for long by the Adivasi movements of Telangana and Andhra. Komaram Bheem was the first to raise this slogan. Bheem was a legendary hero of the Gond tribe of the old Hyderabad kingdom ruled by the Nizams. Bheem fought for the rights of his tribe against the British, the Nizam, and also the landlords and finally died a martyr.

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Bheem was born in a Gond family of Sankepalli in Asifabad, in northern Hyderabad. He grew up in the Chanda-Ballarpur forest region, which was infamous for the exploitation and torture of tribals by the Nizam’s police in collusion with the local Zamindars. 

Attempts by the authorities to impose exorbitant taxes and efforts of the mining lobby to drive the tribals out were resisted by the Gonds. Komaram Bheem’s father was killed during those struggles. Following this, Bheem and his family moved to the Karimnagar region. But atrocities from Nizam's and Zamindar's forces awaited Bheem even there too. A policeman was killed at the hands of Bheem during those days.  

Following this, Bheem fled to Chandrapur, where he came under the protection of Vithoba, a publisher who was fighting against the British and the Nizam. Vithobha taught Urdu, Hindi and English to Bheem. But when Vithobha was arrested, Bheem left for Assam. 

Working in tea plantations in Assam, Bheem organised labour struggles. This led to Bheem's arrest. But he jumped jail and returned to Hyderabad. Bheem got involved in the struggles of his community and raised the demand for an independent Gond land. He led guerilla battles against the landlords. 

Bheem rejected attempts by the Nizam government to appease him. He also worked with the banned Communist Party to work for the legendary Telangana struggle. All attempts to capture Bheem failed. 

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In 1940, Bheem and his comrades were hiding at Jodeghat village. Soon an army of policemen carrying rifles arrived at the village and surrounded the huts where Bheem and others were staying. The police opened fire indiscriminately. Bheem and 15 of his comrades died on the spot. Bheem's hideout was leaked to the police by one of his compatriots. 

Today, Komaram Bheem is a folk hero revered by the Gonds in their region. Asifabad has since been named Komaram Bheem district.

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