By Arun Srivastava
For Adivasis of India, Shibu Soren was their second Bhagwan (God) after their first Bhagwan Birsa Munda. In the initial years of his struggle for emancipation of adivasis from the grip of non-adivasi money lenders and landlord nexus, he followed the line of political reform. But soon he came to realise that the nature and content of the struggle ought to be changed and along with the independent Marxist-Leninist A K Ray and social activist Binod Behari Mahato he formed Jharkhand Mukti Morcha. He became the general secretary of JMM with Nirmal Mahato holding the charge of president. It was a deadly combination.
It was his personal encounter with the exploitative mechanism and repression of the trader and money lenders of south Bihar, that inspired him to spearhead violent struggle against their tyranny and oppression. As a college student, he had seen brutal assassination of his father Sobaran Soren, a schoolteacher known for opposing exploitative moneylenders. He was killed on November 27, 1957, by moneylenders in Lukaiyatand forest near Gola block. The event drove Shibu Soren into early activism and introduced him to organised political struggle.
Though he did not belong to any Communist Party, he successfully experimented with the Marxist-Leninist ideology in company of A K Ray. The nature and modus operandi of his struggle had all the basic ingredients of Marxism-Leninism. Basically this was the reason that notwithstanding state resorting to all kind of police operations against him, the authorities could not check the spread of the movement in the tribal belt of present day Jharkhand.
Initially the adivasis were sceptical of his movement, but very soon they could realise its utility and long ranging impact. He organised struggle to reclaim the tribal lands which were alienated. The adivasis started forcibly harvesting in the lands. Like the Marxist guerillas, he too delivered summary justice against landlords and money lenders, sometimes by holding own courts. For the first time his struggle turned quite violent was on 23 January 1975. The police alleged that Shibu had incited a campaign to drive away “outsiders”, or the ‘non-tribal’ people. At least eleven people were killed.
This was the first major violent action after the formation of JMM. The case relates to the massacre of 11 people, including nine Muslims, in Chirudih village of Jamtara district on Jan 23, 1975, by a mob following a movement launched by Soren to drive away the Dikus (outsiders). Soren was accused of inciting the mob to kill the outsiders. As the incident was purely political in nature, it could not acquire a communal angle. This further projected the party as the political voice demanding a separate tribal state. After decades of agitation, Jharkhand was carved out of Bihar on November 15, 2000.
Shibu in association with A K ray and Binod Behari Mahato launched a crusade against rampant use of liquor by the Adivasis. Economic factsheets reveal that Adivasis virtually became paupers and victim of rural indebtedness and selling of land in the region for liquor. Shibu organised peoples’ court and penalised the Adivasis who were prone to drinking. He also launched a protracted struggle for reclaiming the land from the usurpers.
His rebellion trait was evident in his floating Santhal Navyuvak Sangh at the age of 18 years. From the beginning he focused and depended on the youths to spearhead the struggle against the money lenders and traders. In the 1960s, Soren had launched the ‘Dhankatni Andolan’ to fight the practice of giving only one third of the harvested paddy to the adivasis, though the land belonged to them and rest two third to moneylenders simply for the reason that they had provided some monetary help. Soren mobilised the tribal youths and launched a protracted struggle which helped him become a household name.
His leadership during this period earned him the title ‘Dishom Guru’—Guru of all ten directions—a symbol of reverence from the Santhal community. Rising popularity of Soren and intensifying impact of his struggle made the then Bihar government, which was already fighting the Naxalite movement in central and south Bihar, jittery and started working out modalities to finish the movement. As a major initiative, it deputed the peoples’ bureaucrat KB Saxena to Dhanbad to accomplish the task.
The news of his arrival reached to adivasis, well before he landed. On the day he went to see Soren in the forested areas, he could notice that hundreds of tribal youths were riding on the trees with bow and arrow. They were apprehensive of the government intent. Later at the instructions from Soren, they made way for Saxena. It was a successful mission for Saxena and also Shibu Soren. The government was determined to enact some kind of encounter. Nevertheless it paved the path for Shibu to come to mainstream politics. Saxena had to face the dirty manipulations of the money lenders and traders. They had used their power and resources to ensure that Shibu is not rehabilitated and killed, by having Saxena transferred midway. However he put a word with new incumbent, DC, Laxman Shukla to ensure that his task is accomplished.
Shibu Soren served as Jharkhand’s Chief Minister three times- briefly in March 2005, and later from August 2008 to January 2009 and December 2009 to May 2010. In 2004, he was arrested in connection with the 1975 Chirudih massacre case. But granted bail. Nevertheless his arrest cast a shadow over his national political career. Eventually in 1980 he became friendly to Congress. This also saw his gradual parting of ways with A K Ray, chief of Marxist Coordination Council, having head quarter in Dhanbad.
Shibu Soren’s political life spanned more than five decades, marked by struggles for tribal rights and formation of a new state, Jharkhand. Even in his death he continues to be the face of Adivasi identity, dignity, and self-rule. Shibu Soren, the ‘Dishom Guru’ was not just a political leader but a revolutionary spirit who awakened the Adivasis across India and inspired them to fight the oppression of the rich and feudal lords. His greatest achievement was he united the fragmented Adivasis and fight for a common cause; preserve cultural dignity, maintain identity and self-respect. With his son Hemant Soren ruling Jharkhand and claiming to pursue the political and ideological line of father, the unfinished task of Shibu Soren would continue to acquire a shape. (IPA Service)
