Bhil of Bheel, a tribal community in western parts of India, is now once again raising their demand for a separate state called Bhil Pradesh. The demand for a separate state for Bhils is not new as they have been demanded several times.

With more than 25000 tweets, the hashtag Separate_State_Bhilpradesh has been trending on Twitter since morning.

Over the last few years, the Bhils have been demanding for a separate state for them by carving out some districts from Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.

Who are Bhils?

The word Bhil is derived from Veel which means bow in the Dravidian language. Due to their Dhanush learning skill, they have been tagged as Dhanush Purush of India.

Bhils majorly survives on agriculture and animal husbandry along with poultry and labour work. They are mainly spread in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, and Tripura.

Read Also: Delhi woman commits suicide after being forced to abortion 14 times

With a total population of 1.7 crore, Bhil was the largest tribal community in India in 2013.

Why Bhils are demanding a separate state?

The demand for creating a separate Bhil state in India is mainly arising from the tribal belt of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat as they have been demanding to bring back their people to their original place with full dignity. They are also demanding their first right on natural resources.

Bhils are demanding the creation of Bhil Pradesh as the community claimed that they have not benefited from the centre and state governments schemes because the people of their community have scattered to several other regions. Thus, they want to unite their community to their original place and also claim their first right over natural resources.

In 1913, Govind Guru, a Bhil social reformer and spiritual leader first raised the demand for a separate state after the massacre of Mangarh, in which, the British forces had brutally killed hundreds of Bhils. It took place in the hills of Mangarh (border of Rajasthan and Gujarat) and is also called Adivasi Jallianwala.

Formed in 2017, the Bharatiya Tribal Party (BTP), is a political party that envisions Bhil Pradesh as a separate state carved out of 39 districts out of 4 states. The districts include Gujarat (16), Rajasthan (10), Madhya Pradesh (7), and Maharashtra (6).

Ripudaman Singh Malik shot dead in Canada: Everything you need to know about the acquitted suspect in 1985 Air India bombing 

Ivana Trump, first wife of former president Donald Trump, dies at 73

The post Why is Bhilpradesh trending? Everything you need to know about Bhils and their demand for separate state appeared first on APN News.