PM & other leaders honour freedom fighter Ram Manohar Lohia on his 113th b'day

The Hawk - Chirag Kaul: The nation is remembering freedom fighter Ram Manohar Lohia on his 113th birth anniversary. Lohia was born on March 23, 1910 and originated from a backward caste with agriculatural land that transformed politics in the heartland. 

The Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted, "Remembering Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Ji on his birth anniversary. He was a towering intellectual and prolific thinker who contributed immensely to India's freedom struggle and later as a dedicated leader as well as MP. We are working hard to fulfil his vision for a strong India". 

Many leaders paid tribute to the freedom fighter Ram Manohar Lohia Ji, among which some well-known leaders are Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla, Maharastra deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath, Delhi Environment minister Gopal Rai, Lok Janshakti Party leader Chirag Paswan. 

Lohia was born in at Akbarpur, which is known as Balia in Uttar Pradesh at present, into a family of merchants. As his mother passed away when he was two, his grandparents took up the bulk of his upbringing. Nonetheless, his father's dedication to Indian nationalism had an impact on him. Lohia went to school in Varanasi and then Calcutta before leaving India to complete his doctorate at the Humboldt University of Berlin with his PHD dissertation on the topic of salt taxation in India in 1933. (one of the earliest evidence of the widespread influence of Gandhi's Salt Satyagraha on the youth of the nation). 

Having joined the Congress Socialist Party (CSP) soon after its formation in 1934 as a left-wing party within the Indian National Congress, he became politically involved in that organisation. He spent 18 months in prison for making anti-British remarks in 1939 and 1940. 

Lohia was a known critic of Jawaharlal Nehru. In 1963, he won a seat in the Lok Sabha, where he was known for his courageous criticism of government policy. In 1967, he was responsible for shaping the first non-Congress government in Uttar Pradesh by uniting various parties on a common platform. This included the Bharatiya Jana Sangh as well. 

Despite of his limited influence in the parliament, many Indians were inspired by the progressive views that he expressed in number of publications. At age of 57, Ram Manohar Lohia passed away on October 12, 1967, in the Willingdon Nursing Home in Delhi.