By QURBAN ALI /
A relentless fighter against every form of injustice, he fervently pleaded for social equality and preferential opportunity for the socially oppressed sections of the society to enable them to overcome their centuries-old sufferings.
Lohia always followed Gandhian ideology of non-violence. He abhorred destructive tendencies. He never lost patience. Time and again he made it clear that nonviolence was not a facade for cowardice. He advised all Indians to remain gentle as they remained for a century. He asked people to hold their heads high always like human beings. He followed what he preached. He never bowed to any force on earth. His main contribution to the Indian polity was the incorporation of the Gandhian ideas in the socialist thought. A firm believer in ‘Chaukhamba Raj’ (decentralized economy) Lohia stressed the need of setting up of cottage industries and the small machines with minimum capital investments where maximum manpower may be used.
Lohia was a relentless revolutionary and an exponent of dynamic political and economic thoughts. He was a true nationalist; adhere to the 
values of the national movement. Personally he was against the partition of the country on religious lines in 1947 and opposed it vehemently. He was whole-heartedly devoted to the secularism and Hindu-Muslim unity and worked tirelessly to maintain the unity and communal harmony in the country.
Lohia was fully aware of the problems faced by the Indians. He had also drawn the attention of the world towards the suppression of civil liberties in India and other countries. He was first arrested in Calcutta for making anti Government speeches, on 24th May 1939, by the British Government. He was charged with sedition but released the very next day due to fear of a youth uprising. He traveled all over the country and drew young men into the freedom movement.
During the Second World War, he opposed India’s policy of extending support to the British and its allies and advocated complete non-cooperation. He raised voice against any supply of men and money to the British for the war.
Born on March 23, 1910 in Akbarpur in Faizabad district of Uttar Pradesh in a Marwari Vaishya community Dr. Rammanohar Lohia always fought for the betterment of the poor and downtrodden. Lohia’s father, Heera Lal, was a nationalist by spirit and a teacher and businessman by profession. The family got surname ‘Lohia’ for doing business of ‘Loha’ (hardware). His mother, Chanda, died when Rammanohar was very young. Lohia was introduced to the Indian Independence Movement at an early age by his father through the various protest assemblies. Heera Lal, an ardent follower of Mahatma Gandhi, took his son along on a meeting with the Mahatma. This meeting deeply influenced Lohia and sustained him during trying circumstances and helped seed his thoughts, actions and love for swaraj. Lohia was so impressed by Gandhiji’s spiritual power and radiant self-control that he pledged to follow the Mahatma’s footsteps. He proved his allegiance to Gandhi, and more importantly to the movement as a whole, by joining a ‘satyagraha’ march at the age of ten. Lohia attended Indian National Congress’s plenary session in 1923 at Gaya in Bihar and also the 1926 session at Guwahati.
Lohia received his early education at Tandon Pathshala and Visheshwar Nath High School in Akbarpur. He always topped in his class and remained favorite of his teachers. After his father shifted from Akbarpur to Bombay, he continued his studies at Marwari School in Bombay and passed the Matriculation Examination in the first division in 1925.His Intermediate education took place at Banaras Hindu University and after a two-year course at Banaras University, he joined the Vidyasagar College in Calcutta. In 1929 he passed his B.A. Honors Examination in English Literature. Even in his student days he was attracted towards political agitations. He went to Germany for higher studies when Hitler was in power. Lohia wrote his doctoral thesis on ‘The Taxation of Salt in India’ (with special reference to Gandhiji’s, Salt Satyagraha in India). He was awarded the Doctorate in both Economics and Political Science. He returned to India in 1933.
Lohia joined the Indian National Congress as soon as he returned to India in 1933. In 1934 he joined the group of Acharya Narendra Dev, Jayaprakash Narayan, Yusuf Meherally, Achut Patwardhan, Ashok Mehta, Purshottam Tricumdas and Kamaladevi Chattopadhyaya and was one the founder member of the Congress Socialist Party. These people dreamt of building a nation for the toiling millions with the party, declaring socialism as its objective, stated that Marxism alone could guide the anti-imperialistic forces to their destiny and emphasized on democratizing the organizational structure of the Congress.
