Lo Bir Sendra: A Hunter in the Burning Forest

Jaipal Singh was born in 1903 to a family of priestly Pahans in Jharkhand. He becomes the first Adivasi to study at Oxford University. A sports star, he quits the ICS to captain the Indian hockey team to an Olympic gold in 1928, another first. His globetrotting life brings him a string of cushy jobs.But he is troubled by the condition of the Adivasis. He begins fighting for their rights. He runs newspapers, unions and political parties. To resist the plunder of his homeland, he joins the Adivasi Mahasabha and launches the struggle for Jharkhandi statehood. Jaipal Singh represents Adivasis in the Constituent Assembly, and remains a member of parliament till his death in 1970.Written on a sea voyage to England in 1969, Lo Bir Sendra was lost to time. In resurrecting this story, we can once more celebrate the man fondly called Marang Gomke, the Big Chief.