Lala Jaswantrai Churamani: Soldier of freedom struggle with Pen
(From "History of Hisar" by M M Juneja)
(Lala Jaswantrai Churamani) Lala Jaswant Rai, an eminent personality of the United Punjab, was born on 25 March 1882. His father Lala Chura Mani (1858 – 1920) was a renowned lawyer of Hisar and a close friend of the Punjab Kesari Lala Lajpat Rai. Jaswant Rai got his schooling from Hisar. He passed his matriculation, having secured the Punjab University scholarship, from the Government High School, Hisar, in 1897. He then proceeded to Lahore for higher education. He graduated in 1901 from the DAV College. He took his M.A. degree in Sanskrit in 1902 from the Oriental College. Being a genius student, he qualified his M.A. in one year. While appreciating his qualities as a student, Lajpat Rai, who had closely watched Jaswant Rai’s academic career both at Hisar and Lahore, states:
"Jaswant Rai had a brilliant career at the University. He was throughout his scholastic career a quiet, diligent and hard-working lad, though sickly. Throughout his school career, he was the show boy of his class and was loved by his teachers".
Having secured his M.A. degree, Jaswant Rai started his career as an honorary Professor in the DAV College, Lahore in 1902. While he was having no regular source of income, he was married to Sushila, the daughter of Rai Fateh Chand in 1904. Now the question of livelihood arose before Jaswant Rai. Meanwhile, Lajpat Rai and other Arya Samaj leaders of Lahore decided to start a paper, The Punjabee, and they offered Jaswant Rai a job of seventy five rupees per month. Jaswant Rai accepted the job, and with it came a remarkable turn in his life.
In September 1904 Jaswant Rai took the charge of The Punjabee as its manager. K K Athavale was appointed its editor who was sent by the Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak. Its first issue appeared on 2 October 1904. Under the combined leadership of Lajpat Rai and Athavale, the paper earned a name from the very first issue which contained pungent criticism of the doings of several officials including a Hindu Deputy Commissioner. It convinced the readers that it would spare nobody.
On April 1906 two articles appeared in The Punjabee which brought to light the inhuman and brutish practices committed by the ruling class. These articles were entitled, “How Misunderstanding Occurred” and “A Deliberate Murder”. The first referred to the system of begaar (forced labour). The second one dealt with the deliberate murder by shooting of a Muslim orderly to carry the dead carcass of a pig shot at by an Englishman out for sport. As no action was taken against the European officer, the story published in The Punjabee thus stirred the native mind. So far the British had not been accustomed to such a lashing criticism. They, therefore, now started prosecuting Jaswant Rai and Athavale, the manager and editor of the paper respectively. These gentlemen were charged with the allegation of spreading hatred among various races, especially between the British and the Muslims. The prosecution started in the court of the District Magistrate, Lahore, on 26 October 1906 under section 153-A of the Indian Penal Code. Both the accused were, however, released on bail.
Considering Jaswant Rai as a dangerous man, the Government wanted to collect documentary proofs against him. With this end in view, the Government agents now tried to persuade Athavale to disown the articles in question so that the entire responsibility could be shifted to Jaswant Rai. Athavale no doubt declined to take their advice, but Jaswant Rai, being a fearless journalist, made the following written statement in the court saying, “The article in question was printed with my due permission and I own the entire responsibility of it.” Consequently, on 15 February 1907 the District Magistrate, Justice R A Mant, sentenced him to two years’ rigorous imprisonment and a fine of one thousand rupees. Mr Athavale was also sentenced to six months’ imprisonment. Lajpat Rai, who was himself present when the conviction was pronounced, reproduces the reaction of the people as such:
" The order was read out to Lala Jaswant Rai and Mr Athavale about 10 o’clock. A large crowd had assembled in the court compound. People ran after the prisoners’ carriage and cheered them lustily. Flowers were showered on them at several places. I immediately presented a bail application in the Sessions Court. This being granted, I myself took the warrant for release to the jail."
Meanwhile, the mob caused some damage to the District Magistrate’s bungalow and created panic in the entire civil station. Young men hurled abuse at some white people, threw mud on the carriages of others and even manhandled a few of them. To the English eyes, the ghadar (revolt) was being enacted again. Reporting the resentment expressed by the townsmen, Lajpat Rai says:
"A crowd was waiting outside when Lala Jaswant Rai and Mr Athavale were let out of the jail. The mob became rowdy near the District Magistrate’s bungalow, but we controlled it. In the Lawrence Gardens it attacked an Englishman, a reporter of the The Civil and Military Gazette, I shouted at once saying that it was disgraceful that such a big crowd should attack a solitary individual, and the Englishman was spared."