In 1936, Lohia was elected a member of the All India Congress Committee. Young Lohia was made the Secretary of the Foreign Affairs Department of the AICC in 1936 itself under the leadership of Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru. He held this office till 1938.As Foreign Secretary of the Congress Party, Lohia was instrumental in laying the foundations of the foreign policy of India. He maintained close contacts with the freedom movements’ then going on in other parts of the world and developed close relations with progressive organizations in Asia, Africa and Latin America. As Secretary he had written a pamphlet “The Foreign Policies of the Indian National Congress and the British Labour Party” which was described as a “Work of outstanding merit” by Pandit Nehru.
When AICC passed a resolution in 1939 supporting the Britain in the war effort, Lohia opposed it and wrote an article “Down with Armaments”. He was arrested for making anti-war speeches in 1940. Soon after his release, Lohia wrote an article called “Satyagraha Now” in Gandhiji’s newspaper, Harijan, on June 1, 1940. Within six days of the publication of the article, he was re-arrested and sentenced to two years of jail. During his detention, the Magistrate said, “He (Lohia) is a top-class scholar, civilized gentleman, has liberal ideology and high moral character.”
Gandhi and the Indian National Congress launched the Quit India movement in 1942. Prominent leaders, including Gandhi, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Jawaharlal Nehru and Maulana Azad, were jailed. The “secondary cadre” stepped-in to continue the struggle and to keep the flame for Swaraj burning in the hearts of people. Leaders who were still free carried out their operations from underground. Dr Lohia played a significant role in the ‘Quit India Movement’ of 1942. He directed the movement while remaining underground and could not be detected for nearly two years. He printed and distributed many posters, pamphlets and bulletins on the theme of “Do or Die” through his secret printing-press. Lohia, along with freedom fighter Usha Mehta, established a radio station called Congress Radio and broadcast messages in Bombay from a secret place for three months before detection, as a measure to give the disarrayed Indian population a sense of hope and spirit in absence of their leaders. Lohia also edited Inquilab (Revolution), a Congress Party monthly along with Aruna Asaf Ali. Lohia then went to Calcutta to revive the movement there. He utilized the time by writing booklets, pamphlets and articles full of inspiration.
Lohia changed his name and fled to Nepal’s dense jungles to evade the British police but he was finally arrested on 20 May, 1944, in Bombay and was taken to Lahore jail, infamous for its tormenting environment. In the prison he underwent extreme agony. His health deteriorated here but courage remained unchanged. Even though he was not well, his courage and his indomitable will power strengthened him through the ordeal. While Dr Lohia was in prison, Gandhiji told a meeting of Congress Committee, “I cannot sit quiet as long as Dr. Rammanohar Lohia is in prison. I do not yet know a person braver and simpler than him. He never propagated violence. Whatever he has done has increased his esteem and his honor”. Under Gandhiji’s pressure the Government released him on 11 April 1946 from Agra Jail.
After his release Lohia decided to visit a friend in Goa to relax. Lohia was alarmed to learn that the Portuguese government had censured the people’s freedom of speech and assembly. He decided to deliver a speech to oppose the policy but was arrested even before he could reach the meeting location. The Portuguese government relented and allowed the people the right to assemble. The Goan people weaved Lohia’s tale of unselfish work for Goa in their folk songs.
More than 25 times he was arrested for his active participation in freedom struggle of India, Goa, Nepal and civil disobedience movements in free India and America.
As India’s tryst with freedom came close, Hindu-Muslim strife increased. Lohia strongly opposed the idea of partition. In his speeches and writings, he appealed to communities in riot torn regions to stay united, ignore the violence surrounding them and stick to Gandhiji’s ideals of non-violence. In February 1947 Congress Socialist Party (CSP) was transformed into Socialist Party under the Chairmanship of Dr Lohia at its Kanpur Conference and word ‘Congress’ was removed from the party.
