Shibu Soren, tribal icon behind creation of J’khand, dies at 81

RANCHI: Shibu Soren was 13 when his father, Shobaran Soren, was killed by goons employed by a local moneylender (or Mahajan as they were called). In Bihar's tribal badlands, some tribals were in the grip of Mahajans, others, liquor, and still others, both.

- Vishal Kant

His father's killing prompted Soren, who was born in Nemra village under Gola block in Ramgarh district of the state in January 1944, to launch a campaign against the Mahajans and alcoholism. A Santhal (or Santal) himself, he formed a social reformist body, Santhal Navyuvak Sangh, in the early 1960s when he was only 18. One of its earliest campaigns was against the Mahajans; Soren would hop on to his bicycle and travel from village to village, preaching his message.

The Santhals were uneducated and illiterate and Soren started conducting classes for them at night, talking to them about.

money and the evils of liquor. The Santhals honoured Soren with a title, Dishom Guruji-meaning "teacher of the world".

That was the term his son and Jharkand chief minister Hemant Soren used to tell the world of his death on Monday. "The respected Dishom Guruji has left us and gone," he said in Hindi on X.

"Today, I have become nothing...".

Soren's biggest achievement was the creation of Jharkhand.