Reclaiming ‘Jungli’: What Jaipal Singh Got Right And Wrong About Tribal Identity

Lo Bir Sendra: A Hunter in the Burning Forest. Jaipal Singh. Navyayana Publishing. Pages: 184. Price: Rs 399.

The life of Jaipal Singh, as he pens down in his memoir, had come full circle. After achieving valour and honour in England, he ultimately returned to his homeland to fight for the cause of his people. Singh, widely known as Marang Gomke, the Big Chief, was one of the most influential tribal leaders after Birsa Munda.

However, the book reveals several largely unknown facets of Jaipal Singh. He was an all-round champion: an Oxford Blue in hockey, a member of the Indian Civil Service, the captain of the Indian hockey team that won an Olympic gold in 1928, a martinet tutor, and an eloquent voice of Vanvaasi rights in the Constituent Assembly and the Parliament of India. Since the book was written as a personal memoir, it reveals his forthright thoughts and opinions on key personalities he encountered, the connections he forged with colonial officers, and his efforts in the struggle for Jharkhandi rights.

Lo Bir Sendra: A Hunter in the Burning Forest is an edited version of the manuscript by Jaipal Singh, written during his long sea voyage to England in 1969, a year before his death. The book is divided into seventeen chapters, in which Singh chronologically narrates his life, from his village to his illustrious time in England and then to his astute career in Indian politics.

Although written in the manner of a personal diary, it provides valuable insight into how the fight for tribal rights paralleled the Indian independence movement and continued even after Independence. Singh’s affection for tribal traditions is evident when he elaborately discusses major tribal customs and the spirit of democracy and equality underlying them.

Formative Years in the West

Jaipal Singh was born in 1903 into a Pahan (Munda priest) family in Takra village of the Ranchi subdivision in the Bengal Presidency of British India. His talent soon attracted the attention of his school’s principal, Canon W. F. Cosgrave, who baptised him into Christianity. At just fifteen years of age, Singh accompanied Canon Cosgrave to England in 1918 and was admitted to St John’s College, Oxford.

The life of a Munda Vanvaasi from Ranchi underwent a significant transition into a completely different world. Singh was the only Asian in the college at the time. His excellence in both academics and sports earned him wide recognition. He was an active student, frequently participating in various clubs and student organisations, including the Oxford Majlis, a debating society for Indian students, and the Student Christian Movement.

Singh made history as the first Indian Vanvaasi to qualify for the Indian Civil Service. In 1928, he also captained the Indian hockey team that won India’s first-ever Olympic gold medal.

His time at Oxford greatly influenced his modernist ideas and democratic thought. This was a period when he was swayed by Western influences and became susceptible to colonial historiography and evangelicism. Despite this, his fondness for India remained constant. His appreciation for the Christa Seva Sangh, a missionary endeavour modelled on the Indian traditions of sadhus and fakirs, along with his regular attendance at conferences featuring Dr Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan, affirms his enduring attachment to India.

He returned to India in 1928 to work as an assistant at Burmah-Shell in Calcutta.

The Fight for Tribal Rights

In colonial India, Bihar, Orissa, and Jharkhand were parts of the Bengal Presidency. Demands for separation led to the creation of Bihar in 1912. The struggle for a separate Jharkhandi state had been underway since the early nineteenth century.

In 1915, several small tribal organisations and evangelical groups came together to form the Chhota Nagpur Unnati Samaj under the leadership of Theodore Surin, Bandiram Oraon, Ignes Neck, and others. Their aim was to crystallise the demand for a separate province comprising Chhotanagpur and Santhal Parganas. However, disagreements among the leaders led to the dissolution of the Samaj.

Meanwhile, Orissa was carved out as a separate state from Bihar in 1936, yet the question of Jharkhandi autonomy remained unaddressed. The Congress swept the 1937 Bihar General Elections, while members of the Samaj fared poorly due to a lack of cohesion, as they contested independently rather than as a coalition. The absence of Vanvaasi representation in the Congress ministry was viewed by them as Diku Raj (alien rule).

