Jaipal Singh
| Jaipal Singh Munda | |
|---|---|
| Born |
3 January 1903 |
| Died | 20 March 1970 Delhi, India |
| Occupation | Hockey player |
| Olympic medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Men's field hockey | ||
 |
1928 Amsterdam | Team competition |
3 January 1903
Takra Pahantoli, [[Ranchi,
Jaipal Singh Munda (3 January 1903 – 20 March 1970) was a Munda tribal man, who captained the Indian field hockey team to clinch gold in the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam. He is well known for his sportsmanship and political skills.
Later he emerged as a sole leader of Adivasi cause and creation of a separate homeland for adivasis of central India. As a member of the Constituent Assembly of India, he actively campaigned for the rights of whole the tribal community.
He is popularly known as "Marang Gomke" which means the Great Leader. This name was given to him by the tribal people of Chota nagpur region.
Jaipal Singh Munda alias Pramod Pahan was born on 3 January 1903 in remote Tapkara village of what was then Khunti Sub-division of the then District of Ranchi in the state of Jharkhand India. Majority of the inhabitants of Tapkara village are from 'Munda' tribe. Jaipal Singh too was from a Munda family that had embraced Christianity. In Childhood, his job was to look after the cattle herd. After initial schooling at the village church school, his destiny had a turn around with his admission to St. Paul's College, Ranchi, in 1910 run by the Christian Missionaries of the SPG Mission of the Church of England. A keen and gifted field hockey player, Jaipal Singh was a brilliant student and exhibited exceptional leadership qualities from a very young age, which was noticed by the missionaries, who took him to England for higher studies at the University of Oxford. Then Jaipal moved to England and graduated from St. John's College, Oxford with Honours in Economics. Jaipal was selected in Indian Civil Service from which he later resigned. In 1934, Jaipal joined teaching at the Prince of Wales College at Achimota, Gold Coast, Ghana. In 1937, he returned to India as the Principal incumbent of the Rajkumar College, Raipur. In 1938, he joined the Bikaner princely state as foreign secretary. Jaipal thought that with his varied experience he could be more useful to the country through the Congress. And he joined it through Rajendra Prasad.
He formed Adivasi Mahasabha in 1938, himself as its president. After independence, the name of the party was changed to Jharkhand Party to accommodate non-tribal people to achieve long-term goals. He is popularly known as "Marang Gomke (meaning Great Leader) by the tribals of Chhotanagpur. He was a gifted speaker and represented all the tribals of India at the Constituent Assembly of India (which was responsible for drafting the constitution of Independent India). The following is an excerpt from a famous speech made by him, where, while welcoming the Objectives Resolution, he highlighted the issues faced by the Indian tribals.
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