Ram Manohar Lohia | |
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 Lohia on a 1977 stamp of India | |
| Born | (1910-03-23)23 March 1910 |
| Died | 12 October 1967(1967-10-12) (aged 57) New Delhi, India |
| Alma mater | |
| Political party | |
| Movement | |
Ram Manohar Lohia (pronunciationⓘ 23 March 1910 – 12 October 1967) was an Indian political activist of theIndian independence movement and asocialist politician. As a nationalist, he worked actively to protest againstcolonialism, raising awareness of the same. He founded multiple socialist political parties and later won elections to theLok Sabha.
Ram Manohar Lohia was born on 23 March 1910 in aMarwariBania family[1][2][3] atAkbarpur in modern-dayUttar Pradesh.[2] In 1912, when he was only two years old, his mother died. He was then raised by his father, Hiralal, who never remarried. In 1918, he moved with his father to Bombay, and then completed his high school education there. After securing the first position in his school at thematriculation examination, he completed his intermediate studies from theBanaras Hindu University in 1927. In 1929, he completed his Bachelor of Arts from theVidyasagar College, under theUniversity of Calcutta.[4]
In 1929, Lohia went to England for further studies. However, the political environment in London did not align with Lohia's nationalist feelings, leading him to leave the country.[5] Lohia then decided to join theFrederick William University inBerlin, Germany. He then learntGerman and won a scholarship to pursue a doctorate in economics from 1929 to 1933.[6] While studying here, Lohia wrote his Ph.D. thesis paper on the topic ofSalt Taxation in India,[6] focusing onGandhi's socio-economic theory. However, he never completed the degree.[a] Lohia was greatly influenced by the events that took place in Germany during his stay there, including therise of Hitler andNazism. He also studied the works ofMarx andEngels during this time.[5]
While studying economics atBerlin University, Lohia metGoan political leaderJulião Menezes, who was studyingmedicine. They soon became friends and were part of the Indian Students' Union inBerlin,Weimar Republic.[8] In 1930, during the session of theLeague of Nations, Lohia and Menezes, who were present on the occasion, threw bundles ofleaflets from the visitors' gallery. These leaflets denouncedGanga Singh, the thenMaharaja ofBikaner (nowRajasthan), and an Indian representative sent by theBritish Crown to present to the League of Nations.[9][10]
Lohia helped found theCongress Socialist Party in 1934. He was also the editor of its publication, theCongress Socialist. In 1936,Jawaharlal Nehru chose Lohia as the secretary of the Foreign Department of theAll India Congress Committee (AICC). In 1938, Lohia resigned as the secretary.[5]
It was at this time that Lohia began to develop his own political views. He critically examined the opinions of the Congress leadership, which was greatly influenced byGandhi,[11] and the Communists who had joined the CSP.[12]
AsWorld War II intensified, Lohia began anti-war propaganda. He was critical of the Congress Party leadership's decision to support the British government in the war, stating that the British would not grant India freedom if the Congress cooperated with them.[5] In June 1940, he was arrested and sentenced to a jail term of two years for delivering anti-war speeches.[13] After theCripps Mission was sent to India, Gandhi and Lohia together opposed it. Lohia stated that Britain would not grant India freedom on its own. Nehru, however, desired independence but refused to take an anti-war stand. Subsequently, Lohia criticized Nehru at the May 1942 session of the AICC, held inAllahabad.[5]
During theQuit India Movement, Lohia became an important leader after the arrest of bothGandhi andNehru. Lohia set up the clandestine radio stations called the Congress Radio in Calcutta and Bombay.[14] In his words, he intended to "disseminate the much needed information to the masses to sustain a leaderless movement". He was then captured and imprisoned inLahore Fort in 1944. Lohia andJayaprakash Narayan, who had assembled a guerilla force during the same movement,[15] were then released on 11 April 1946.[16]
Following his release, Lohia met his friendJulião Menezes in Bombay for amedical consultation in April 1946. Menezes then invited Lohia to recuperate with him at his home in Goa. They reached Menezes' Goa home on 10 June 1946. After the news of Lohia's arrival spread, the general public and other local freedom fighters began visiting Lohia in large numbers. Menezes and Lohia then began planning acivil disobedience movement. Over the next few days, they addressed people around Goa, informing people that they would defy the ban on public meetings and address an audience of Goans on 18 June in the city ofMargao.[17]
On 18 June 1946, Menezes and Lohia arrived at the designatedmaidan in Margao, evading and defying thePortuguese police. They were greeted by a large crowd that was chanting slogans. About 600–700 people gathered before the duo was physically escorted to the police station, just as Lohia had begun addressing the audience. The police resorted to abaton charge to disperse the crowd. However, everyone regrouped at the police station and only left after Lohia addressed them briefly. The location of the gathering is today known as Lohia Maidan, and the date, 18 June, is celebrated as Goa Revolution Day.[17]
Over the next few months,Gandhi publicly supported Lohia in his efforts to free Goa.[18] Lohia arrived back to Goa in September 1946 but was immediately arrested and jailed for 10 days atAguada fort.[5]
On the eve of theIndia's Independence Day, 14 August 1947, Lohia andGandhi together helped maintain the peace between Hindus and Muslims inCalcutta. After riots on 31 August, Gandhi went on an indefinite fast. Lohia then took up a peace mission, working with rioters and gathering their weapons. His mission was successful in stopping the riots, following which Gandhi ended his fast.[5][19]
Following theassassination of Gandhi in 1948, the Socialists Party grew apart from theIndian National Congress (INC). At the INC session atNashik in March 1948, the Socialists decided to leave the INC. Further, they resolved to protest for the immediate integration of theprincely states into India. This protest led to Lohia's arrest in January 1950 atRewa, Madhya Pradesh.[5]