Socialist Party/ Praja Socialist Party
On August 15, 1947, India got freedom. But India was divided now. Lohia was dejected over division of the country. Gandhi was murdered on the 30th of January 1948. The communal virus spread all over the country. The Socialist Party was not happy with the way in which the Congress leaders dealt with the situation. The Socialist Party decided to bring together the peasants, the factory workers and the workers in the middle class. In March, 1948 (19-21) Socialists left the Congress Party. They formed their own Socialist Party. One of the top leaders of the party was Lohia.
In first General Elections in free India in 1952, the Socialist party fielded its candidates all over the country. Dr. Lohia did not contest. Election could not bring much success to the Socialist Party. In January 1954, Socialist Party joined hands with the Kisan Mazdoor Party of Acharya Kripalani to form a new party called the Praja Socialist Party. Acharya Kripalani became the President of the PSP while Dr Lohia its first General Secretary.
Soon, the Praja Socialist Party came to power in Travancore and Cochin, the erstwhile princely states that later merged to form state of Kerala. Pattamthanu Pillai was the Chief Minister of the state. Once there was an agitation by estate workers. The Government resorted to firing. Lohia could not condone this action of the Government headed by his own party. His contention was that the so-called people’s party had no right to misuse its powers and to use repression against its own people. He demanded that the Praja Socialist Party Government should resign immediately. He even took a firm stand on the issue. Many leaders in the party did not want to accept his stand. But Lohia did not budge. Finally in 1955 the Praja Socialist Party took disciplinary action against Lohia and he was compelled to leave the party of which he was one of the founders.
A large numbers of his young supporter resented the disciplinary action against Lohia. In 1955, the socialist Lohiaite’s met in Hyderabad and the Socialist Party was reborn under the Chairmanship of Dr Lohia. It was the midnight of the 31st of December 1955. The City of Hyderabad witnessed a torch light procession which symbolized the birth of the new party.
A rebel Parliamentarian
Lohia contested the 1962 General Elections to the Lok Sabha from Phulpur (UP) against the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. Lohia lost the election. But he proved that he would challenge the mightiest man of the land.
In May 1963 Lohia won a Lok Sabha by election from Farrukhabad (UP). His maiden speech itself was historic. “The daily income of twenty-seven crore people of this country is a meager twenty-one paisa”, declared Lohia in the Lok Sabha, to the utter astonishment of government. His arguments in what has come to be known as the ‘Three annas versus fifteen annas’ debate were an eye opener for the people of this country. Lohia asserted that the then Governments view that average income of a person in the country was fifteen annas was misleading and false. He proved with the facts and figures that between 16 to 18 crore people were surviving on a daily earning of three and a half annas. He argued that top priority should be given to the improvement of the condition of such poor people. Everyone was astonished when Lohia disclosed that this poor country spent as much as twenty-five thousand rupees a day on the security of the Prime Minister.
A Versatile Genius
Lohia was a versatile genius. He had a sharp intellect. He wielded a sharp pen and he was a very effective and persuasive speaker. While addressing public gatherings he always spoke in Hindi. His speech used to be translated into the language of the region. He knew English, German and French very well. He was also proficient in Bengali. He was a man of incisive logic. Once he chooses a subject he would make a thorough study of it. He had special love for economics. And no one could deceive him with mere statistics.
Lohia was a prolific writer. His ideas were original and always created awareness among the masses. During the freedom struggle he showed the way of freedom to the people through his writings and left an ever-lasting impression of his thoughts on their minds. He wrote quite a number of books including India on China, The Struggle for Civil Liberties, Indian outside India, Congress and War, Rebel must advance, Indian Foreign Policy, Guilty men of India’s partition, The Caste System, A policy for the war and peace in the Himalayas, India and Pakistan, Indian Communist.
He also edited ‘Congress Socialist’ a journal of Congress Socialist Party,1936-38 and started ‘Mankind’, English monthly from Hyderabad in 1956, which voiced his views. He also started ‘Jana’ a Hindi monthly.
His scholarship was amazing. His intellect was penetrating. He was a man of independent views.
March 23 is the 100 centenary of Ram Manohar Lohia
The writer is a senior TV Journalist