Coincidently, on that very day when the District Magistrate pronounced his orders sentencing Jaswant Rai and Athavale, Professor Gopal Krishna Gokhale visited Lahore. He was on his tour of North India. He was given splendid reception everywhere. Professor Gokhale arrived at the railway station at about 4 o’clock. People assembled there in large numbers. Everybody was talking about The Punjabee case. Not only Gokhale but Jaswant Rai and Athavale were also given public reception simultaneously. According to an eye-witness:
"When Mr Gokhale got a carriage, the waves of enthusiasm surged high. When having gone the rest of the town, the procession was marching through Anarkali, the crowd seemed innumerable. Lala Jaswant Rai and Mr Athavale were also present, and a huge crowd was standing behind them. The people lifted both of them and put them forcibly into the carriage…”"
An appeal was preferred in the court of the Sessions Judge who reduced the sentence to six months’ imprisonment to each of the culprits. The judgment was delivered on 18 March, 1907. The Chief Court was also approached but the appeal was turned down on 16 April, 1907. As soon as the Chief Judge read out his orders, Jaswant Rai was handcuffed by the police. Now Lajpat Rai stepped forward to shake his hand with the prisoner, but the latter touched his feet.
When the orders were to be read out, the judges looked pale with fear. A strong posse of police was posted in the court compound, as also on the roadside from court to prison. Moreover, Justice Read sent his peon twice to his bungalow to see that all was well there. When Jaswant Rai was being taken to the prison, the police and the mob came into open clash with each other several times. The people also threw mud at the police, so much so that the European police officials had to leave their carriage, and they could only be safeguarded when they had taken shelter in the carriage of Jaswant Rai. The police then attacked the people furiously.
Another incident is worth taking note here. A ten year old student Krishna Singh of the DAV School, Lahore, was so much infuriated by the conviction of Jaswant Rai that on coming across an Englishman in a street, he cried out aloud, “Cursed the British Justice”. The British at once ordered a policeman to arrest the boy. The policeman arrested the boy and took him to the police station where he was questioned on the subject. Unnerved, the boy shouted: “Yes, I have cursed the British Justice, because it has convicted the manager and editor of The Punjabee most unjustly.”Jaswant Rai was kept behind the bars from 16 April to 15 October, 1907 in the Lahore Central Jail. The same year Lajpat Rai was also arrested and detained in the Mandalay Jail from May to November. When the day of Jaswant Rai’s release dawned, Lajpat Rai, who was then himself in jail, felt and did as follows:
"The 15th October 1907, the day on which my friend Lala Jaswant Rai’s period of incarceration was to terminate, was a day for rejoicing for me. On that day I offered prayers to God for his health."
Under the diplomatic leadership of Jaswant Rai, The Punjabee of course became extremely popular as its circulation had risen to more than five thousand five hundred while The Tribune had only one thousand five hundred. In the beginning the paper was weekly, but subsequently it was published thrice a week. Furthermore, its circulation was not limited to India alone, but it was also in great demand in Burma. Such was the position of The Punjabee when Jaswant Rai was associated with it.After his release Jaswant Rai continued his job with even greater vigour. No amount of prosecution could thus force him to recede a single step. When he did not change his anti-government attitude even after his release, the Hindu lobby now realized that they could not afford at all to offend the British. So they pressurized Lajpat Rai to get the The Punjabee rid of Jaswant Rai. This fact is further confirmed by the following Intelligence Report:
"It was soon realized by the Hindu leaders that Lala Jaswant Rai was a hindrance to amicable relations between Government and their community. A syndicate was formed, which took over the paper in February."
When Lajpat Rai asked Jaswant Rai to dissociate himself from The Punjabee, the latter was stunned. Jaswant Rai simply obeyed his master but submissively remarked: “You will repent later more than I do now, but I shall not undertake this work again even if asked to do so.” It happened so in 1920 when Lajpat Rai, having returned from exile asked Jaswant Rai to resurrect the paper, but he resolutely refused to accept the offer.Jaswant Rai thus came to occupy a prominent place among patriotic journalists fighting for freedom. In this respect he was more radical than Lajpat Rai. Had Lajpat Rai read the article, for which Jaswant Rai was prosecuted, he would not have allowed the article to be published. Lajpat Rai himself accepts this fact:
The Punjabee was in my hands. Early in the morning I used to go to the press to see the final proofs. I had not seen in proofs the issue on the basis of which a case was started against The Punjabee. If I had seen the proofs, I would not have allowed that article to go as it was.
After having been relieved from the The Punjabee, Jaswant Rai now turned his thoughts to business. With an initial investment of Rs 1.75 lakh, a concern, christened as Jaswant Rai Co. Ltd, was established in 1910. It’s chairman was Lala Lajpat Rai, and Jaswant Rai became its Managing Director. In 1911 Jaswant Rai shifted his family from Lahore to Karachi, the headquarters of his business. Later, certain differences occurred between him and a director of the firm, and Jaswant Rai resigned in 1918. He was persuaded to withdraw his resignation, but to no avail. Subsequently, he started a new business concern at Bombay with its branch at Karachi, and he was its sole proprietor. The business flourished once again by leaps and bounds. After some time he shifted to Karachi. He also started an industrial enterprise in the U.P.
