Indian Tribals Demand New State - Bhil Pradesh
The Rajasthan tribal community has demanded the formation of a new state named “Bhil Pradesh” by combining 49 districts of Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.
The Rajasthan tribal community is the latest group to demand a separate state in India. They want to form a new state called "Bhil Pradesh" by combining 49 districts from Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Madhya Pradesh.
The tribal community has been working on this demand for a long time, organizing several movements to gain support and present their case to the central government. They argue that their dialect, dress, lifestyle, and culture are the same, so all the tribal districts should be combined to form one state.
The proposed districts for Bhil Pradesh include:
- Gujarat: Aravalli, Mahisagar, Dahod, Panchmahal, Surat, Vadodara, Tapi, Navsari, Chhota Udaipur, Narmada, Sabarkantha, Banaskantha, Bharuch
- Rajasthan: Banswara, Dungarpur, Barmer, Jalore, Sirohi, Udaipur, Jhalawar, Rajsamand, Chittorgarh, Kota, Baran, Pali
- Madhya Pradesh: Indore, Guna, Shivpuri, Mandsaur, Neemuch, Ratlam, Dhar, Dewas, Khandwa, Khargone, Burhanpur, Barwani, Alirajpur
- Maharashtra: Nashik, Thane, Jalgaon, Dhule, Palghar, Nandurbar, Alirajpur
On 18th July 2024, 35 organizations, including the largest Bhil society organization, Adivasi Parivar Sansthan, held a mega rally at Mangarh Dham in Banswara city, Rajasthan. Adivasi Parivar Sansthan founder Maneka Damor, in her rally speech, urged tribal women not to follow the instructions of “Pandits”. She emphasized that tribal families do not apply sindoor or wear mangalsutra and should focus on education instead. She also stated, “We are not Hindus.”
Tribal people from Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, and Maharashtra also participated in the rally. Bharat Adivasi Party (BAP) MP Rajkumar Roat, who is from Banswara, said, "The demand for Bhil Pradesh is not new. The BAP is raising this demand strongly. After the mega rally, a delegation will meet the President and the Prime Minister with the proposal."
However, the Minister of Tribal Affairs of India, Babulal Kharadi, rejected the appeal, stating that the ministry believes in social harmony. He mentioned that a state cannot be formed based on caste, as it would lead to other similar demands. Consequently, he and his office denied forwarding the proposal to the central government.
The BJP government in Rajasthan had already made it clear a day before the rally that it does not support the creation of any new state.
For more information on how India was divided into states and how various states came into existence, you can watch these videos:
- How India Was Divided into States: https://youtu.be/EuEJiZAWgz8
- How Various States Came into Existence: https://youtu.be/imvesop7xVQ
