Ram Manohar Lohia

Ram Manohar Lohia
Born (1910-03-23)23 March 1910
Akbarpur, United Provinces of Agra and Oudh, British India
Died 12 October 1967(1967-10-12) (aged 57)
New Delhi, India
Nationality Indian
Alma mater University of Calcutta
Humboldt University of Berlin
Political party Indian National Congress
Praja Socialist Party
Socialist Party
Movement Quit India Movement
Indian independence movement
Website www.lohiatoday.com

Ram Manohar Lohia  pronunciation , (23 March 1910 – 12 October 1967) was an activist for the Indian independence movement and a socialist political leader.[1] During the last phase of British rule in India, he worked with the Congress Radio which was broadcast secretly from various places in Bombay until 1942.[2] In 1963 Lohia elected as the member Parliament for Lok Sabha from the Farrukhabad constituency, Uttar Pradesh from the Samyukta Socialist Paty.

Early life

Dr Ram Manohar Lohia, Mani Ram Bagri, Madhu Limaye, S M Joshi

Ram Manohar Lohia was born on 23 March 1910 at Akbarpur in what is now the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. His family were prosperous Vaishyas. His mother died in 1912, when he was just two years old, and he was later brought up by his father Hiralal who never remarried. In 1918 he accompanied his father to Bombay where he completed his high school education. He attended the Banaras Hindu University to complete his intermediate course work after standing first in his school's matriculation examinations in 1927. He then joined the Vidyasagar College, under the University of Calcutta and in 1929, earned his B.A. degree.[3] He decided to attend Frederick William University (today's Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany) over all prestigious educational institutes in Britain to convey his dim view of British philosophy. He soon learnt German and received financial assistance based on his outstanding academic performance, studying national economy as his major subject as a doctoral student from 1929 to 1933.[4]

Lohia wrote his PhD thesis paper on the topic of Salt Taxation in India,[4] focusing on Gandhi's socio-economic theory.

National Movement

Statue of Ram Manohar Lohia in Margao, Goa.

Lohia was one of the founders of the Congress Socialist Party and editor of its mouthpiece Congress Socialist. In 1936, he was selected by Jawaharlal Nehru as secretary of the Foreign Department of the A.I.C.C. By the time he left the Foreign Department in 1938, Lohia started to develop his own political standpoint by critically examining positions held by the Gandhian leadership of the Congress[5] and the Communists who had poured into the CSP.[6] In June 1940, he was arrested and sentenced to a jail term of two years for delivering anti-war speeches.[7] Already released by the end of 1941, Lohia became of the leading figures of the Central Directorate which clandestinely tried to organize the Quit India revolt, sparked by Gandhi in August 1942. Captured in May 1944, he was incarcerated and tortured in Lahore Fort. As one of the last high security prisoners, Lohia - together with Jayaprakash Narayan - was finally released on 11 April 1946.[8]

Major writings in English

  • The Caste System: Hyderabad, Navahind [1964] 147 p.
  • Foreign Policy: Aligarh, P.C. Dwadash Shreni, [1963?] 381 p.
  • Fragments of World Mind: Maitrayani Publishers & Booksellers ; Allahabad [1949] 262 p.
  • Fundamentals of a World Mind: ed. by K.S. Karanth. Bombay, Sindhu Publications, [1987] 130 p.
  • Guilty Men of India’s Partition: Lohia Samata Vidyalaya Nyas, Publication Dept.,[1970] 103 p.
  • India, China, and Northern Frontiers: Hyderabad, Navahind [1963] 272 p.
  • Interval During Politics: Hyderabad, Navahind [1965] 197 p.
  • Marx, Gandhi and Socialism: Hyderabad, Navahind [1963] 550 p.
  • Collected Works of Dr Lohia A nine volume set edited by veteran Socialist writer Dr Mastram Kapoor in English and published by Anamika Publications, New Delhi.

Memorials

References

  1. ↑ http://www.lokniti.org/pdfs_dataunit/publications2010/on_remembering_lohia.pdf
  2. ↑ Bipan Chandra pal, et AL, India's Struggle for Independence
  3. ↑ Pillai, K Gopinath. Political Philosophy of Rammanohar Lohia: Alternative Development Perceptions Deep & Deep Publications, 1994, p. 68
  4. 1 2 "Ram Manohar Lohia as a Doctoral Student in Berlin (1929-1933)". The Institute of Asian and African Studies (IAAW). Humboldt University of Berlin. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
  5. ↑ R. Lohia, The Conquest of violence, Congress Socialist, 9 April 14 May, 28 May & 4 June 1938, Collected Works of Dr. Rammanohar Lohia, vo 8: 402-417.
  6. ↑ R. Lohia, The Russian Trials, Congress Socialist, 9 April & 7 May 1938, Collected Works of Dr. Rammanohar Lohia, vol. 8: 395-401.
  7. ↑ O. Sharad, Lohia, p. 103f.
  8. ↑ The Times, 15 April 1946, p. 4.

Further reading

  • Socialist Thought in India: The Contribution of Ram Manohar Lohia, by M. Arumugam, New Delhi, Sterling (1978)
  • Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia, his Life and Philosophy, by Indumati Kelkar. Published for Samajwadi Sahitya Sansthan, Delhi by Anamika Publishers & Distributors (2009) ISBN 978-81-7975-286-9
  • Lohia, A Study, by N. C. Mehrotra, Atma Ram (1978)
  • Lohia and Parliament, Published by Lok Sabha Secretariat (1991)
  • Lohia thru Letters, Published by Roma Mitra (1983)
  • Lohia, by Onkar Sharad, Lucknow, Prakashan Kendra (1972)
  • Lohia and America Meet, by Harris Woofford, Sindhu (1987)
  • Leftism in India: 1917–1947, by Satyabrata Rai Chowdhuri, London and New Delhi, Palgrave Macmillan (2008)
  • Lohia Ek Jeevani, by Omprakash Deepak And Arvind Mohan, Published by Wagdevi Prakashan (2006)
  • Rammanohar Lohia: The Man and his Ism, by Girish Mishra and Braj Kumar Pandey, Eastern Books, New Delhi, 1992
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