- News>
- Newspapers
Shibu a little shop soiled, but still a demi-god: The Pioneer
Dumka, Apr 21: In the rugged terrain and dense jungles of pre-Jharkhand Bihar, adivasis once worshiped him as a living God. Arrows could not kill him and wild animals could do him no harm.
Dumka, Apr 21: In the rugged terrain and dense jungles of pre-Jharkhand Bihar, adivasis once worshiped him as a living God. Arrows could not kill him and wild animals could do him no harm.
He was a promised liberator. Someone who would rescue them from the clutches of mahajans and exploiters from the plains, and give them a separate home state. But the JMM bribery scandal took away the sheen of divinity from Shibu Soren. And a host of other scandals, including his arrest, exposed his weaknesses and vulnerability.
Still, Shibu Soren remains the supreme leader of the adviasis of Santhal Paragana in Jharkhand. The Dumka contest is turning out to be one-sided with the BJP unable to put up a respectable candidate against Mr Soren, popularly known as Guruji. Twenty km from Dumka, civilisation stands frozen as primitive life unfolds its mystique. Walking across the hills, we come across an adivasi basti readying for a feast. Two goats - victory trophies - are to be slaughtered because the boys here have won a football match against the neighbouring village. There is poll-related excitement in the village which has made up its mind to vote en bloc for Mr Soren.
Even though the villagers do not accept him as "Bhagwan" any longer, they swear by him because he has been a sort of liberator for them. Talk to any adivasi here, and he will try to convince you that Jharkhand state became a reality only because of Mr Soren. Mr Soren, they say, has done a lot to rescue them from the clutches of mahajans who lent them money on exorbitant rates and confiscated their land or live stock on repayment delay or failure. "Before Guruji waged a battle against the mahajans, we paid Rs 500 in interest every year on a loan of Rs 1,000. Now mahajans do not dare do that. It is all because Guruji fought against them," says Shiva Dehri, a field labourer. Similar deep-rooted admiration for the Guruji is palpable in other parts of the Dumka constituency as well. Of course, while the Vanvasi Kalyan Kendra has done a good job among the tribals of familiarising them with the "lotus", the bow and arrow of the JMM(S) reigns supreme here. This does not make Soren invincible. The JMM(S) leader has won five times from here but also lost twice. The bribery scandal dented his image and growing awareness among the adivasis has also gone against him.
However, the BJP has virtually offered him the seat this time on a platter by fielding a former excise official whose reputation and inexperience is going against him. Incidentally, BJP candidate Sonilal Hembram is father of Ramesh Hembram who has lost twice from Dumka against Soren, once as a saffron candidate and the second time round as a Congress nominee.
There is a general consensus among the people that former Chief Minister Babu Lal Marandi, who represented the constituency twice, would have been a formidable candidate against Soren. Marandi had initiated a lot of developmental projects in Dumka and is quiet popular among the adivasis. With Sonilal Hembram not in a position to completely mobilise the non-tribal votes on his sides, the result seems a foregone conclusion. Mr Soren will also have the advantage of JMM(S)'s pact with the Congress and the RJD. Not surprisingly, the JMM(S) chief has not even bothered to campaign extensively in his constituency. The Dumka bout is over even before the first whistle.
Still, Shibu Soren remains the supreme leader of the adviasis of Santhal Paragana in Jharkhand. The Dumka contest is turning out to be one-sided with the BJP unable to put up a respectable candidate against Mr Soren, popularly known as Guruji. Twenty km from Dumka, civilisation stands frozen as primitive life unfolds its mystique. Walking across the hills, we come across an adivasi basti readying for a feast. Two goats - victory trophies - are to be slaughtered because the boys here have won a football match against the neighbouring village. There is poll-related excitement in the village which has made up its mind to vote en bloc for Mr Soren.
Even though the villagers do not accept him as "Bhagwan" any longer, they swear by him because he has been a sort of liberator for them. Talk to any adivasi here, and he will try to convince you that Jharkhand state became a reality only because of Mr Soren. Mr Soren, they say, has done a lot to rescue them from the clutches of mahajans who lent them money on exorbitant rates and confiscated their land or live stock on repayment delay or failure. "Before Guruji waged a battle against the mahajans, we paid Rs 500 in interest every year on a loan of Rs 1,000. Now mahajans do not dare do that. It is all because Guruji fought against them," says Shiva Dehri, a field labourer. Similar deep-rooted admiration for the Guruji is palpable in other parts of the Dumka constituency as well. Of course, while the Vanvasi Kalyan Kendra has done a good job among the tribals of familiarising them with the "lotus", the bow and arrow of the JMM(S) reigns supreme here. This does not make Soren invincible. The JMM(S) leader has won five times from here but also lost twice. The bribery scandal dented his image and growing awareness among the adivasis has also gone against him.
However, the BJP has virtually offered him the seat this time on a platter by fielding a former excise official whose reputation and inexperience is going against him. Incidentally, BJP candidate Sonilal Hembram is father of Ramesh Hembram who has lost twice from Dumka against Soren, once as a saffron candidate and the second time round as a Congress nominee.
There is a general consensus among the people that former Chief Minister Babu Lal Marandi, who represented the constituency twice, would have been a formidable candidate against Soren. Marandi had initiated a lot of developmental projects in Dumka and is quiet popular among the adivasis. With Sonilal Hembram not in a position to completely mobilise the non-tribal votes on his sides, the result seems a foregone conclusion. Mr Soren will also have the advantage of JMM(S)'s pact with the Congress and the RJD. Not surprisingly, the JMM(S) chief has not even bothered to campaign extensively in his constituency. The Dumka bout is over even before the first whistle.