Page 62 - NIS English 16-30 June,2023
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Nation Amrit Mahotsav
GANESH GHOSH DADA DHARMADHIKARI
SPENT 14 YEARS IN DEDICATED TO EMPOWERMENT
ANDAMAN'S CELLULAR JAIL OF DALITS AND WOMEN
Born: 22 June 1900, Died: 16 October 1994 Born: 18 June 1899, Died: 1 December, 1985
he great nationalist Ganesh Ghosh was born hankar Trimbak Dharmadhikari, a well-known
Ton June 22, 1900, in Bindopur village, Jessore SIndian freedom fighter, Gandhian thinker, and
district, Bengal province. His ancestors were author of numerous revolutionary books, was born
from Chittagong, which is now in Bangladesh. on June 18, 1899, in Madhya Pradesh's Betul district.
He had become involved in the freedom struggle He was a great Gandhian leader in the country,
during his student years. Ganesh Ghosh was a famously known as Dada Dharmadhikari. Dada
member of revolutionary groups that advocated Dharmadhikari devoted the majority of his time to the
armed rebellion against British colonial rule in advancement of Dalits and women. He advocated for
India. Ghosh had been detained by the British an ideological revolution. He believed that in order
in connection with the Maniktala bombing case. to change society, people's attitudes had to change.
Because there was no evidence in this case, he Dada Dharmadhikari was well versed in Hindi,
was not punished, but the government kept him Sanskrit, Marathi, Bangla, Gujarati, and English.
under house arrest for about three years. He has written and published over a dozen books.
After being released from house arrest, he met When he was studying in Nagpur, Mahatma Gandhi
the renowned revolutionary Surya Sen and began launched the 'Non-Cooperation Movement'. In
to consider ending British rule. So he joined the such a situation, he left his studies and joined
Jugantar Party and became an active member. the movement. He had no formal education but
On April 18, 1930, he joined Surya Sen and other had risen to prominence among thinkers of his
revolutionaries in the Chittagong armoury raid. generation through self-education. He was an active
These revolutionaries attacked the library as member of the 'Gandhi Seva Sangh'. He was elected
well as the telephone and telegraph offices. to the Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly and the
Their plan was to seize the armoury. Due to the Constituent Council after being released from the
attack, the revolutionaries got weapons from "Quit India Movement."
the armoury but were unable to get ammunition. He had a very close association with Acharya
Ganesh, meanwhile, became separated from his Vinoba Bhave and also participated in the 'Bhoodan
companions and travelled to Chandannagar, a Movement'. Prime Minister Narendra Modi
French settlement. He was later arrested by the remembered Dada Dharmadhikari at a students'
police. He was brought to Kolkata and sentenced conference commemorating Pandit Deendayal
to life in prison after a trial in 1932. Upadhyaya's centenary and the 125th anniversary of
He was imprisoned in Port Blair's Cellular Jail Swami Vivekananda's speech in Chicago. He stated
as punishment. He was imprisoned there for 14 that Vinoba Bhave did the work of expressing what
years. He entered politics after being released Mahatma Gandhi used to think and say throughout
from prison in 1946. Even after independence, his life, and the work of putting into words what Vinoba
he was active in many movements and devoted used to think can be seen in Dada Dharmadhikari's
to the service of his country until his death. In thinking. Along with this, Prime Minister Modi
1952, 1957, and 1962, he was elected to the West mentioned a funny episode of a job seeker in a book
Bengal Legislative Assembly from Belgachia. by Dharmadhikari in that programme. In which it
He was elected to the fourth Lok Sabha in 1967. is stated that the young man looking for work has
Ganesh Ghosh died at the age of 94 on October received education but cannot tell what skill he
16, 1994. possesses. He passed away on December 1, 1985.
60 New India Samachar June 16-30, 2023