In 1949, the Socialists had founded the Hind Kisan Panchayat, with Lohia as its first President. Also in 1949, Lohia encouraged theNepali Congress leaders to protest for democracy inNepal. He led a large protest to the Embassy of Nepal inNew Delhi, which led to his arrest and imprisonment for two months.[5]
In 1951, Lohia attended the International Socialist Congress inFrankfurt. Between 1952 and 1954, he attempted to unite Asian socialists under the banner ofAsian Socialist Conference. However, his success was limited due to differences between the Indians and other Asians.[5] Lohia's motivation behind this was that organizations like theCommunist International (Comintern) and theSocialist International were under the influence ofwhite people.[20]
In 1954, he led a farmers' protest in Uttar Pradesh. This was to protest the high tax rates for water. As the protest intensified, Lohia was arrested under the Special Powers Act, 1932.[5]
In 1952, the Socialist Party joined theAcharya Kripalani'sKisan Mazdoor Praja Party to form thePraja Socialist Party (PSP). Lohia was elected its president in 1953.[5]
In 1954, inKerala, the Congress-PSP coalition government fired at peaceful protesters. Lohia was upset about this and asked PSP'sPattom Thanu Pillai, the Chief Minister, to resign. When Pillai refused, Lohia himself resigned as president. In 1955, his relationship with the PSP was further strained after the PSP proposed to join the Congress government. Further, Lohia did not participate in talks withJayaprakash Narayan and Nehru. He was also not happy about the PSP's policy to be the Opposition party to the ruling Congress party. This led to his removal from the PSP. Thus, in December 1955, Lohia founded theSocialist Party at a meeting inHyderabad, in which he was elected president. He advocated a programme of "Power within seven years" at this meeting, referring to the proposed rise of socialism in the country.[5]
Some points that the new Socialist Party fought for were the abolishment of thecaste system, equal opportunities for all, classless bogies in trains, moving away from the English language and opposition of the rich English medium schools. The Party initiated multiple protests across the country for the upliftment of farmers and the landless. In 1957 and 1962, it launched nation-widesatyagrahas on these issues. Lohia even went to jail in 1957.[5]
He, along with other party members, contested elections in 1957. While Lohia lost the Lok Sabha elections, the Party won seats in Legislative assemblies in multiple states across the country.[5]
In 1960, Lohia led asatyagraha to enter into theNorth-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) and was arrested. In 1961, he was attacked with stones at an anti-English language meeting inTamil Nadu. In 1962, he fought the Lok Sabha elections inPhulpur Lok Sabha constituency against Nehru but was defeated.[5]
In 1963, Lohia won the by-election inFarrukhabad Lok Sabha constituency.The Statesman sarcastically described his entry into the Lok Sabha as that of "a bull in a China shop". During his term, he raised several issues inParliament.[5] The most significant of these was his 1963 speech in the Parliament, in which he exposed the fact that 2.7crore Indians lived on 3annas (barely 20paisa) a day. He also criticized the government'sFive Year Plan, calling its expenditure of 10,000 crores as wasteful, stating that it was only in an attempt to imitate the European ways of living.[21]
In 1964, he toured theUnited States, launching asatyagraha againstracism there. After he entered a hotel which had denied entry to the Blacks, he was briefly arrested. The US Administration later apologized for this.[5]
By 1965, the Socialists across the country decided to merge, so as to defeat the ruling Congress Party. TheSocialist Party then merged with thePraja Socialist Party to form theSamyukta Socialist Party.[5]
In 1967, under Lohia's leadership, the Samyukta Socialist Party defeated the Congress in seven states (including Uttar Pradesh), forming the government there. This was part of an alliance that was formed by Lohia andBharatiya Jana Sangh leaderNanaji Deshmukh.[22] This coalition was referred to as theSamyukta Vidhayak Dal.
However, soon after, Lohia realised that the newly elected ministers from his Party were seeking power instead of implementing socialist principles. While this affected him, he continued to guide them.[5]
In 1967, Lohia won the elections from the newly createdKannauj Lok Sabha constituency, which was split from theFarrukhabad Lok Sabha constituency. Due to strong opposition from the Congress, he won with a majority of only 472 votes.[23]
In 1978, former Union Health MinisterRaj Narain reported that Lohia may have died due to medical negligence. Lohia was a diabetic and a hypertensive patient. A commission appointed by the Union government to inquire into the cause of his death found that he had undergone an operation, during which one of the stitches was not properly done. This led to excessive bleeding, leading to his death at the age of 57 on 12 October 1967.[24]
Lohia was a bachelor when he died and had no personal wealth. He also had no house. At his funeral,Jayaprakash Narayan stated that "Dr Lohia was the messiah of the poor in India".[5]
Lohia repeatedly criticizedNehru's work. He also advocated against the extensive use ofEnglish language, leading an extensive campaign for the same. Lohia also publicly questioned the dominance ofUpper Castes and advocated for affirmative action that was caste-based.[25]
In 1963, Lohia proposed the idea ofSaptakranti (transl. Seven Revolutions). He stated that mankind is revolting for:[26]
Also in 1963, he spoke about the unity of Hindus and Muslims, requesting them to rethink the last 800 years of India's history.[27]
Lohia believed that for the country to progress, caste inequality must be abolished. To implement this, he proposed the idea of "roti andbeti", stating that people must first be willing to break caste barriers and eat the sameroti, and then let their daughters (beti) marry people from other castes.[28]
Emraan Hashmi portrayed Lohia in the 2024 film,Ae Watan Mere Watan.[30]
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