In response, the Adivasi Sabha was formed in 1938 by incorporating multiple tribal organisations under the leadership of Ignes Beck. It consolidated the demand for separation with support from forces opposed to the Congress, including Christian missionaries, British officials, and the Muslim League.

Until 1938, Jaipal Singh had not been directly involved in Vanvaasi politics. That year, one of his old friends, Maurice Hallet, then Governor of Bihar province, advised him, ‘Go to Ranchi, a tribal agitation has just started there. You have wandered around the world and have made a good living. Do something for your people now.’

The second annual conference of the Adivasi Sabha in 1939 proved instrumental, as Jaipal Singh became President of the Adivasi Mahasabha. The grandson-in-law of Congress’s founding president was now leading a movement against the Bihar Congress government. Dr Rajendra Prasad speculated that Singh, accustomed to luxury and comfort, would not last long in the jungle fastness. Singh’s determination, however, belied such expectations.

The Adivasi Sabha evolved into the Adivasi Mahasabha, and the Ranchi conference emerged as a resounding success. More than one lakh people attended, including Nagendra Nath Rakshit, an industrialist from Jamshedpur. Singh began garnering support from various anti-Congress elements, including industrialists.

The landmark Chhota Nagpur Separation Resolution was passed, demanding the creation of separate Chhotanagpur and Santhal Parganas. The Vanvaasis of the region found common ground, and their efforts translated into electoral success. In the District Board elections held two months later, the Adivasi Mahasabha won 22 out of 25 seats in Singhbhum and 16 out of 25 seats in Ranchi.

Singh soon became a formidable figure among tribal populations across north and central India. Congress rallies witnessed dwindling crowds. Singh organised frequent rallies, addressing audiences primarily in Mundari, Sadani, and Hindi. He encouraged people to carry bows and arrows, while Vanvaasi dances at every meeting evoked cultural pride.

However, the various groups supporting the movement pursued their own vested interests and exploited it under the guise of advocating tribal rights. The Muslim League and evangelical groups sought to undermine organisations such as the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the Hindu Mahasabha, which aimed to foster national consciousness and civilisational unity rooted in Hindu moral values.

A Westernised Tribal Voice in the Constituent Assembly

Jaipal Singh was elected to the Constituent Assembly as a representative of the Excluded Areas of Bihar. A fierce advocate of tribal interests, practices, and ethos, he was one of only six tribal members in the Assembly. He also served on the Advisory Committee on Fundamental Rights, Minorities, and Tribal and Excluded Areas, tasked with deliberating constitutional provisions concerning these groups.

In the Constituent Assembly, Singh took particular care to ensure that no provision would impede Vanvaasi practices. He objected to Article 13(1)(b), which mandates ‘to assemble peaceably and without arms’, arguing that it threatened tribal customs. Singh reminded the House that carrying bows, arrows, and axes was integral to Vanvaasi life and sought assurance from Dr Ambedkar that the provision would not obstruct cultural practices.

Singh was also a strong advocate of fair representation for both men and women. The Adivasi Mahasabha included a subgroup called the Mahila Sangh, which was entirely administered by women.

However, Singh’s ideas were influenced by colonial interpretations such as the Aryan Invasion Theory, which aimed to create divisions among Hindus. B. B. Lal, the eminent archaeologist and former Director General of the Archaeological Survey of India, later presented substantial archaeological evidence demonstrating that this theory was assumption-laden and poorly supported.

Speaking on the Objective Resolution on 19 December 1946, Singh referred to himself as a ‘proud Jungli’. He insisted on using the term Adivasi or ‘aboriginal’ instead of ‘Scheduled Tribes’ in the Constitution. Dr Ambedkar countered that Adivasi was a broad term akin to ‘Untouchables’ and lacked legal standing.

Many of Singh’s speeches drew on the ‘aboriginal versus invader’ framework. His insistence on the term Adivasi has been criticised as scholastically obsolete and conceptually unclear, as noted by Prem Ansh Sinha in his review ‘Adivasi or Vanvaasi’. Additionally, Singh’s critique of Hindu society reflects evangelical assumptions portraying Hinduism as stagnant and regressive, overlooking the historical achievements of Hindu empires across ancient and medieval India.

