On August 4, Shibu Soren, 81, fondly called Dishom Guru (leader of the land), breathed his last. Born in 1945 in Nemra village in present-day Jharkhand’s Ramgarh district, a centre for coal mining, at a young age, Soren was entrusted with the responsibility of demanding justice for the tribes in the Chotanagpur plateau.
Witnessing local moneylenders murder his father and seeing an abysmal future for these tribes, he became a fighter for their cause. But that journey was easier said than done.
Post-independence, the advent of state enterprises in the mining and industrial sectors transformed the central Indian hinterland, particularly the socio-economic fabric of the Chotanagpur plateau.
While capital and technology came from outside, the tribals living there, who were supposed to benefit from this development, were squeezed out of their land and resources. Compensation, if it ever reached them, dried up and jobs, even when promised, rarely came their way. Anthropologist L P Vidyarthi noted in the early 1960s that these tribes were reduced to alcoholism and became absentee manual labourers in factories established on their lands.
It was in these conditions that a new generation of leadership demanded justice for them. Jaipal Singh, an Oxford graduate and captain of the Indian hockey team that won its first gold at the 1928 Olympics, was the first to articulate the cause of tribal development in the 1950s.
Singh believed that Jawaharlal Nehru — who had promised development for everyone — was the only friend the tribals had. However, when development came, there was very little place for the tribals in it.
After Nehru and Singh, the mantle of tribal leadership fell on Kartik Oraon, Sushil Bage, N E Horo, Justin Richard, Bagun Sumbrui, A K Roy, Binod Bihari Mahto, Nirmal Mahto and others. More than anyone else, it was Soren’s political struggles that kept reminding the Republic of its promise to the tribals.
He placed the exploitation of the tribes at the centre of his political argument, which, he said, required a political solution. One immediate solution he proposed was political autonomy, which he felt could lead to the economic development of the locals. He believed that a state of their own — ‘Jharkhand’ — could bring prosperity to the tribals, not just those in Bihar, but also the sections in West Bengal, Odisha and Chhattisgarh.
His enormous moral fortitude and political sagacity led to the creation of Jharkhand in 2000.
During his struggle for the tribals, Soren forged a bond with two popular leaders from the coal belt, A K Roy, a Marxist labour leader and theoretician, and Binod Bihari Mahto, a lawyer who had helped thousands displaced by the Bokaro Steel Plant and other projects. For Roy and Mahto, politics was a way to fulfil their commitment to the people. This association would help Soren retain his vision’s moral clarity.
Then there was his baptism of fire in politics. Soren’s political life began in the region’s mineral and industrial hub, where the mining mafia, and both state and non-state actors, were ready to quash all resistance. But Soren resisted.
His efforts against his adversaries led him to organise a team of friends who stuck together due to his moral standing. This art of team building set Soren apart from many other leaders of Jharkhand.
Soren, who had completed his matriculation from Gola village, located on the Ramgarh coalfields, came to believe in the efficacy of negotiations. This gave him a reputation among the managers of mines and industries — as someone who only put up the just and legitimate demands of the locals.
Soren’s ability to talk to those in power with a sense of moral courage allowed him to deal with his political opponents, including Lalu Prasad Yadav, then Bihar Chief Minister, without losing credibility.
Located as he was in the heart of the country’s mining and industrial corridor — known for violence, thuggery and political funding — Soren demanded an honest share of the resources for his people. This won him the title of Guruji (teacher).
Then came the episode when he accepted a bribe on behalf of the Narasimha Rao government. The news made it to the mainstream media but the episode failed to dent his image among his people. Because Soren’s signature was not parliamentary give and take, it was his resistance to his people’s exploitation.
A good communicator, Soren spoke in popular local languages — Bangla, Khorta and Hindi — as they are spoken in the region. His flowing beard made his own tribe, the Santhals, as well as the Mundas, Oraons, Kharias and Hos, and even non-tribal villagers confident that he always fulfilled his promises. As his universe enlarged in the 1990s, so did his appeal among the struggling tribals in the tea gardens of Assam and Bengal.
While many see the creation of Jharkhand as his greatest contribution, Soren will be remembered more for the establishment of the tribal cause at the centre of the moral compass of the republic.
The writer teaches at JNU. He grew up knowing Shibu Soren and observed his movement from close quarters
