Veteran Tribal Leader and Former Jharkhand CM Shibu Soren Passes Away at 81

Ranchi: 

Shibu Soren, the veteran tribal leader and three time Chief Minister of Jharkhand, passed away at the age of 81 on Monday. The news was announced by his son, Hemant Soren, current Chief Minister of Jharkhand, who confirmed that his father died peacefully at Delhi’s Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, where he had been under treatment for over a month.

Soren, popularly called “Dishom Guru” (Leader of the Land), had been battling a prolonged kidney related illness, compounded by diabetes and complications following a stroke. He had been on ventilator and dialysis support for the past month. The hospital, in a formal statement, said: “Despite the best efforts of our multidisciplinary medical team, Mr. Shibu Soren, 81 years, passed away peacefully on 4 August 2025 with his family at the bedside”.

Hemant Soren announced the demise on the social media platform X, writing in Hindi: “Respected Guru Dishom has left us all. Today I feel completely empty…”.

Born on 11 January 1944 in Nemra village of Ramgarh district (then Bihar, now in Jharkhand), Shibu Soren emerged as a tribal rights activist from his youth. At the age of 18, he founded the Santhal Navyuvak Sangh, and in 1972 co‑founded the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) alongside leaders A.K. Roy and Binod Bihari Mahato. For nearly four decades, he led JMM as its president until April 2025, and played a defining role in the creation of Jharkhand as a separate state in 2000.

Shibu Soren’s political career spanned over four decades. He was elected to the Lok Sabha eight times, representing the Dumka constituency, and later served in the Rajya Sabha. He held the post of Jharkhand Chief Minister three times, though none of his terms lasted a full five years: March 2005, August 2008 to January 2009, and December 2009 to May 2010. He also served as Union Minister for Coal in the UPA government under Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

His passing has drawn tributes from top leaders across the country. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on X that “Shri Shibu Soren Ji was a grassroots leader who rose through the ranks of public life with unwavering dedication to the people. He was particularly passionate about empowering tribal communities, the poor and downtrodden”. President Droupadi Murmu described his death as a “big loss in the space of social justice,” and many political figures emphasised his lifelong commitment to tribal identity and welfare.

As the founder and guiding light of JMM, Shibu Soren’s legacy lives on through his efforts to shape India’s tribal politics. He earned immense respect across Jharkhand as “Guruji” and as the voice of the Santhal and Adivasi communities. His political journey was defined by early protests for tribal land rights, years of activism amidst legal challenges, and decades of mass mobilisation.

His death marks the end of an era, a turning point in Jharkhand’s political history and in India’s tribal leadership. Leaders and citizens alike recognise his passing as the closing chapter of a formative period for both the region and the nation.