The Jharkhandi Cause after Independence

Questions of identity, representation, and autonomy are central to a healthy federal republic like India. The demand for a separate Jharkhandi state in Bihar represented the most significant expression of these concerns. Through Jaipal Singh’s life, the book presents a lucid account of the struggle for Jharkhandi identity in both pre- and post-Independence India.

Singh exposes how Congress continued to neglect Vanvaasi concerns even after Independence. On 1 January 1950, the Adivasi Mahasabha was reorganised as the Jharkhand Party under his leadership. The Jharkhand Party remained the principal opposition to the Indian National Congress until the 1962 Bihar Legislative Assembly elections.

In 1955, the party submitted a memorandum to the State Reorganisation Commission seeking a separate Jharkhand state. The Commission, dominated by Congress members, rejected the proposal, and the demand once again failed to materialise.

The party’s declining popularity became evident in the 1962 elections, as many members defected. Simultaneously, Congress expanded its presence in tribal regions by incorporating local chiefs. Following a merger proposal from Jawaharlal Nehru, Singh merged the Jharkhand Party with Congress in 1963, later describing it as his most disappointing political decision.

Singh faced accusations from former supporters but remained hopeful of advancing the Jharkhand demand from within Congress. After Nehru’s death, however, he was gradually sidelined. Singh died suddenly in 1970 while planning a return to the Jharkhand Party.

Though he did not live to see the fulfilment of his dream, Singh remained an enduring inspiration. Ultimately, the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government created the state of Jharkhand under the Bihar Reorganisation Act, 2000, on the grounds of tribal identity and self-governance.

A Peek into Tribal Customs and Traditions

Jaipal Singh devotes three chapters to Vanvaasi cultural practices that he believed distinguished them from mainstream Indian society. He highlights the egalitarian and democratic spirit of tribal traditions. ‘Adivasi marriages are not a godly dispensation.’

Vanvaasi marriages, including Marriage by Capture, are arranged by parents with the consent of the individuals involved. Mutual love and acceptance are essential prerequisites. Bride price, a payment or gift from the groom’s family to the bride’s family, is another distinctive feature.

The book’s title, Lo Bir Sendra, refers to the annual community hunt conducted before the monsoon. During this event, male members hunt using bows, arrows, axes, lathis, and guns, and the quarry is shared communally. Women remain at home while elders convene to reflect on the past year.

Challenging claims that Indian women are universally confined to domestic spaces, Singh describes Era Sendra. While men hunt annually, every seventh year women take their turn, donning men’s attire and hunting, while men stay home and cook.

Nonetheless, Singh’s criticisms of Hindu society draw heavily from evangelical narratives and lack substantiated evidence. His assertion that tribal societies are entirely free of hierarchy becomes self-contradictory when he acknowledges the importance of matching clans in marriage.

A Personal Memoir, Yet a Valuable Historical and Cultural Insight

Lo Bir Sendra is primarily a personal memoir, or diary, of the Marang Gomke. It focuses on Singh’s personal life, experiences, and social interactions. Some individuals are introduced abruptly, without sufficient background, which can disrupt narrative clarity.

However, the editors have made commendable efforts to contextualise the text. The inclusion of a detailed timeline, introductory sections at the start of each chapter, and explanatory footnotes enhances accessibility and comprehension.

Despite its diaristic style, the memoir serves as a valuable resource for historical and cultural research. For a figure like Marang Gomke, the personal is inseparable from the political. His reflections on the Vanvaasi struggle, Constituent Assembly debates, and parliamentary life offer deep insight into tribal movements and the decades-long pursuit of Jharkhandi autonomy.

While critical engagement with the text reveals the divisive effects of evangelical influence during the national movement, the book remains relevant in contemporary debates over tribal rights and ethnic autonomy, particularly in regions such as the north-east.