How a tribal who grazed cattle in his childhood became the captain of the Olympic hockey team, got selected in ICS and then became a minister in Bihar.

Indian When it comes to Hockey (Indian Hockey Team), the first name that comes to mind is Dadda i.e. Major Dhyan Dhyan Chand. Very few people would be aware of who was the captain of the hockey team that won India its first gold medal in the Olympics? His name was Jaipal Singh Munda, who not only played in the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics, but also won India its first gold medal under his captaincy. Jaipal Singh Munda was not only an excellent hockey player, but he also proved his mettle in studies and cleared the Indian Civil Service exam conducted by the British at that time. However, later he did not complete ICS training and entered politics for the welfare of tribals. He continued fighting for tribal interests all his life.

grazed cattle in childhood
Jaipal Singh Munda is also known as Pramod Pahan. He was born on 3 January 1903 in a Munda tribal family in Pahan Toli village Takra-Hatudami in Khunti subdivision (now district) of Ranchi district of the then Bengal. Jaipal Singh’s job in childhood was to take care of cattle. After primary school education in the village, Jaipal took admission in St. Paul’s School, Ranchi. This school was run by Christian missionaries from England. Jaipal Singh was a brilliant student as well as an excellent hockey player. Seeing his extraordinary qualities at an early age, the missionaries caught his attention. He took him to England for higher studies and got him admitted to Oxford University. From where he graduated with Economics Honors.

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Got captaincy of hockey team
Jaipal Singh was a member of the Oxford University hockey team. He used to play at the position of deep defender. The hallmarks of his game were his clean tackling, gameplay and hard hitting. He was the most versatile player of the Oxford University hockey team. His contribution to the university hockey team was recognized and he became the first Indian student to receive the Blue Award in hockey. In 1928, when he was in England, Jaipal Singh was asked to captain the Indian hockey team for the 1928 Olympic Games. Under his captaincy, the Indian team played 17 matches in the league stage, out of which 16 were won and one was drawn.

However, English team manager A.B. Due to a dispute with Rossier, Jaipal Singh left the team after the league stage. For this reason he could not play the game in the knockout stage. In the final, the Indian team defeated Holland 3-0. Later Jaipal Singh joined the Mohun Bagan Club of Calcutta and started its hockey team in 1929. He led his team in various tournaments. After retirement from hockey, he served as the Secretary of the Bengal Hockey Association and a member of the Sports Council of India.

elected in ICS
Jaipal Singh was selected for the Indian Civil Service, from which he later resigned. In 1934, he became a teacher at the Prince of Wales College in Achimota, Gold Coast, Ghana. In 1937, he returned to India as Principal of Rajkumar College, Raipur. In 1938, he joined the princely state of Bikaner as Foreign Secretary. Jaipal Singh thought that with his diverse experience, if he worked in the field of education, he could be more useful for VESH. He wrote a letter to Bihar Congress President Rajendra Prasad asking for permission to contribute to the education sector of Bihar, but he did not get any positive response. In the last month of 1938, Jaipal Singh visited Patna and Ranchi. During this trip, he decided to enter politics after seeing the poor condition of the tribal people.

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Tribal General Assembly formed
Jaipal Singh became the President of the Tribal Mahasabha in 1939. In 1940, at the Ramgarh session of Congress, he discussed with Subhash Chandra Bose the need to create a separate state of Jharkhand. Subhash Chandra Bose replied that such a request would affect the freedom struggle. After India’s independence, the Adivasi Mahasabha re-emerged as the Jharkhand Party and it accommodated non-tribal people to achieve long-term goals. He is popularly known as “Marang Gomke (meaning great leader) by the tribals of Chhotanagpur. Jharkhand Party participated in the elections in 1952 and won 32 seats in the Bihar Legislative Assembly.

Became a minister in Bihar government
In 1955, the Jharkhand Party submitted a memorandum to the States Reorganization Commission for the creation of a separate Jharkhand state consisting of the tribal area of ​​South Bihar. The demand was not accepted. Jaipal Singh was disappointed with the declining popularity of his party and the rejection of the demand for statehood by the State Reorganization Commission. In 1962 his party won 20 seats. He merged his party with the Indian National Congress in 1963. Jaipal Singh Munda was made the Deputy Chief Minister, Panchayat and Community Development Minister in the government of Binodanand Jha in Bihar, but due to differences, he resigned after just a month. In 1967, he was once again elected as a Member of Parliament.

Be part of the Constituent Assembly
Jaipal Singh has a special place among the heroes who played a role in making the Indian Constitution. Jaipal Singh Munda had said in the Constituent Assembly, “I stand here to speak on behalf of those millions of unknown people, who are the most important people, who are the unknown fighters for freedom, who are the original inhabitants of India and who have been forced to live in the backward Tribes, primitive tribes, criminal tribes and what not.” He became a member of the Constituent Assembly by defeating Purnochandra Mitra of Congress from Khunti rural area. He was considered the biggest advocate of tribals in the Constituent Assembly. He continued fighting for tribal interests all his life and died on 20 March 1970.

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Tags: Civil Services, India in Olympics, Indian Hockey Team, Indian Hockey Team Captain, oxford university