Binod Bihari Mahato

Some Lesser Known Facts About Binod Bihari Mahato

• He passed Class 10 in 1941.

• After that, he left his studies due to the poor financial condition of his family and started working as a daily wage labourer in the Dhanbad court.

• Then, he worked as a teacher for a year at a school in Baliapur.

• Later, he got a job as a grocer in the supply department of the Collectorate. He resumed his studies along with the job.

• Sources say that one day, while he was working as a grocer in the Collectorate, a lawyer insulted him saying,
  

  No matter how smart you become, you will remain a grocer. Talk carefully.”

  Following the incident, he determined to become a lawyer.

• He used to live in Charu Chandra Chattopadhyay’s house on rent while studying law. Chattopadhyay was a wealthy lawyer.

• In 1956, he became a lawyer and started practising in the Dhanbad Court.

• At that time, most of the lawyers in the courts of Dhanbad were Bengalis, and they used to suppress the lawyers from other communities. The Bengali lawyers often humiliated Binod. At that time, he was the only lawyer from the Kudmi Mahato community.

• Despite everything, Binod soon became a reputed lawyer. He specialised in civil suits.

  

• He earned a lot of money working as a lawyer and bought approximately half of Chattopadhyay’s properties and turned them into a commercial area, which later came to be known as “Binod Market.”

• Social evils like poverty, feudalism, and caste discrimination in Indian society led Binod Bihari to become a social worker around 1960-70.

• In 1967, he set up the Shivaji Samaj, a social reform movement against alcoholism, polygamy, and various superstitions that were prevalent in society at that time.

• He would fight cases of poor people free of cost.

• He fought cases for the people who were displaced by developments like Bokaro Steel Plant, Bharat Coking Coal Limited company, Central Coalfields Limited-CCL, Panchet Dam, and Maithon Dam.

• He started his political career by joining the Communist Party of India (CPI).

• In 1967, ideological differences led to the split of CPI and the formation of the Communist Party of India (Marxist).

• After the split of CPI, he joined CPM in 1967.

• For a long time, he served as the head of CPM in the Baliapur block.

• In 1972, he resigned from CPM and founded the political party Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), along with Shiva Mahto, Shibu Soren, and Arun Kumar Roy. While Shibu Soren was appointed as the General Secretary, Mahato was appointed as the President of the party.

• In the 70s, he was one of the leaders who headed the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, a movement that aimed to divide Bihar into two separate states, Bihar and Jharkhand.

• He actively launched protests and held meetings and processions throughout the state.

• Thereafter, he was jailed on numerous occasions.

• In 1973, he was arrested under the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) for protesting and sent to Giridih jail. However, he was released within a few months due to public pressure.

  

• At that time, Lalu Prasad Yadav, Subodh Kant Sahay, and Shivanand Tiwari were also jailed along with Binod under MISA.

• He was a chain smoker and had a habit of having tea while smoking cigarettes. This habit was broken during his days at the Bankipur Central Jail.

• He was again arrested during the Emergency and sent to Bhagalpur jail.

• In 1987, Binod’s fourth son, Pradeep, committed suicide.

• Binod’s fifth son, Ashoka, became mentally unstable after Pradeep’s death and had to be admitted to a mental hospital.

• He had a family feud with his second son, Neel Kamal Mahato, following which he started living separately.

• He would participate in folk festivals like Gohal Puja, Tusu Parab, Jitiya, Karam Parab, Sohrai and Manasa Puja to encourage the culture of Jharkhand.

• He actively promoted the culture of Jharkhand and the Kudmali and Khortha languages during his lifetime.

• He encouraged writer Laxmikant Mahato to promote Kudmali literature and grammar.

• Srinivas Panuri, a Khortha language poet, was a close friend of Binod Bihari Mahato.

• His efforts led Ranchi University to include Kudmali in its curriculum.

• On 24 January 1990, he also raised the issue of including the Kudmi Mahato caste of the Santhal Pargana division in Annexer-1 in the Bihar Vidhan Sabha, just like the Kudmi Mahato caste of the Chhotanagpur division. However, the Kudmi Mahato caste of the Santhal Pargana division was kept in Annexer-2 at that time

• Binod Bihari served as an MLA in Bihar for more than 11 years. During this time, he actively voiced various issues of labourers like minimum wages and the issue of bonus payment by MITCO  in the Vidhan Sabha.

  

• An educationist, Binod actively promoted education throughout his life and opened many schools and colleges. His slogan “Padho and Lado” (Study and Fight) was popular among the people of Bihar.

• On 29 July 1991, after becoming the MLA of Tundi, Binod highlighted that there were no local boys’ or girls’ schools in Sal Pahar, Pawra, Pokharia, Basaha, and Amarpur villages of Tundi block, where the majority of the population belonged to the tribal and scheduled castes. He appealed to the government to open schools in the area.

• On 20 December 1980, he highlighted caste discrimination by claiming that no one belonging to the Dalit or tribal community was named in the list of the 24 Inspectors posted to the Surveillance Department through promotion.

• On 12 March 1986, he raised the issue of minimum wages for the canteen workers working under contractors in Bokaro Steel City.

• Being a non-religious person, he never followed any particular religion or visited temples. He often mocked orthodox religious practices. ^[9]Google Books – Binod Bihari Mehto, Messiah of Jharkhand Movement

• He loved playing football.

• A sports lover, he promoted sports in Bihar by giving financial aid to various clubs. During his lifetime, he organised various football and archery competitions.

• Following his death, his eldest son Raj Kishore Mahato won the Giridih Lok Sabha seat in 1991.

• Annual celebrations are held at B.B.M College Baliapur, Dhanbad on the birth and death anniversary of Binod Bihari Mahato. A week-long fair is held in Baliapur at this time.

• Binod Bihari Mahto Koyalanchal University in Dhanbad is named after him.

• Binod Babu is mentioned in many Jhoomar and Karam songs, including Savitri Karmakar & Jailal Mahato and Binod Babu Go To Harane Jhoar.

• Sanjay Jha wrote a book on him titled Mati Ke Lal Vinod Bihari Mahto.