Shibu Soren

Shibu Soren, called “Dishom Guru” by his Santhal community, was one of the best-known Adivasi leaders in India and a central figure in the movement for a separate Jharkhand state. He was named posthumously for the Padma Bhushan in 2026 in the field of public affairs, from Jharkhand ^[1].

A father’s death

Soren was born on 11 January 1944 in Nemra village, Ramgarh, into a Santhal family ^[2]. On 27 November 1957 his father, Sobaran Soren, was killed by moneylenders, an event that shaped his life’s work against exploitation and the loss of tribal land ^[2]. His schooling was limited ^[2].

Organising villages

In 1969 he founded the Sonot Santhal Samaj and set up an ashram at Tundi in Dhanbad district ^[2]. He started night schools for labourers and elders, which spread from Tundi to Giridih, Jamtara and Dumka; Santhal elders gave him the title “Dishom Guru” for this work ^[2]. Between 1965 and 1970 he led the Dhan Katni Andolan, in which tribal women harvested paddy on land taken over by moneylenders ^[2]. He also campaigned against liquor in Santhal villages and for people displaced by dams and power projects ^[2].

Politics

In 1972, with A. K. Roy and Binod Bihari Mahato, he co-founded the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha ^[2]. Jharkhand became a state on 15 November 2000 ^[2]. Dumka sent him to the Lok Sabha in 1980, and he won the Dumka seat seven more times after that, and also served in the Rajya Sabha ^[2]. He was Chief Minister of Jharkhand three times, in 2005, 2008–09 and 2009–10, and Union Minister for Coal ^[2].

He died on 4 August 2025 ^[2].