Pandit Raghunath Vinayak Dhulekar (6 January 1891 – 1980) was a prominent Indian freedom fighter, notable pleader & a social leader from Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh who took an active part in the

Indian National Movement The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British rule in India. It lasted from 1857 to 1947. The first nationalistic revolutionary movement for Indian independence emerged ...

and

Salt March The Salt March, also known as the Salt Satyagraha, Dandi March and the Dandi Satyagraha, was an act of nonviolent civil disobedience in colonial India led by Mahatma Gandhi. The twenty-four day march lasted from 12 March to 6 April 1930 as a di ...

and held many responsible positions in Indian politics including Member of the

Parliament of India The Parliament of India (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ) is the supreme legislative body of the Republic of India. It is a bicameralism, bicameral legislature composed of the president of India and two houses: the R ...

and

Constituent Assembly A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...

in 1952.

Early life

He was born on 6 January 1891 in

Jhansi Jhansi (; Hindi: झांसी, Urdu: ) is a historic city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It lies in the region of Bundelkhand on the banks of the Pahuj River, in the extreme south of Uttar Pradesh. Jhansi is the administrative hea ...

, Uttar Pradesh in a Marathi speaking family; and married Janki Bai on 10 May 1912. He graduated from

Calcutta University The University of Calcutta (informally known as Calcutta University; CU) is a public collegiate state university in India, located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Considered one of best state research university all over India every year, C ...

with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree in English in 1914. In 1916, he graduated from

Allahabad University , mottoeng = "As Many Branches So Many Trees" , established = , type = Public , chancellor = Ashish Chauhan , vice_chancellor = Sangita Srivastava , head_label ...

with a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

and

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

. He later set up his practice at District Court

Amendment in constitution for Hindi language

In December 1946, he produced an amendment bill before parliament to work and speak in parliament in Hindi and then translated in English language for all parliamentary members. On 10 December 1946 he delivered his first major speech in Hindustani. In his speech he said that people who do not know Hindustani have no right to stay in India. People who are present in this House to fashion out a constitution for India and do not know Hindustani are not worthy to be members of this Assembly. They better leave. He was declared out of order but returned to the seat after a request from

Jawaharlal Nehru Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat— * * * * and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20t ...

Career

Pandit Raghunath Dhulekar was a practicing

pleader A special pleader was a historical legal occupation. The practitioner, or "special pleader" in English law specialised in drafting "pleadings", in modern terminology statements of case. History Up to the 19th century, there were many rules, tech ...

prominent in civil and revenue matters at the District court, Jhansi and later in the Divisional Court,

. Babu Narayan Das Shrivastava, notable pleader and a social leader of

Bundelkhand Bundelkhand (, ) is a geographical and cultural region and a proposed state and also a mountain range in central & North India. The hilly region is now divided between the states of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, with the larger portion lyin ...

region was his associate during his early days at District Court,

. From 1920 to 1925, he published the Hindi newspapers '' Swaraja Prapti'' and '' Free India''. As a result of his involvement with the India freedom movement, Dhulekar was arrested by British forces in 1925. In 1937, he was elected as Congressman for the

Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly The Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly (Hindi: ''Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Sabha'') is the lower house of the bicameral legislature of Uttar Pradesh. There are 403 seats in the house filled by direct election using a single-member first-past-the-p ...

. From 1937 to 1944, he was imprisoned for continuing to participate with the freedom movement. In 1946, he presented a bill to establish Hindi as India's national language. The bill was passed and ruled that Hindi would become the nation's official language in 1965. However, Hindi was never made the national language as a result of the

Anti-Hindi agitations of Tamil Nadu The anti-Hindi-imposition agitations in Tamil Nadu were a series of agitations that happened in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu (formerly Madras State and part of Madras Presidency) during both pre- and post-independence periods. The agitations ...

. In 1946, Dhulekar was elected as a member of

Constituent Assembly of India The Constituent Assembly of India was elected to frame the Constitution of India. It was elected by the 'Provincial Assembly'. Following India's independence from the British rule in 1947, its members served as the nation's first Parliament as ...

. From 1952 to 1957, he served one term as a member of the

, 1st Lok Sabha.
Uttar Pradesh
', p. 400, 2002, Information and Public Relations Department, Uttar Pradesh From 1958 to 1964, he was also elected as Chairman of

Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council The Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council (Hindi: ''Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Parishad'') is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of Uttar Pradesh, a state in India. Uttar Pradesh is one of the six states in India, where the state legislature is ...

Books

* ''Shweta-shwatrupanishad Bhashya'' * ''Prashnapanishad Saral Bhashya'' * ''Atmadarshi Geeta Bhashya'' * ''Pillars of Vedant'' * ''Chaturvedanugami Bhashya'' * ''Kathopnishad Saral Bhasyha''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dhulekar, Pandit 1891 births 1980 deaths People from Jhansi Indian revolutionaries Journalists from Uttar Pradesh University of Allahabad alumni Members of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly India MPs 1952–1957 Marathi people Members of the Constituent Assembly of India University of Calcutta alumni Indian independence activists from Uttar Pradesh Lok Sabha members from Uttar Pradesh Members of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council Chairs of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council Indian publishers (people) 20th-century Indian journalists Hindi-language writers Prisoners and detainees of British India Social leaders