1. National Seminar on Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia
Held at: Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia National Law University
Lucknow.
Author: Himanshu Chandra
.E-mail: himanshu.boost@gmail.com

2. Article: Ram Manohar Lohia Biography
Born On: March 23, 1910
Born In: Akbarpur, Uttar Pradesh
Died On: October 12, 1967
Career: Freedom Fighter, Socialist, Political Leader
Nationality: Indian
An honoured freedom fighter, a maverick socialist and an esteemed political leader are
phrases that have long been and still are synonymous to Ram Manohar Lohia. Having been
born in 1910 in the pre-independence era to a nationalist-at-heart father, it didn't take him
long before he entered the freedom movement. And with Mahatma Gandhi as his mentor, he
never shied away from the truth and worked his way wonderfully through India's freedom
struggle for independence to post-independence social and economic issues with an
unswayed enthusiasm and dedication. Be it organizing a small strike on the death of
Lokmanya Tilak or providing support to India's freedom struggle by participating in the
Satyagraha Movement at the age of ten; raising his voice to the social evils like rich-poor
divide, elimination of caste system, and man-woman inequality; summoning the youth on the
topics of politics, literature, and arts during his last few years; he did it all. At the age of 57
he passed away, but not before making an applaud-worthy contribution to both, India's
history and future. It's only respectful that many colleges, universities, hospitals, and roads
have been named after him in his remembrance.

3. Early Life
Son of Hira Lal and Chanda, Ram Manohar was born on 23rd March 1910 in Akbarpur, Uttar
Pradesh in the British India. His mother, who was a teacher by profession, passed away while
he was still very young. At a young age, Ram's father, who was a nationalist, introduced him
to India's freedom movement through various rallies and protest assemblies. The turning
point in his life came when his father, an impassioned follower of Mahatma Gandhi, took him
along on a meeting with Mahatma Gandhi. Deeply inspired by Gandhi's personality and
beliefs, Ram took his values and principles to heart which helped him come through the
testing times and supported him in many of his endeavors in future. At the age of ten, he
participated in the Satyagraha march and proved both, his loyalty to Mahatma Gandhi and his
metal as a significant freedom fighter in the time to come.
In 1921, he met Jawaharlal Nehru, with whom he developed a deep bond over the years.
However, the two had clash of opinions over various issues and political beliefs. At the age of
18, in the year 1928, young Lohia organized a student protest to object the all-white Simon
Commission which was to consider the possibility of granting India dominion status without
requiring consultation of the Indian people. However, in midst of all this, Lohia did not give
up on his education. He attended the Banaras Hindu University to complete his intermediate
course work after standing first in his school's matric examinations. He, then, completed his
graduation in B.A from Calcutta University in 1929 and went to Berlin University, Germany
to pursue his PhD and completed it in 1932. He soon learned German and received financial
assistance based on his outstanding academic performance.
His Idealisms
Ram Manohar Lohia always preferred Hindi over English as the official language of India as
he believed that English creates a distance between the educated and the uneducated public.
He stated that the usage of English acts as a hindrance in the way of original thinking and
creates a sense of un-belongingness among the uneducated class. He believed that using
Hindi would promote a spirit of unity and will foster new nation changing ideas. "Caste
restricts opportunity. Restricted opportunity constricts ability. Constricted ability further
restricts opportunity. Where caste prevails, opportunity and ability are restricted to evernarrowing circles of the people". These words from Ram Manohar truly project what he
thought of ever existent caste system in India.
He believed that caste system impairs the thought processes and robs the country of fresh
ideas. He suggested for a nullification of the caste system through "Roti and Beti (bread and
daughter)". He believed that the only way to annihilate the caste barrier is by baking bread
(roti) together as one (eating together) and by being willing to marry the girls (beti) despite of
what caste the boy belongs to. For the same, he handed out electoral tickets to the higher

