Ranchi, Aug. 5 -- Shibu Soren was 13 when his father, Shobaran Soren, was killed by goons employed by a local moneylender (or Mahajan as they were called). In Bihar's tribal badlands, some tribals were in the grip of Mahajans, others, liquor, and still others, both. His father's killing prompted Soren, who was born in Nemra village under Gola block in Ramgarh district of the state in January 1944, to launch a campaign against the Mahajans and alcoholism. A Santhal (or Santal) himself, he formed a social reformist body, Santhal Navyuvak Sangh, in the early 1960s when he was only 18. One of its earliest campaigns was against the Mahajans; Soren would hop on to his bicycle and travel from village to village, preaching his message. The Santhals were uneducated and illiterate and Soren started conducting classes for them at night, talking to them about money and the evils of liquor. The Santhals honoured Soren with a title, Dishom Guruji -- meaning "teacher of the world". That was the term his son and Jharkand chief minister Hemant Soren used to tell the world of his death on Monday. "The respected Dishom Guruji has left us and gone," he said in Hindi on X. "Today, I have become nothing...". Soren's biggest achievement was the creation of Jharkhand. In the 1950-60s, the tribals of the region seemed resigned to their fate -- the state neglected them, the Mahajans exploited them and they sought to forget both the neglect and the exploitation by drinking. Soren and his fellow travellers channelled and consolidated tribal opposition to the Mahajans and the state. "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," Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted on X. In 1973, along with Marxist union leader AK Roy and Kurmi leader Binod Bihari Mahato, he formed the Jharkand Mukti Morcha (JMM). Mahto became its first president, and Soren, its general secretary. Soren became the party president in August 1987, and he continued to hold the post till April 15 this year. He entered electoral politics in 1977 by contesting in the Lok Sabha election, but lost. He won in 1980 from Dumka, and represented the constituency between 1980 and 1984, 1989 and 1998, and 2002 and 2019. In 2020, he was elected to the Rajya Sabha. Soren was chief minister thrice, for 10 days in March 2005, almost five months between August 2008 and January 2009, and five months between December 2009 and May 2010. He was also Union minister of coal thrice in the first Manmohan Singh-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. His first and last stint in the Cabinet were ended by resignations forced upon him by his arrest for a 1975 massacre of 11 people, including nine Muslims, and his conviction in a 1994 case involving the murder of his personal assistant, but he was eventually acquitted in both cases. His party, the JMM, was also involved in a bribery case in 1993, where Soren and other lawmakers from the party were accused of accepting bribes to support PV Narasimha Rao's government, but he was acquitted in that case too. The controversies didn't diminish Soren's standing back home where his flock believed that everything he did was to further the cause of statehood. In 2000, Jharkand was carved out of Bihar, although Soren's reluctance to play alliance politics ensured that he did not become chief minister till five years later. But, Soren's legacy is secure -- even among his rivals. Babulal Marandi, the first chief minister of Jharkhand and a BJP leader, says he remembers Soren for his campaign against liquor and his movement against the Mahajani system. "More than a politician, I will remember him as a social reformer."...