Mama Baleshwar Dayal

Dayal was born at Nivadikalan in the Etawah district of the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh in 1905 as the son of Shiv Shankar Lal. He was a Gandhian activist and participant in India's freedom struggle. He was married to Shrimati Savitri.{{Cite web|url=https://www.dramatalk.in/2021/09/Biography-of-mama-baleshwar-dayal-in-hindi.html|title = मामा बालेश्वर दयाल का जीवन परिचय 2021 || Biography of Mama Baleshwar Dayal in hindi}}{{cite web|title=Followers of Dr Ram Manohar Lohia|url=http://www.lohiavani.com/Followers.aspx|access-date=27 March 2013}}{{cite web|title=BALESHWAR DAYAL, SHRI|url=http://rajyasabha.nic.in/rsnew/pre_member/1952_2003/b.pdf|publisher=Rajya Sabha|access-date=27 March 2013}}

Dayal worked among the Bhil tribals of Banswara and Dungarpur. He was a reformer and activist who worked to eliminate the social evils of alcoholism, polygamy, superstition and bride-price that existed among the Bhils. He also mobilised the Bhils to fight their exploitation by the state and private individuals.{{cite web|title=Political participation in Dungarpur District|url=http://dungarpur.nic.in/Tribes.htm|access-date=27 March 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130131090810/http://dungarpur.nic.in/Tribes.htm|archive-date=31 January 2013|url-status=dead}} Dayal led the Bhils to attain their rights to jal, jungle aur jameen (water, forest and land){{cite news|title=Modi issue will be mulled when it comes: Yadav|url=http://news.webindia123.com/news/articles/India/20121226/2126675.html|access-date=27 March 2013|date=26 December 2012}} and led the struggle for the regularisation of forest lands that had been encroached upon by the tribals in Jhabua, Madhya Pradesh in 1975.{{cite book|last=Seth|first=Raj Mohini|title=Socio-economic Profile of Rural India: North and Central India|year=2011|publisher=Concept Publishers|location=New Delhi|page=276|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P79y43OS03oC&q=Mama+Baleshwar+Dayal&pg=PA276|isbn=9788180697364}} The Bhils of Banaswara came to be called Mama Bhil by non-tribals on account of their being followers of Dayal who was called mama or uncle by the Bhils. The tribe has undergone significant changes in their lifestyle and cultural practices by embracing vegetarianism, abjuring alcohol and wearing the sacred thread.{{cite book|last=Singh|first=Kumar Suresh|title=People of India: Rajasthan, Part 1|year=1998|publisher=Popular Prakashan|page=165|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iKsqzB4P1ioC&q=Mama+Baleshwar+Dayal&pg=PA165|isbn=9788171547661}}

Dayal was also the founder of the Bhagat Movement which has been accused in the years following his death of communalising the tribals and promoting their conversion to Hinduism.{{cite book|last=Puniyani|first=Ram|title=The Politics Behind Anti Christian Violence: A Compilation of Investigation Committee Reports into Acts of Violence Against the Christian Minorities|year=2006|publisher=Media House|location=New Delhi|page=839|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S0qWTxjASKAC&q=Mama+Baleshwar+Dayal&pg=PA838|isbn=9788174952370}} He led the jungle kato (cut down the forest) movement in Madhya Pradesh in the 1960s where tribals cut down trees and sold them off to contractors. The agitation was responsible for large scale deforestation in the Jhabua and Dhar districts of the state and the consequent environmental damage reduced the Bhils and Bhilala tribal groups in Jhabua district to dependence on government relief for their survival.{{cite news|title=Marauders turn active in reserved forests|url=http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2002-06-03/news/27332652_1_forest-wealth-forest-minister-total-geographical-area|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029210519/http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2002-06-03/news/27332652_1_forest-wealth-forest-minister-total-geographical-area|url-status=dead|archive-date=29 October 2013|access-date=27 March 2013|newspaper=The Economic Times|date=3 June 2002}}

Dayal was a socialist and his work among the Bhils turned them into a votebank of the Socialist and, later, Janata Party in Rajasthan. He was a Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha from Madhya Pradesh between 1977 and 1984 and was president of the All India Samyukta Socialist Party in 1973. Following his death, the Janata Dal was weakened considerably in its strongholds of Banswara and Dungarpur and right wing political forces led by the Sangh Parivar have sought to appropriate his legacy to gain an electoral foothold in the tribal areas and to oppose the activities of Christian missionaries in the region.{{cite news|title=Third front in tatters in Rajasthan|url=http://www.hindu.com/2003/10/30/stories/2003103004080500.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031206185739/http://www.hindu.com/2003/10/30/stories/2003103004080500.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=6 December 2003|access-date=27 March 2013|newspaper=The Hindu|date=30 October 2003}}{{cite web|title=The Constitutional Mandate and Education|url=http://www.sabrang.com/khoj/CABEReport.pdf|access-date=27 March 2013}}

Dayal died in Jhabua in 1998 at the age of 93.{{cite news|title=Signposts – Died: Baleshwar Dayal|url=http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/mother-dairy-gets-best-productivity-performance-award-for-1996-97/1/252836.html|access-date=27 March 2013|newspaper=India Today|date=11 January 1999}} His samadhi is at the Bhil Ashram in the Bamniya village of Jhabua where Bhils from several states and political leaders from the Janata and socialist parties congregate every year to pay their respects on the occasion of his death anniversary which falls on Boxing Day.{{cite news|title=JDU demands nationalisation of mining|url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-12-27/bhopal/30560768_1_mining-scam-illegal-mining-sharad-yadav|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029210059/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-12-27/bhopal/30560768_1_mining-scam-illegal-mining-sharad-yadav|url-status=dead|archive-date=29 October 2013|access-date=27 March 2013|newspaper=The Times of India|date=27 December 2012}}{{cite news|title=Fernandes unhurt in mishap|url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/2000/20001227/spotlite.htm|access-date=27 March 2013|newspaper=The Tribune|date=27 December 2000}} In 2003, the Vice-President of India, Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, unveiled a statue of Dayal at Chudada in Rajasthan.{{cite web|title=Shri Bhairon Singh Shekhawat unveiling the statue of renowned Freedon Fighter Mama Baleshwar Dayal|url=http://pib.nic.in/archieve/phtgalry/pgyr2003/pg042003/pg11apr2003/110420031.html|publisher=Press Information Bureau|access-date=27 March 2013}} The Mama Baleshwar Dayal Government College at Kushalgarh in Banswara has been named after him.{{cite web|title=Government Colleges in Rajasthan|url=http://www.collegeeducation.rajasthan.gov.in/httpdocs/govtcolleges.htm|access-date=27 March 2013}} Dayal was conferred the Indira Gandhi Social Service Award in 1995 by the Government of Madhya Pradesh.

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Category:1905 births

Category:1998 deaths

Category:People from Etawah district

Category:Rajasthani politicians

Category:Rajya Sabha members from Madhya Pradesh

Category:Janata Party politicians

Category:People from Jhabua district