C.Rajagopalachari or Rajaji or CR was born on December 10, 1878 at
Thorapalli Agraharam in Salem District, Tamil Nadu.
He studied at Government Boys School at Thorapalli and Hosur and passed
his matriculation in 1891. He obtained his BA from Central College, Bangalore
in 1894 and BL from Government Law College, Madras in 1897.
He practiced as an Advocate at Salem and Madras (1897 – 1917) appearing for
all sections of the society particularly for peasants, labourers and freedom fighters.
He however gave up his lucrative legal practice and participated in the Independence
Movement under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi (1917 – 1937).
He was instrumental in the landslide victory of the Indian National
Congress in the 1937 elections and served as Premier of Madras State (1937 –
1939). He however resigned and rejoined the Satyagraha Movement to end British
rule in India (1939 – 1946).
He served successively as Member of Finance, Industries and Supply in
the Viceroy Executive Council (1946 – 1947), Governor of West Bengal (1947 –
1948) , Governor General of India (1948 – 1950), Union Minister of Home Affairs
(1950 – 1952) and Chief Minister of Madras (1952 – 1954).
He was Leader of the Indian National Democratic Congress (1954 – 1959)
and Swatantra Party of India (1959 – 1972).
He died on December 25, 1972 at Madras aged 94 years.
Independence Activist
He joined the Indian Independence Movement in 1917 under the leadership of
Mahatma Gandhi and actively participated in the Civil
Disobedience Movement, Non Cooperation Movement, Salt Satyagraha and Quit India
Movements .He was imprisoned several times by the British Raj (1917 – 1947).
He was the Leader of Vedaranyam Salt Satyagraha
in 1930 which was organized in parallel to Mahatma Gandhi’s Dandi Salt Satyagraha
to protest the imposition of salt tax by the British Raj.
He was General Secretary and President of Indian National Congress.
Government Service
He had the rare distinction of serving all levels of administration –
Chairman of Salem Municipal Board, Chief Minister of Madras, Union Minister of
Home Affairs, Governor of Bengal and Governor General of India.
He as the first and the last Indian Governor General of India oversaw
the smooth transition of Dominion of India into Republic of India.
He was the Chief Minister of Madras twice (1937 – 1939) & (1952 –
1954) and introduced prohibition, agrarian and education reforms. He campaigned
for communal harmony, abolished untouchablity and provided the underprivileged
with equal rights of entry to temples and public places.
Public Service
A Gandhian he was a champion of Ahimsa, Satyagraha, Swarajya and Sarvodaya.
He established the Gandhi Ashram at
Thiruchengode, Salem in 1925 and was described by Mahatma as “keeper of my conscience”.
He cofounded the Bharatya Vidya Bhavan in 1938 for promotion of Indian
education and culture.
He was the Leader of Indian Delegation to USA and USSR organized by Gandhi
Peace Foundation which appealed the respective Presidents to ban nuclear weapons.
Publications
An accomplished writer and orator in Tamil and English, He published
several articles and books on law, social reforms and literature.
His notable literary works are abridged versions and translations of Ramayana,
Mahabharata, Bhagvad Gita, Vedas and Upanishads.
He as the Chief Minister of Madras lifted the ban imposed by the British
Raj on patriotic songs composed by Mahakavi Bharathi.
He edited the periodicals Young India, Leader, Swarajya and Vimochana.
He composed the lyrics of the Tamil song ‘Kurai Ondrum Illai’
immortalised by the golden voice of Carnatic vocalist MS Subbulakshmi.
Awards
The Government of India conferred on him the Bharat Ratna in 1954, He is
the first recipient of the highest civilian honour of the nation.
He received the Sahitya Akademi award for Tamil in 1958 for his literary
masterpiece ‘Chakravarthi Thirumagan’
Doctorates
He was conferred Honorary Doctorates by the Universities of Lucknow, Madras,
Mysore, Osmania, for his services to the
Nation.
Resources
No comments:
Post a Comment