Kovind pays tribute to Birsa Munda

New Delhi, Nov 15 (IANS) President Ram Nath Kovind on Wednesday paid tributes to iconic tribal leader Birsa Munda on his 142nd birth anniversary.

"Tributes to freedom fighter and national hero ‘Dharti Aba’ Birsa Munda… I am happy to be visiting Jharkhand on this day," the President tweeted.

The President is visiting Jharkhand on its 17th foundation day.

Munda was born on November 15, 1875 in Khunti district.

He was a folk hero and a tribal freedom fighter from the Munda tribe who spearheaded the Millenarian movement that arose in the now Bihar-Jharkhand belt in the early 19th century.

He died in Ranchi prison on June 9, 1900 after being arrested in March from Chakradharpur’s Jamkopai forest where he had been resting with his tribal guerrilla army.