Today we remember the eminent nationalist leader Gopal Krishna Gokhale, who died on 19 February 1915. Born on 9 May, 1866, in Maharashtra, Gokhale graduated from Elphinstone College in 1884. In addition to learning English, he was exposed to Western political thought and became a great admirer of theorists such as John Stuart Mill and Edmund Burke. Gokhle was deeply influenced by the social works of Justice Mahadev Govind Ranade. At the age of 22, Gokhale became secretary of the leading political organization SarvajanikSabha. At the age of 29, Gokhale was chosen to be the secretary, in the Indian National Congress. In the same year he was elected to the senate of Bombay University. Gokhale was also a member of the Poona Municipality and served as its President. Under his leadership, the municipal government was effectively reformed and democratized. In 1899 he was elected to the Bombay Legislative Council, and played a prominent role until his election to the Imperial Legislative Council in 1902. In the Imperial Legislative Council, his command over subjects marked him as the most distinguished member of the Council. The year 1905 saw Gokhale at the apex of his political career. He was elected president of the Indian National Congress, and he founded the “Servants of India Society” which was dedicated to the advancement of the nation's welfare. He was also sent by the Congress on a special mission to England to promote India's constitutional demands before the British government. While in England, Gokhle had several important interviews with the secretary of state for India, John Morley. In 1912 when Gokhale visited South Africa, he met Gandhiji where he was fighting for their rights of indentured laborers. When Gandhiji returned to India in 1915, it was Gokhale who mentored him. Gokhle helped Gandhiji acquire knowledge and understanding of the issues confronting common Indians.The great leader Gopal Krishna Gokhale died on 19th February, 1915, leaving a void in the lives of his admirers.
We also remember Gandhian thinker and activist Dharampal who was born on 19th February 1922 in Muzaffarnagar. From his childhood, Dharampal was deeply inspired by Mahatma Gandhiji. Responding to Gandhiji’s call for individual Satyagraha in 1940, he joined the freedom struggle. In 1942 he left his graduation and became actively involved in the Quit India movement. He also worked with Gandhiji’s disciple Mirabehn. In 1947 at the time of Partition, he was put in charge of the Congress Socialist Party’s center for the rehabilitation of migrants coming from Pakistan, and came in close contact with Kamaladevi Chattopadhyaya and Dr. Ram ManoharLohia. He was also a founding member of the Indian Cooperative Union in 1948. From 1966 Dharampal devoted himself to an exploration of Indian archives spread over the British Isles. In this period, he published several books on the nature and functioning of pre-British Indian society. Some of his seminal works include Civil Disobedience and Indian Tradition, and The Beautiful Tree: Indigenous Indian Education in the Eighteenth Century. His research has revolutionized the understanding of Indian culture, scientific and technological achievements at the eve of the British conquest. Collections of his writings have been published by the Publications Division of the Government of India. Dharampal was closely associated with Gandhiji’sSevagram Ashram at Wardha which he considered his main abode until he passed away there on 24th of October 2006.