4. positions in his United Socialist Party to the lower caste candidates and even promoted them.
He also wanted to establish better government schools which would provide equal learning
opportunities to everyone despite of the class.
Indian Freedom Movement
His spirit and role in the freedom movement did not end with his stint while he was young. In
fact, while his stay in Europe, he also organized a club Association of European Indians, the
purpose of which was to expand and preserve Indian nationalism outside India. He also
attended the League of Nations assembly in Geneva. Though India was represented by the
Maharaja of Bikaner, an ally of the British Raj, Lohia took exception to this. Further, he
launched a protest from the visitors' gallery and later fired several letters to editors of
newspapers and magazines to clarify the reasons for his protest. The whole incident made
Ram Manohar Lohia a superstar in India, overnight. Immediately after his return to the home
country, he joined the Indian National Congress party and laid the base for Congress Socialist
Party formed in 1934. In 1936, Jawahar Lal Nehru appointed him as the first secretary of the
All India Congress Committee which led to the formation of the foreign affairs department
for the first time, in giving shape to India's foreign policy.
On 24th May, 1939, Lohia was arrested for the first time for making provocative statements
and urging Indian people to boycott all government institutions but was released by the
authorities on the very next day because of the fear of youth uprising. However in June 1940,
he was arrested yet again under charges of writing the article "Satyagraha Now" and was sent
for two years of imprisonment where he was mentally tortured and interrogated, before being
set free in December 1941. During the Quit India Movement in 1942, Ram Manohar was
among many other secondary leaders who made tremendous effort to keep the fire of an
independent India burning inside the commoners; when many top leaders like Mahatma
Gandhi, Nehru, Maulana Azad, and Vallabhbhai Patel were imprisoned.
Lohia got arrested twice after that, once in Bombay from where he was taken to a prison in
Lahore and was brutally tortured; and once in Goa, where upon learning that the Portuguese
government had restricted people's freedom of speech and assembly, he decided to make a
speech against Portuguese government's policy. And as India was getting closer to being
independent, he strongly opposed partition of the country into two through his writings and
speeches. Being a hardcore follower of Mahatma Gandhi and adopting his philosophy of nonviolence, he pleaded the nation against the acts of violence that had engulfed the country
because of partition. On 15th August 1947, when all of the India assembled in Delhi, he stood
by his mentor mourning the after-effects of an unwanted partition.

5. Post Independence
The post independence work that he indulged in to rebuild the nation and make it stand firm
was no less ordinary than his contribution as a freedom fighter in India's struggle for
independence. He urged for a more personal involvement and contribution from the general
public to reconstruct the nation by constructing wells, canals, and roads in their respective
local and neighborhood areas. The Janavani Day, a day to listen to the grievances and
opinions of people from across the nation by the parliament members; is still persistent today.
The controversy of "teen anna pandrah anna", when Ram Manohar wrote a pamphlet "25000
rupees in a day" stating that the amount of money spent on prime minister Jawahar Lal Nehru
was way more than our country could afford when majority of the population lived on 3
annas a day, is famous even today. In reply, Nehru had snapped stating that India's planning
commission's statistics reflected that the average income was close to 15 annas a day.
Lohia brought many issues at surface that had long been eating away the nation and its
capacity to succeed. He worked hard through speech and writing in creating awareness and
bringing forth the problems like rich man-poor man gap, caste inequalities, man-woman
inequalities, and yet not giving away individual privacy. Since agriculture was India's
primary source of GDP at that time, Lohia formed Hind Kisan Panchayat, whereby farmers of
the country could resolve their problems. He even made an effort to provide more power into
the hands of general public by planning to centralize the government. During his last few
years, he spent most of his time in discussing the topics of politics, Indian literature, and arts
with the younger generation of the nation.
Death
On 12th October, 1967; at the age of 57 Ram Manohar Lohia died in New Delhi.
Posthumously
Ram Manohar Lohia's contribution did not go in vain, as people realized his efforts for a
united and free India. Post his death; he was bestowed with numerous nobilities. Dr.
Rammanohar Lohiya National Law University, one of the premier law institutes in India,
located at Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, has been named after him. Apart from this, there is a
hospital in New Delhi by the name of Dr. Rammanohar Lohia Hospital that has been
established in his memory. Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Institute of Medical Sciences is an
upcoming medical institute for postgrauade studies in Lucknow Uttar Pradesh. To add on, the
Dr. Rammanohar Lohia College of Law, affiliated with Bangalore University, has been
named after him. Also, "18 June Road", in Panjim, Goa is named after himmarkign his
agitation against colonial rule in the year 1946.

6. Timeline
1910: Born to Hira Lal and Chanda in Akbarpur, UP.
1921: Participated in Satyagraha March lead by Mahatma Gandhi.
1928: Organized a student protest against the all-white Simon Commission.
1929: Completed his graduation in B.A from Calcutta University.
1932: Completed his Ph D from Berlin University, Germany.
1934: Laid the foundation for Congress Socialist Party.
1936: Elected as first secretary to the All India Congress Committee.
1939: Arrested for making harsh speeches and asking people to boycott government
institutions.
1940: Arrested yet again for his article "Satyagraha Now".
1942: Participated in Quit India Movement.
1944: Arrested and taken to a jail in Lahore where he was tortured.
1947: Was amongst the many leaders who were present in New Delhi on 15th August.
1962: Shocked everyone by asking India to produce a bomb shortly after the Chinese
aggression.
1963: His pamphlet "25000 rupees in a day" sparked off the still-remembered "teen anna
pandrah anna controversy".
1967: Died at the age of 57 in New Delhi.