Bulu Imam Biography 
Bulu Imam is an environmental activist who is based in Jharkhand. He is the grandson of Syed Hasan Imam, a leading Barrister and Judge of Calcutta High Court in the early 1900s. Bulu is best known for his work towards the protection and conservation of tribal culture and heritage in Jharkhand. For his efforts, he has been honoured multiple times. He received the Gandhi International Peace Award in 2011 at London. For his overall contributions towards the conservation of nature and environment, government of India honoured him with Padma Shri in 2019. He has also authored several research papers and books.
Bulu Imam was born on 31 August 1942 in Hazaribagh, Jharkhand. He is best known for fighting for Jharkhand's tribal heritage amidst threats of coal mining, and Bulu owns an incredible story. An environmental and tribal activist and a revivalist of tribal painting, now he plans to set up a museum and research centre in Hazaribagh. For these efforts, his son Gustav Imam assists him. Tribal art and culture remain his prime topics of interest. A big-game-hunter-turned-environmentalist, he is a researcher, archaeologist, and a well-reputed persons among environmentalists. He runs a museum and art gallery, ‘The Sanskriti Centre’.
He was a big-game hunter in the ’60s and ’70s, when he hunted 19 elephants and many man-eating tigers. His early life was spent organising tiger hunts with his father in Jharkhand region. In those days, he was closely associated with tribal people who lived in those forests. His life took a turn in 1979, when he witnessed the destruction of thick forest for coal mining. He was deeply hurt seeing the home of millions of tribal people, who lived there for centuries being destroyed for selfish needs of urban people. In fact the tribal people worship sacred rocks there. He then quit hunting and took vows to stand for the tribal people and their needs.
Published: February 03, 2019
Updated: February 03, 2019