Jaswant Rai was the first educated man of his province to be engaged in the cotton trade. In a way this endeavor falsified the notion, prevalent among the elite that the business for them was a profession to be kept at an arm’s length. It was further confirmed when Swami Shradhananda paid a visit to Karachi and stayed with him in 1912 for about a fortnight. From Quetta the Swamiji wrote the following letter to Jaswant Rai about the impressions which he had formed after analyzing the cause of his success in business:
"I had thought that business could flourish only on lies and vile practices. But now I have changed my opinion in this respect and have begun to believe that educated people should take to business in ever-increasing numbers. All successful businessmen in free countries have been those who combined education with virtue and insight. You possess all these virtues, and God will bless you in your efforts."
When Jaswant Rai had disassociated himself from Jaswant Rai Co. Ltd in 1918, he returned to Hisar and started devoting himself to develop the cause of education. On 1 April 1918 he donated a huge amount of fifty thousand rupees for opening the Chandulal Anglo Vedic (CAV) High School, Hisar. In addition to it when a deputation of women waited on him seeking his help in starting the Arya Kanya Pathshala at Hisar, he readily contributed fifteen thousand rupees for the proposed cause. The same year his father announced that a maternity hospital would be started at Hisar, and Jaswant Rai promised to donate fifty thousand rupees for this cause.
In the memory of Pandit Lakhpat Rai (1865 – 1925), a close friend of his father, Jaswant Rai founded the Pandit Lakhpat Rai DAV High School at Karachi in 1925 spending one lakh rupees from his pocket. He also got erected a four storeyed building, known as the Sushila Bhawan, at Karachi on 1 June 1929 in the sweet memory of his beloved wife Mrs Sushila who had died on 9 February 1928. It was a great center of social welfare activities. Jaswant Rai contributed forty five thousand rupees for this building. After the Partition of India, Jaswant Rai got the Sushila Bhawan constructed at Hisar by investing an amount of three lakh rupees. It was inaugurated on 9 February 1962, being the thirty fourth anniversary of Mrs Jaswant Rai. This building is still in the heart of Hisar city where numerous socio-cultural functions often take place. Rai Fateh Chand, the father-in-law of Jaswant Rai, had founded a women's college at Lahore. He also created a trust for its maintenance. After the Partition of India, Jaswant Rai, with the help of Pandit Thakur Das Bhargava, M.P., got the F.C.College for Women successfully rehabilitated at Hisar. Another contribution of Jaswant Rai as a philanthropist is the establishment of the Jaswant Rai Churamani Charitable Trust. It was founded by him in July 1943 at Lahore with the investment of twenty five lakh rupees.Under this trust certain free hospitals and welfare schemes are being run at Hisar, Meerut and other places. Having relieved himself from the business affairs in 1943, Jaswant Rai spent his time and energy in looking after the welfare activities undertaken by the Charitable Trust. While doing so he always believed in Gandhi’s theory of Trusteeship. He had seldom thought that his wealth was exclusively for his own personal use.It is true that Jaswant Rai was not directly involved in political activities, but he contributed a lot to boost up the freedom struggle. For example, he donated fifteen thousand rupees for the Jallianwala Bagh Memorial Fund. He also visited the Bagh soon after the tragedy of 1919 and brought with him a handful of the earth stained in blood of martyrs. When the thirty fourth session of the Indian National Congress was held at Karachi in March 1931, Jaswant Rai was elected the Vice-Chairman of the Reception Committee. Keeping his sincerity in view, the entire organizational work was entrusted to his care. He demonstrated his unusual capacity of organization on a grand scale. His arrangements were praised by many including Mahatma Gandhi. Jaswant Rai admired many leaders of the day, but his active association with Lala Lajpat Rai only. The Lalaji often took Jaswant Rai with him while touring the Punjab. Following is an example in the words of Lalaji:
"Towards the end of March 1907, I entertained for Lyallpur, accompanied by…..Lala Jaswant Rai of The Punjabee. A big crowd was waiting at the Railway Station when we arrived the enxt morning. Lala Jaswant Rai and myself were seated in the same carriage, and the people unharnessed its horses and began to draw the carriage amidst loud shouts of Bande Mataram. When we had gone a few paces, I jumped out of the carriage, but Lala Jaswant Rai was not permitted to get out of it."
Besides Jaswant Rai, his wife Sushila and son Seth Mahesh Chandra were also public-spirited personalities. Sushila had been the President of the Arya Istri Samaj, Karachi, and Mahesh Chandra served the cause of his nation as a freedom fighter and journalist. After having served his fellow-countrymen on different fronts of the liberation movement for nearly seven decades, Lala Jaswant Rai – who was indeed an inspiring teacher, a dauntless journalist, a true trustee of wealth and an exemplary philanthropist – passed away on 6 November 1972 at the age of 90 years, 7 months and 12 days.
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