Sarovadaya leader- Dada Ganeshi Lal
-Dr RAJ BAHADUR YADAV
It
was 1979 when I visited the Sarvodaya Bhawan alongwith a close friend
for the first time in Hisar in the evening. I had heard that on Sundays,
a " vichar gosthi"[ symposium] was held here and a distinguished
social worker,journalist or a scholar of the town was invited to address
the audience for half to one hour,followed by a question-answer
session. When I entered the modest conference hall, I saw a frail old
man in his eighties singing,"Bisar gai sab taat parai/Jab te sadh sangat
mohe paayi"[Nobody has remained a stranger to me since I got the
company of saints]. My friend leaned over and whispered in my ear,"Look
here! It is Dada Ganeshi Lal- famous Sarvodaya leader and freedom
fighter of Haryana". I felt mesmerised and spiritually lifted at his
soul-stirring words,"Na hi koi beri, nahi begana/sagal sangi hum ko bani
aai"[ Nobody is my enemy nor is anyone a stranger to me because I have
come to realize that only in the company of all human beings, I can have
my own meaningful existence]". Later on, I came to know that this
divine and melodious poem was composed by the fifth Sikh Guru, Shri
Arjan Devji.
As a college student, I was very fond of good books. I was quite
curious to know more and more about our great men. Dada Ganeshi Lal was
kind enough to encourage me to go through the biography of Gandhiji.He
looked very old and physically emaciated yet his words were very
powerful. One day , I saw him sitting in a chair in the courtyard of the
Sarvodaya Bhawan. He said to me," Take a chair and let me know what you
have been reading these days". I humbly replied,"Books on Gandhi!" He
kept quiet for a few seconds and then asked me,"What do you think about
the philosophy of this great man?" As my college teachers had taught me
in the classroom, I promptly said," He is an apostle of non-violence!"
Dadaji smiled a bit and said," You are right but you must know that what
Gandhiji said in words, he actually practised that in words too". He
paused and added" People in millions came out to attend his mammoth
rallies during the freedom struggle. He was the tallest leader of our
freedom struggle".
What impressed me the most about Dada Ganeshi Lal was that he led a
very simple life. He never boasted about his role in freedom struggle
and the "Bhoodan Movement" after our Independence. He always dressed
himself in the coarse clothes of khadi with a Gandhian cap on his head.I
never saw him eating dry fruits like our present day leaders. He
enjoyed a few well-baked "chapatis" with lentil. He firmly believed in
Gandhi's advice," All compromise is based on give and take, but there
can be no give and take on fundamentals!" It is a fact that Dada Ganeshi
Lal fought for peasants and weaker sections all his life. He was,no
doubt, in a way, the Gandhi of Haryana. Once, I asked him, 'How did you
look like in your youth, Dadaji?" He went inside and came out with a
book in which his photo in black had been published. He looked like a
youth in his early twenties. He laughed and said," I was born in
Patiala. I came here when I had just grown up into a youngman". He
did'tmarry and raise a family. When I asked him,"How can people control
their egos in public life?" Dada Ganeshi Lal's words still resonate in
my ears," Suppose, I have drawn a small line as a social worker, you
may raise a bigger line than mine but you cannot erase it altogether".
We should respect one another and wait for our turn.
Dada Ganeshi Lal remained in the British jails of joint Punjab for
years together. Our popular heroes of freedom struggle like Netaji
Subhash Chandra Bose and Lok Nayak Jayaprakash Narayan, visited him. It
was JP himself who addressed him as"Dada" in one of public meetings held
during the "Bhoodan movement" in Hisar and Sirsa districts in fifties.
Most reputed Chief Ministers of joint Punjab like Gopichand Bhargav and
Bhimsen Sachhar knew about his pro-people and fearless life as a social
reformer. He raised the issue of "muzaras"[landless farmers] alongwith
Choudhary Sahab Ram, Lehari Singh, Com. Harkishan Singh Surjeet,
Choudhary Devi Lal, Lajpat Rai Alakhpura, Ladhu Ram Verma and Mani Ram
Bagri. Dada Ganeshi Lal played the key role in persuading the former
Chief Ministers of joint Punjab to adopt Punjab Farming Ordinance Act,
1950 and passing the Punjab Farming Security Resolution also. He toured
hundreds of villages in order to abolish the feudal practice of
"zamindari" in the rural areas. The people of Hisar, Fatehabad and Sirsa
districts will always remember him as an upright and selfless social
reformer. He tried his best to change the land relations and empower the
landless by donating land to them. He left for his heavenly abode in
early nineties. It is quite painful to say that we don't have an
authentic biography on the life and works of Dada Ganeshi Lal, the
eminent freedom fighter and Sarvodaya leader of Haryana.Dada Ganeshi Lal
will always dwell in the hearts of common people of Haryana.
Note:- The writer is a Fatehabad-based academician.
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