In a quiet corner of the Purbasha residential area at Sreemangal in Bangladesh, in the former South Sylhet subdivision of British India (now Moulvibazar District), stands a modest house—once the home of Jibon Santal. He was a sardar (Supervisor/Overseer) of the Majdihi tea estate, a labor leader, co-founder and vice president of the Sylhet Tea Laborer’s Union, and an elected Member of the Assam Provincial Assembly during British rule. Though his name remains significant in the history of the tea labor movement, his identity has largely faded into obscurity since independence.

Jibon Santal was born in the early 20th century in the Majdihi tea estate of South Sylhet. He belonged to the Santal community, one of the oldest indigenous groups in South Asia. Like many laborers brought from Bihar and the Chotanagpur region during British rule, his family endured a life of hard labor, meager wages, and deep social marginalization.

Despite these harsh conditions, Jibon Santal naturally emerged as a leader among the tea garden workers. As a sardar, his courage, integrity, and moral strength made him a central figure of trust and support for the laborers. However, his advocacy for workers’ rights provoked the anger of the tea estate authorities, ultimately leading to his dismissal from employment.

After losing his job, Jibon Santal purchased a significant tract of land in the Purbasha residential area of Sreemangal in South Srihattha, where he settled permanently with his family. This land later became a valuable legacy for his descendants.

His only son, Krishna Santal, took responsibility for the property after Jibon Santal’s death. Over time, Krishna sold portions of the land but retained several hundred decimals for his children and grandchildren. Krishna Santal passed away in 2007, and his wife in 2017. Their descendants now live quietly on this land in houses built there.

Before the partition of India, Jibon Santal played an active role alongside Congress leaders Purnendu Kishore Sengupta and Nikunja Bihari Choudhury in founding the Sylhet Tea Laborer’s Union. Their goal was to organize workers to secure fair wages, humane working hours, better housing, and access to education for workers’ children.

On June 3, 1948, the Srihattha Tea Laborer’s Union was formally established in Kulaura under the leadership of the prominent All-India Congress and labor leader & MLA Purnendu Kishore Sengupta. Sengupta served as the founding president, with MLA Jibon Santal as vice president, Nikunja Bihari Choudhury as general secretary, and Durgesh Dev as organizing secretary. This organization later became known as the Bangladesh Tea Laborer’s Union ( Bangladesh Cha Sharmik Union), which today represents nearly one million tea laborer’s across the country.

In 1946, Jibon Santal contested the Assam Provincial Assembly election as a candidate of the Indian National Congress and won from the Sreemangal constituency. Even after being elected MLA, he continued to work tirelessly to secure the rights of tea garden workers. He raised issues of fair wages, education, healthcare, and the abolition of generational bondage within the assembly.

After the partition of Bharat, he was re-elected in the 1954 East Pakistan provincial election as a candidate of the United Front. Within this alliance—led by prominent political leaders such as A.K. Fazlul Huq, Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, and Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani—he served as a rare representative of tea workers, minorities, and indigenous communities.

In 1960, under the orders of Pakistan’s military ruler Ayub Khan, all trade union activities were banned. Jibon Santal gradually withdrew from public life, and his contributions began to disappear from the documented history of labor movements. It is believed that he passed away in 1968—his life of struggle ending a few years before Bangladesh’s independence.

Sadly, since independence, the Bangladesh Tea Laborer’s Union has been unable to preserve any photographs, written records, or family information related to him. Even current leadership is uncertain about the whereabouts of his descendants.

The life of Jibon Santal stands as a remarkable testament to transformation. Rising from a tea garden laborer, he broke through barriers of class, caste, and colonial oppression. He was not merely a labor leader or politician—he was a bridge between the powerless and the centers of power.

Remembering him is not just about honoring a forgotten leader; it is an effort to reclaim a vital chapter in the long struggle of tea workers.